Seattle Mariners prospects with Everett AquaSox discuss present, future with organization

The Seattle Mariners system is full of elite prospects, especially at their High-A West affiliate, the Everett AquaSox, who finished a six-game series in Spokane against the Indians on Sunday.

Three of those prospects, right-handed pitchers George Kirby and Emerson Hancock and outfielder Julio Rodriguez, participated in a media call last week for a discussion about their status as prospects, how they fit within the M’s system and playing on a team full of other top prospects.

George Kirby (23, first-round 2019, M’s No. 5 prospect)

Q: You played with Everett in 2019 when it was still a short-season affiliate. What have you learned since then?

GK: I really made a change with my body. I dropped some weight to become more lean and I think it helped with recovery in-between starts. I’ve just been trying to work on commanding all my pitches and limiting the walks so I think that’s something I’ve done a pretty good job with since 2019.

Q: What’s your philosophy on being a control pitcher?

GK: I’m just trying to put my pitches in the zone and see if the guys can beat me honestly. I know my stuff is good enough to keep it in the zone and expand if I have to.

Q: Since you’ve been through this circuit before are you the “elder statesman” on the team?

GK: This is really my first full season, but I think I got a good feeling of how a lot of guys go about their business, and if I see things I can (give) some advice to guys if they need it.

Q: Does being ranked on top prospect lists carry more responsibility for you as a player?

GK: Yeah, I think so. It’s an awesome privilege, I guess. I mean, we’ve all worked hard to earn that prospect ranking. We’ve got a lot of good guys in the system right now, so we’re playing good baseball and it’s fun to watch.

Q: How does it feel to part of the Mariners core group of prospects?

GK: We’re a bunch of special guys. We all do things great differently. And it’s good to have a great fan base behind us. Everyone’s supporting us and looking forward to when we play. But yeah, it’s just a special group and it’s fun to watch guys like Julio hit and hearing about other guys on Twitter doing well, as well.

Q: How have you been able to help each other through the process?

GK: We’re just giving each other advice and just kind of bouncing off each other’s energy, stuff like that.

Julio Rodriguez (20, international free agent 2017, M’s No. 1 prospect)

Q: How much do you dwell on being ranked as one of the top-5 prospects in baseball?

JR: To be honest with you, I don’t really think about that. It’s good that people know you and think high of you. But it comes down to whatever I can do to help the team win, and that’s what I’m going to do. That’s my responsibility, I think.

Q: What inspires you to maintain an active social media presence?

JR: I do like to have fun with it. I’m one of the players fans like to reach out to me, talk to me. At this position that I’m at right now, I feel like it’s really cool to interact with people, because you can change somebody’s day just by replying to a message. So that’s why I like doing things like that.

Q: If you had to give a scouting report on yourself as a player, what would you say?

JR: I know I can play, that’s all I’m going to say.

Q: Do you have any set goals on something particular you’re working on this year?

JR: Every year, when I’m done I want to be a little bit better than what I was before. That’s my goal. Be better. Just keep getting better. That’s my goal every year.

Q: Do you let yourself think about sharing the Mariners’ outfield with Jerred Kelenic?

JR: Of course. That’s definitely what I’m working toward. I’m working best I can. I want to get to the big leagues – that’s my main goal. And when I get there to help them to win too.

Q: Is it hard to stay patient as a minor leaguer because you want to move up as fast as possible?

JR: I mean, yeah. You want to move up as fast as possible, but at the same time if we start thinking about the level ahead of you, you will never get out of the level that you are at right now. So that’s why I just want to live day by day and just say right now, we’re playing here in Spokane, playing in High-A.

Q: What makes the Mariners’ prospects so intriguing?

JR: I feel like we have a really special group. Us in Everett, even more players scattered throughout the minor leagues, these are a really, really good core, and brings promise for the future. They can do a lot of special things because I’ve been seeing it, so far this season with this team. I know as a group we’ll keep getting better and I’m really excited to watch in the future.

Q: How do you react by some saying the AquaSox might be the most talented team in all of minor league baseball?

