Mariners select 4 players from Double-A Arkansas

September 10th, 2019

SEATTLE, Wash. -- Seattle Mariners Executive Vice President & General Manager of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto announced today the following roster moves:

Justin Dunn, RHP, selected from AA Arkansas.

Kyle Lewis, OF, selected from AA Arkansas.

Donnie Walton, INF, selected from AA Arkansas.

Art Warren, RHP, selected from AA Arkansas.

Ryan Court, OF, designated for assignment.

With today’s roster moves, the Mariners active roster is at 35 players.

With today’s roster moves, the Mariners Major League, 40-man, roster is now full at 40 players.

Dunn (#35), Lewis (#30), Walton (#31), and Warren (#43) will be in uniform and available for tonight’s (7:10 pm PT) game vs. Cincinnati.

Dunn, 23, is listed as the #5 prospect in the Mariners organization by MLB.com. He was acquired by the Mariners from New York-NL along with Jarred Kelenic, Gerson Bautista, Jay Bruce and Anthony Swarzak in exchange for Robinson Canó and Edwin Diaz on December 3, 2018. He has spent the entirety of this season with AA Arkansas, posting a 9-5 record with a 3.55 ERA (52 ER, 131.2 IP) with 39 walks and 158 strikeouts in 25 starts. He was named as both a Mid and Post-Season Texas League All-Star this season and was one of three Mariners prospects selected to participate in the 2019 Futures Game. He will be Making his Major League debut with his first appearance with the Mariners.

Dunn was originally selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 37th round of the 2013 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of Gunnery High School but did not sign. He was selected by the New York Mets in the 1st round (19th overall) of the 2016 MLB First-Year Player Draft from Boston College. In total, he has appeared in parts of 4 minor league seasons with the Mets (2016-18) and Mariners (2019), posting a 23-20 record with a 3.76 ERA (164 ER, 392.1 IP) with 149 walks and 424 strikeouts in 80 career games (72 starts).

Lewis, 24, will be making his Major League debut with his first appearance with the Mariners. He is listed as the #10 prospect in the Mariners organization by MLB.com. He has spent the entire season in AA Arkansas this season, batting .263 with 61 runs scored, 25 doubles, 2 triples, 11 home runs, 62 runs batted in, 56 walks, and 3 stolen bases in 122 games. He was named Texas League Player of the Week for the week of June 17-23, slashing .524/.643/.619 with 7 runs scored, 2 doubles, and 1 RBI during that span. Among Arkansas batters this season, Lewis led the team in doubles (25) and RBI (62), while ranking 2nd in hits (120), T3rd in home runs (11) and 2nd in walks (56).

Lewis was originally selected by the Mariners in the 1st round (11th pick) of the 2016 MLB First-Year Player Draft from Mercer University. He appeared in only 165 combined games over his first 3 professional seasons due to a knee injury he suffered on July 19, 2016 in a collision at home plate. Prior to the injury, he was named as a Northwest League All-Star and received Player of the Week honors for the week of July 4-10. In 2018, he participated in the 2018 All-Star Futures Game and was named as a California League Mid-Season All-Star. In total, he has played in parts of 4 minor league seasons in the Mariners organization, batting .260 with 155 runs scored, 65 doubles, 8 triples, 30 home runs, 171 RBI, 119 walks, and 10 stolen bases in 287 career games.

Walton, 25, hit .300 (144x480) with 72 runs scored, 22 doubles, 3 triples, 11 home runs, 50 RBI, 63 walks and 10 stolen bases in 124 regular season games with AA Arkansas this season. Among Texas League leaders, he ranked T4th in batting (.300), 2nd in on-base percentage (.390), 2nd in hits (144), 7th in runs (72), T2nd in walks, 5th in total bases (205), and 5th in OPS (.817). He was named a Texas League Mid-Season All Star earlier this season, and is listed as the #28 prospect in the Mariners organization on MLB.com. He will be making his Major League debut with his first appearance with the Mariners.

Walton was originally drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the 5th round of the 2016 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of Oklahoma State University. He was drafted twice previously in 2012 (36th round, NYM) and 2015 (23rd round, MIL) but did not sign. He has played 4 minor league season in the Mariners organization, batting .283 with 211 runs scored, 72 doubles, 9 triples, 24 home runs, 143 RBI, 164 walks, and 35 stolen bases in 358 career games.

Warren, 26, will be making his Major League debut with his first appearance with the Mariners. In 29 relief appearances with AA Arkansas this season, he went 2-1 with a 1.71 ERA with 15 saves in 17 opportunities, while walking 13 and striking out 41. He did not allow more than 1 earned run in any of his 29 appearances this season. He was named a 2019 Texas League Post-Season All-Star and is listed as the #26 prospect in the Mariners organization on MLB.com.

Warren was originally drafted by the Mariners in the 23rd round of the 2015 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of Ashland University. He has played 5 minor league seasons in the Mariners organization, posting an 18-6 record with a 3.64 ERA (73 ER, 229.2 IP) with 101 walks and 233 strikeouts in 119 career games (20 starts). He has pitched exclusively out of the bullpen since the start of the 2017 season, allowing on 31 earned runs in 123.1 innings pitched during that span (2.27 ERA).

Court, 31, made 2 stints with the Mariners this season (7/26 – 8/10 and 9/1 – 9/10). He made his Major League debut on July 26 vs. Detroit and went on to hit .208 (5x24) with 1 run, 1 double, 1 home run, 5 RBI and 1 walk in 12 games with the Mariners. In his time with Seattle, he appeared defensively at first base (7 G, 1 GS), left field (3 GS, 2 G) and right field (2 GS). He has spent most of the season with Tacoma, where he hit .258 (49x190) with 40 runs, 10 doubles, 2 triples, 11 home runs and 48 RBI in 54 games this season. He was released by the Cubs earlier this season on March 23. After appearing in 8 games with Sugar Land of the independent Atlantic League, he signed a minor league contract with the Mariners on May 6.

Court was originally selected by Arizona in the 23rd round of the 2011 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of Illinois State University. In parts of 8 minor league seasons with Arizona (2011-14), Boston (2016-17), Chicago-NL (2018) and Seattle (2019-c), he is batting .273 (746x2728) with 417 runs scored, 172 doubles, 21 triples, 69 home runs, 393 RBI, 41 stolen bases and 365 walks in 787 career games. Court spent the 2015 season with the Sioux City Explorers of the independent American Association.