Kelenic, Gilbert assigned to Triple-A Tacoma

May 1st, 2021

SEATTLE -- On Friday, the Mariners announced their Minor League rosters ahead of the beginning of the regular season next week. The assignments gave a glimpse to the club’s big league plans for top prospects and .

Both will report to Triple-A Tacoma, as expected, along with catcher Cal Raleigh and most of the players who’ve been at the alternate training site. Those three have long been touted as the closest to the Majors among Seattle’s No. 3-ranked farm system, along with outfielder Taylor Trammell, who is already in the bigs. Also of note, outfielder Julio Rodríguez (MLB Pipeline's No. 5 overall prospect) and starting pitchers Emerson Hancock (No. 27) and George Kirby (No. 82) will report to Class A Advanced Everett, while infielder Noelvi Marte (No. 95) heads to Class A Modesto.

Fans in the Seattle area will have the chance to get a glimpse at a huge chunk of the young talent given Everett and Tacoma’s proximity.

Here’s a full breakdown of the rosters:

Kelenic, MLB Pipeline’s No. 4 overall prospect, and Gilbert, No. 29, have never played above Double-A Arkansas. Assigning them to Tacoma suggests they are knocking on the MLB door despite both being limited to the alternate training site in 2020.

And both should be welcome reinforcements when they join the big league club, given its offensive struggles and dearth of starting pitching depth after injuries to Marco Gonzales, James Paxton and Nick Margevicius. Raleigh, too, will also contribute sooner than later, and he could be the third catcher to Tom Murphy and Luis Torrens after he accumulates enough reps in the coming weeks.

All three were in big league camp this year and remained in Arizona for Minors Spring Training. Gilbert has been stretched out to four innings, while Kelenic and Raleigh have been taking roughly two-to-three at-bats per game.

Tacoma’s roster also has most of the players who’ve been at the alternate training site at T-Mobile Park since the beginning of the Major League regular season. With the alternate site concluding at the beginning of the Minors season, the Mariners are still sorting out the logistics of intake testing when they need to recall players from the Minors.

“A lot of it does help if they are fully vaccinated,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “And we do have a lot of guys that are headed down that path. I think the majority of our projected Triple-A team will be vaccinated, so that certainly helps.”

Servais added that the club will still be eligible to have a five-man taxi squad travel with them on the road, and given Seattle sits so far from the rest of the league, it’s likely they will utilize that protocol.

White to bereavement list
First baseman Evan White was placed on the bereavement list ahead of Friday’s three-game series opener against the Angels to be with his family after the passing of his grandfather. Catcher Jacob Nottingham, who was claimed off waivers from the Brewers on Wednesday, took White’s spot on the 26-man roster.

Ty France took over at first base on Friday and will likely remain there during White’s stead, which will be between three and seven games -- plus an additional 48 hours for intake testing upon his return. José Marmolejos will also see action at first as well.

France has played sparingly at first over his first three big league seasons, but it’s where he spent most of his time over five Minor League seasons.

“He's worked out at first a ton,” Servais said. “He hasn't played there a lot in games, but I definitely think it's his most comfortable spot on the diamond. He looks very capable of making all the throws and making all the plays from first base.”

Nottingham played in 38 games with Milwaukee over three seasons, batting .203/.306/.432 with five homers, 17 RBIs, 30 strikeouts, nine walks and 11 runs. His last big league action was in Game 2 of the National League Wild Card Series against the Dodgers in the fall. The former sixth-round Draft pick by the Astros in 2013 then underwent surgery on the radial collateral ligament on his left thumb in December, and he was later designated for assignment on April 22.