Comments from top Seattle Mariners players on their award-winning season

SEATTLE — The Seattle Mariners have been praised for their minor-league development over the past few seasons. Especially their jugs.

The Mariners boast arguably the best pitching staff in all of baseball this season. Four of the five starters included in the rotation were developed and developed within the organization’s farm system.

One of Seattle’s best rookies, Troy Taylor, slipped into the defensive lineup and became a high-leverage backup.

More star pitchers could be on the way soon.

On Saturday, as part of the minor league team’s annual awards ceremony, Brandyn Garcia and Michael Morales were named Jamie Moyer Contributors of the Year and were on the field before the game against the Oakland Athletics.

Garcia had a standout season with the Arkansas Travelers, the team’s Double-A affiliate. He finished the year with a 2.25 ERA in 27 appearances (25 starts) for Arkansas and the team’s High-A club, the Everett AquaSox. He pitched 134 batters in 116 innings.

At 6-foot-4, 235 pounds, Garcia has a two-seam fastball that touched the upper 90s with a cutter and sweeper that produced a lot of whiffs.

His physical tools as a left-hander make him a rare prospect. According to him, he saw improvement when he started focusing on developing his own tools rather than comparing himself to other hurlers around the league.

“That’s really what I had to focus on this year,” Garcia said Saturday. “I would rather move away from comparing myself to other people and focus on what I did best and what I intend to do best. It was one of those things – I don’t really compare myself or my mechanics to anyone else. I just focus on doing what I do at a high level… The biggest thing the Mariners focus on is just being athletic and throwing athletically, so I’ve been focusing on that since I got drafted and that’s helped me a lot “

According to most publications, Garcia ranks among the top two in Seattle’s farm system. Logan Evans is the lone hurler ranked above him. It also helps that his pitching coach with the Travelers is one of the organization’s best employees.

Arkansas pitching coach Michael Peoples won the Dave Henderson Award for staff member of the year on the same day that Garcia and other minor leaguers earned their honors.

“The growth in pitching here is huge and that’s why I’m very grateful to be in this organization,” Garcia said. “Michael Peoples is a great coach, great guy. I love working with him during the second half of the year. I worked with Cam Ming in Everett for the first half of the year. Those two guys really helped me become the guy I wanted to be today.”

On Saturday, Garcia, Morales and other T-Mobile Park candidates had several conversations with many of the league’s top players. Hopefully these conversations will help minor league players make it to the major leagues one day.

For Garcia, talking to Seattle’s pitching staff, which boasts three All-Stars, has been particularly helpful in achieving that goal.

“It’s very helpful,” Garcia said. “Even a short conversation can help a lot to show that, firstly, everyone is human. Just because they play in the big leagues doesn’t mean they’re superheroes or anything like that. We all do it. we all have the same things, we all have the same goal, and that is to win a World Series ring.”

Speaking of victory rings, Garcia was part of the Arkansas team that won the title in the second half of the Texas League – the second minor league team to win a title for the organization this year. Being a part of this type of winning experience can go a long way in building a winning culture among young players.

“Of course, every year the goal is to win the championship wherever I play,” Garcia said. “We had a good group this year. We started in Everett and competed in the first half as well. We were close. Then when I got to Arkansas, it was a new beginning. We knew we had to win the second half to make the playoffs, so we all had one goal and we went out every day with that goal in mind, so it was amazing.

The Mariners aren’t hungry to start pitching right now, but a left-handed pitcher, especially one with Garcia’s physical tools and pitch selection, is valuable.

And perhaps sooner rather than later, Garcia will have a chance to become a permanent fixture in the rotation.

TOP MARINER PROSPECTS IMPRESS IN THE TITLE OFFICE: The Seattle Mariners’ Double-A club, the Arkansas Travelers, became the second minor league club to win the championship this season; and two of the team’s leading players shined in the victory. CLICK HERE

TRAVELERS WIN TEXAS LEAGUE TITLE: The Arkansas Travelers became the second Seattle Mariners minor league team to win the championship this season. CLICK HERE

MARINERS LOW-A CLUB WINS CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS: The Modesto Nuts, the Seattle Mariners Low-A affiliate, won their second consecutive California League championship in dramatic fashion on Wednesday. CLICK HERE

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