Seattle Mariners: Players Turning Heads Early at Spring Training

The Seattle Mariners kicked off spring training Wednesday with a 4-3 win over the San Diego Padres.

While Seattle is only six games into its exhibition season, plenty of news has been flowing out of Arizona. A couple of top Seattle prospects have impressed early, while Ji-Man Choi unfortunately went down with a broken fibula Wednesday, according to Shannon Drayer of 710 ESPN: 

There's still plenty of time to sort out roster battles and for more standouts to emerge, but a few Mariners are off to a strong start in the spring.

D.J. Peterson, 1B/3B

Peterson carries a lot of Seattle's hopes for the future as the top prospect in the organization apart from Alex Jackson. After posting a .261/.335/.473 line in 58 games of Double-A last year, it's fair to assume Peterson will get at least a September call-up this season.

A strong spring training campaign could help Peterson reach the majors even sooner than that. Peterson wasted no time in that regard, drilling a home run to left-center in his first at-bat of the spring.

He's added two singles, a double and a walk in 16 total at-bats so far. While spring statistics aren't all that important, the early display of power surely impressed some in the organization, including manager Lloyd McClendon, according to Larry Stone of The Seattle Times. 

“This kid has some talent," McClendon said. "He knows what he’s doing in the box, and he didn’t disappoint today.”

Apart from shortstops Brad Miller and Chris Taylor, Peterson could be the most important Seattle player to watch for the rest of the spring.

Patrick Kivlehan, 1B/3B

Peterson might have the highest ceiling of any Mariners' prospect at spring training, but Kivlehan is not to be underestimated. Kivlehan put up a .300/.374/.485 in 104 games at Double-A Jackson last season, good for a 140 wRC+, which was 14 points better than Peterson's performance.

Those numbers are even more impressive when considering that Kivlehan only started playing college baseball his senior season at Rutgers. At this point, Kivlehan looks like a future major league contributor, if not more.

Like Peterson, Kivlehan can accelerate his path to the majors with a strong spring. Kivlehan has collected four hits in 11 spring at-bats so far, including a double and a three-run home run.

More importantly, the organization has taken notice of Kivlehan's rapid ascension. Scouting director Tom McNamara offered his thoughts on Kivlehan's skill set to Drayer:

"

I thought he would struggle with breaking stuff, off-speed stuff because he hasn't seen it, but he's smart and he can track breaking stuff. He reads the pitch. The athleticism and the strength helps. He was playing against the best athletes in the country, playing in front of 60,000 on Saturdays, and I think he makes adjustments quicker than others because of that.

"

With more flashes of power and athleticism in the spring, Kivlehan's ETA to the majors could be reduced to a matter of months.

Taijuan Walker, SP

Walker started Seattle's opener and immediately got the upper hand in his battle with Roenis Elias for the final spot in the rotation. In two innings of work against the Padres, Walker allowed just one single while striking out two.

Two innings is not enough of a sample size to judge much of anything, but there were some encouraging signs from Walker. He threw 19 of his 32 pitches for strikes after having some control issues in the majors last year, particularly with his fastball.

Walker also was able to strike Matt Kemp out on a changeup, which has been Walker's weakest pitch for most of his professional career. He discussed his new confidence in the pitch with Tracy Ringolsby of MLB.com.

"I am throwing it to right-handed and left-handed hitters and know I can throw it any time, in any count, for a strike," he said. "I want to have that confidence and feel relaxed out there. My whole confidence right now is pretty good."

If Walker can keep that level of control and add the changeup as another weapon, he could start flashing his ace potential more and more often.

Rickie Weeks, UTIL

Weeks has batted five times in spring training so far and only collected one hit. However, that one hit was noteworthy:

The Weeks signing may have seemed a bit out of nowhere, but this is exactly why the Mariners acquired him. Weeks has upside at the plate one year removed from a 127 wRC+ performance and clearly can still hit for power.

On the defensive side, Weeks has been playing left field and should also see some time at first base before the spring is over. If Weeks can provide depth at multiple positions and the right-handed power he's shown already, he will be a wise addition.

All stats via FanGraphs.com unless otherwise noted.