JR: We can play. I have the same feeling, we can play with anybody right now. We have a really good pitching team, hitting team. We do right all the little things. We play the game the right way. So I feel like, let’s say Triple-A down to Low-A, I feel like we could go head-to-head with anybody. I’m that confident with my teammates.

Q: What’s been the key to your fast start this season (.310/.395/.620 in 71 at-bats)?

JR: I’m always comfortable going into the box. I just want to approach each game the right way, preparing myself for every situation, and that I swing at the right pitches. That’s what I’ve been doing, that’s what I’m going to continue to do. Today’s a new day. I’m going to do the same thing, I’m going to approach the game the same way. I’m going to keep pushing to get better.

Q: What players did you look up to growing up?

JR: I look up to a lot of guys. Albert Pujols, Derek Jeter. Ichiro Suzuki. I watch a lot of highlights, like there’s a lot of guys I look up to. David Ortiz, a lot of guys I looked up to growing up. And right now, Mike Trout, Mookie Betts, Juan Soto. (Ronald) Acuna is having a great year. All those guys I looked up to because they’re doing what I want to. They’re performing at the highest level. That’s how I want to perform at the highest level.

Emerson Hancock (21, first round 2021, M’s No. 3 prospect)

Q: What do you think about being a highly ranked prospect?

EH: I think it’s always good to get recognized for the hard work and all the stuff that we put into it. At the end of the day, you ultimately want to have an impact on a big league club, and you want to win a lot of games. It’s nice to have that recognition but at the end of the day that doesn’t mean a whole lot, you just get out there and win some games.

Q: How would you describe yourself?

EH: I love to pitch, love to mix speeds, move the ball around and just try to keep hitters off-balance. I like to get deep into the games, whether that’s getting quick outs or just throwing a lot of strikes and then try to have a little bit of Kirby and not walk any guys.

Q: Do the pitchers push each other or compete within the group?

EH: That’s one of the perks of having all these guys together as you can just learn from them. I think George said it really good – we all do great things differently, and we’re all different pitchers and so that’s what makes it fun. Each guy has their things that they’re working on, we kind of come together and when a guy struggles with something, try to help them out. It’s fun to just watch and pitch and compete.

Q: What do you think about Major League Baseball using the minors as a testing ground for new rules?

EH: If that’s what they think is best for the game moving forward and trying out certain things, I think that’s good maybe. But then it’s hard because that’s how we’ve always played it, you know you’ve always done certain pickoff moves, you’ve always had these certain ways of going about it. So I think guys have kind of struggled with that a little bit.

Q: What makes this group of players special?

EH: We’ve got really good players, but we also got really good people. I think that’s what’s gonna help us in the long run, that’s what’s gonna help us make an impact. And as talented as the pitchers are, the hitters are right there too. So just be able to be in that dugout, watching these guys play and win some games, that’s what’s been fun. Just hope we can keep doing that for a long time.

Q: You didn’t pitch after the draft last year. How did you stay in shape with the layoff?

EH: We got put in a situation that not many people had been put in before and you just had to find a different way to get your body ready. This year I had a really good offseason and I feel really good coming into this year and just looking forward to staying healthy and making every start.Q: Is there any difference between pitching in collage and pitching at the professional level?

EH: Right now we’re on a seven-day schedule, so it’s pretty similar. You have a lot of rest, you have a lot of recovery time and you’re kind of ready for that week to come up so when it’s your time to get the ball you’re ready to go.

Q: Do you think about the accolades in the press?

EH: We’re really talented, that’s just part of it, so people are starting to recognize it. As a part of trying to hold that title ‘most talented team,’ I don’t know how much weight that that really holds. It’s just fun to be on this team. I think everyone’s just grateful and excited to have the opportunity to play every night.

Q: As you play across Washington and Oregon, do you feel Mariners’ fans excitement about the prospects?

EH: We have such a good fan base, and people who are supporting us. When you see, (Logan) Gilbert and Kelenic get called up and the excitement that was around that, that’s really cool. That’s something to look forward to and hopefully we can all get there one day. But the fan base has been awesome. I know they’re excited about the team we have now, and hopefully the players we’ve got coming along.