SEATTLE -- After sitting out the first two weeks of Arizona Fall League action to work on strengthening his surgically repaired right knee, Mariners top prospect Kyle Lewis wasted no time making an impact in his Monday debut for the Peoria Javelinas.
The 22-year-old center fielder went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a walk, an RBI and three runs while batting leadoff and playing center field for Peoria, which beat Glendale, 14-7, to improve to 7-4 with four weeks remaining in the AFL season.
Lewis spent the past two weeks in the gym and training room, then doubled to lead off the game, walked in the second inning and ripped an RBI double in the fourth. He also singled in the eighth to pace Peoria's 17-hit attack.
Lewis, the 11th overall selection in the first round of the 2016 Draft, is rated Seattle's No. 1 prospect per MLBPipeline.com. He tore ligaments in his knee shortly after signing with Seattle while playing for Class A Everett and missed the first half of this season before returning to post a .257/.329/.412 slash line with seven homers and 31 RBIs in 49 regular-season games for Class A Advanced Modesto and the Mariners' Arizona Rookie League team.
The Mariners wanted Lewis to do some further rehab on the knee before resuming play in the Fall League, but he appears full-go now as one of eight Mariners on the Peoria squad.
Left fielder Braden Bishop, Seattle's No. 5-ranked prospect, also had his best AFL game so far as he went 3-for-4 with three runs and two RBIs. The former University of Washington standout was 2-for-15 in his first six games for Peoria, but hiked his average to .263 with Monday's outburst.
Right fielder/first baseman Eric Filia didn't play Monday, but the 25-year-old out of UCLA has hit .519 (14-for-27) with three doubles, two triples and six RBIs in his first eight games for Peoria. Filia hit .326 in 128 games for Modesto this past season.
Seattle's other position prospect in the AFL is converted catcher Joe DeCarlo, who is 1-for-7 in two games.
None of Seattle's four participating pitchers performed Monday. Starter Max Povse is 0-for-2 with a 9.53 ERA in two starts, allowing nine hits with nine strikeouts and one walk in 5 2/3 innings. Reliever Art Warren has allowed just one hit with no runs and one save in three appearances, Darin Gillies has allowed three hits and one run in three innings over three outings and Matthew Festa has allowed six hits and four runs in three innings in three games.
In Winter League action for Mariners prospects:
• Outfielder Adam Law and infielder Chuck Taylor have been hitting well for Lara in the Venezuelan Winter League. Law has batted .371 (13-for-35) with a double, two triples and nine RBIs in his first 11 games, while Taylor has hit .320 (16-for-50) with five doubles and a home run in that stretch.
Taylor, Seattle's No. 29 prospect, is a 24-year-old who played at Double-A Arkansas this past year after being acquired from the D-backs in the Minor League portion of the Rule 5 Draft. Law, 27, is the grandson of former Cy Young Award winner Vernon Law, and hit .222 in 17 games in an injury-plagued season for Arkansas.
• Dylan Unsworth, a right-hander out of South Africa who pitched primarily for Arkansas last season, has gone 1-0 with a 2.00 ERA in his first two starts for Caracas. Unsworth, who spent spring in big league camp with Seattle, has allowed 12 hits and two runs with five strikeouts and two walks over nine innings.
• Bryan Evans, a 30-year-old who signed a Minor League deal with the Mariners in August, has yet to allow a run in nine innings over two starts for Toros del Este in the Dominican Winter League, scattering eight hits, with 11 strikeouts and three walks. Jonathan Aro is working as a reliever on the same team, but has allowed four hits and three runs in 2 1/3 innings over four outings.
• Evan Marshall, a right-hander who pitched six games for the Mariners before injuring his hamstring in May, has allowed just one unearned run on four hits over 5 2/3 innings, and has three saves in his first six relief outings for Mazatlan in the Mexican Winter League.