Mariners prospect Farmelo inching closer to Fall League breakout after injury-plagued year

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Jonny Farmelo is getting there, even if it’s not quite where he really wants to be.

MLB's No. 75 prospect (SEA No. 7) came to the Arizona Fall League eager to make up for time he’s lost due to injury. The No. 29 overall pick in 2023, Farmelo’s first full season was wrecked by a torn ACL in June and he wasn’t able to follow it up this season, limited to just 29 games because of a rib cage stress reaction.

He extended a modest hitting streak to five games on Wednesday with a two-run triple in Peoria’s 10-1 rout over Salt River. He finished 1-for-4 with a walk and two strikeouts and that’s what this streak has looked like: flashes of what he can do, but without a "wow" moment.

“I'm feeling good. My body feels good. I feel athletic,” Farmelo said. “I feel like I'm moving well. I feel like I'm playing good out here, not like my best. I feel like it's a lot of that one hit and then a groundout-, flyout-, strikeout-type games, like 1-for-4. I haven't had that statement week, statement game yet I feel like, but it’s coming for sure and I'm just going to keep competing.

“It's easy to try and want to have a crazy week and be that guy. I want to do that, but I think I have to kind of appreciate that I'm just healthy and I'm here playing baseball and I got invited to play here. It's really a blessing, so I'd say a little bit of both there.”

Farmelo’s time back on the field in August and September with High-A Everett helped him get past that worry of re-injury, but he’s started feeling like the super-athletic and toolsy player the Mariners went over slot to sign for $3.2 million while here in the Fall League.

“I'm starting to feel like myself again, and then I think I'm going to have a great offseason and roll into camp completely 100 percent normal,” Farmelo said.

One thing that is starting to come is his ability to drive the ball. He may only be picking up a hit per game lately, but four of the five have been for extra bases, with a pair of triples and two doubles.

“It feels like when I do get it, I'm getting it in the gaps and in the air, and I'll take that,” Farmelo said. “I don't want to pound the ball on the ground and get three hits. I want to hit the ball in the air and get it in the gaps. So that's definitely been positive.”

As much as the 21-year old needs reps to find that groove and tap into his considerable potential physically, he’s also keenly aware that his mental approach needs development as well. He continues to draw walks (13 in 14 games) but there’s also been a lot of swing-and-miss (17 K’s). Over his first 13 games, he had a 44 percent miss rate and he thinks it has more to do with what’s going on between his ears than any mechanical adjustment he needs to make at the plate.

“I think that's the biggest thing in my opinion and I feel like when I chase in the box it’s because I got sped up and I'm not taking my breath and I'm not starting early and all the controllable things in my process I can do,” Farmelo said. "That's what I'm trying to work on out here, doing that every pitch and then I'll really know how good I am. But until then, I just got to work on that.”

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He recognized that on Wednesday when Peoria batted around in the top of the first inning and put up six runs. Farmelo wasn’t a part of the action, though, being responsible for the first and third out of the frame. Making sure that doesn’t snowball has been a big area of focus for him and he showed it with that triple in his next at-bat in the third.

“I feel like I've learned that you really have to be able to flush at-bats,” Farmelo said. “Like today, I got two at-bats in the first inning. I flew out, I thought I hit it pretty well and then I struck out. I'm 0-for-2 in the first inning and that can get out of hand quick. I'm pissed off, so you got to kind of move on because you get so many at-bats here and it's a different pitcher every at-bat.

“So I think just moving on and those at-bats, even if you get that hit in your first at-bat, you still have five more at-bats and you could easily be looking at a 1-for-6 if you don't lock back in.”