Clase looking to making impact after callup
This story was excerpted from Daniel Kramer’s Mariners Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
SEATTLE -- He broke his bat on his very first swing in the big leagues, nearly legged out a Little League home run a few days later and has been a sparkplug on the basepaths since making his MLB debut on April 15.
“It’s been a dream come true,” Mariners outfielder Jonatan Clase recently said.
Seattle’s No. 10 prospect by MLB Pipeline, Clase is looking to make the most of his opportunity in the Majors after being called up in the wake of a shoulder injury to Dominic Canzone on April 15. He’s 5-for-24 with one double, one walk, one run scored, two stolen bases, seven strikeouts and three RBIs in eight games.
His playing time dwindled on the Mariners’ road trip through Denver and Arlington, but when in the lineup, he’s doing his best to make an impact. His most exciting play, easily, was when ripping a bases-clearing single on Saturday then attempting to score after the ball got by Rockies right fielder Sean Bouchard.
Clase was out at the plate, but he still showed his wheels by dialing his sprint speed up to 28.7 feet per second (27 is league average and 30 is elite) and circling the bases in 15.10 seconds, the second-fastest home-to-home time in the Majors this year, behind only world-class speedster Elly De La Cruz.
“He's added a different dimension to our team,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “Certainly the speed, and I think the biggest thing is he's so young, and we have some players -- all of our guys recognize when they first got to the big leagues how much fun that the game is.
“And certainly with Julio [Rodríguez] and Jorge Polanco, spending a lot of time with him, sometimes a little bit of a distraction is a good thing. And those guys are putting their arms around him. They want to get him comfortable because they know he can help us here, and we need a little help.”
Indeed, Clase has taken close quarters to his fellow Dominican Republic natives, Rodríguez and Polanco, after spending time with them in Spring Training. And he was roommates with Rodríguez in Arizona just as their pro careers were beginning, when still teenagers.
“He's 21 [years old], but he's a very mature guy,” Polanco said. “I talked to him [before his debut] and I just said, 'Just have fun, enjoy it.' It's a really good opportunity. Just have fun, enjoy it and be you. He has slowed down the game. He knows what kind of player he is. He's not trying to do too much, and that's really good.”
Polanco even joked about Clase snapping his bat on his first big league swing, a foul ball ahead of an eventual flyout. It wasn’t so much the unique nature of the feat that made him laugh as much as it was that he was swinging right away.
“I didn't tell him that, but I knew he was going to do it,” Polanco said.
Clase is here after a hot start at Triple-A Tacoma, which itself represented a promotion after he ended last season at Double-A Arkansas. In 12 games with the Rainiers, he was slashing .311/.396/.622 (1.018 OPS).
Triple-A Tacoma
He’s not a prospect, but reliever Eduard Bazardo began a rehab assignment with the Rainiers on Tuesday, throwing a scoreless seventh inning. Bazardo missed all of Spring Training with a rotator cuff strain. At the plate, third baseman Michael Chavis has been swinging one of the hottest pats in Triple-A, with a team-leading six homers.
Double-A Arkansas
Logan Evans (No. 20 prospect) continues to carve his way through opposing lineups, with five scoreless innings and a season-high eight strikeouts on Tuesday. K’s had been hard to come by for the 12th-round Draft pick a year ago, but he’s nonetheless excelled at run suppression, now with a 1.86 ERA in four starts.
High-A Everett
Ben Williamson (No. 16) has been off to a stellar start, pacing the Northwest League in hits (26), extra-base hits (11) and RBIs (17) while ranking fifth in batting average (.342) and fourth in slugging percentage (.526).
Low-A Modesto
Jonny Farmelo (No. 6) tallied his first three-hit game of the season last Friday, but then on Wednesday, he left the game with an athletic trainer following an awkward swing. The Mariners haven’t yet released details on his potential injury.