Today I decided to catch Seattle’s AAA affiliate, the Tacoma Rainiers, take on the rival Portland Beavers at PGE Park in Portland.

If I were a scout or a baseball expert then this post may be called a scouting report.  I am not a scout nor a baseball expert, I am just a baseball fan that knows a bit more than the common fan and much less than the people employed by Major League Baseball teams.  Thus, I decided not to try and put together a “scouting report,” but rather a couple observations that may be worthwhile.  And I really mean “a couple.”  I was far too into the game to take note of any small details.  That is my disclaimer.

Also, this game was a pain for me as a spectator.  I love the Mariners, and thus am a fan of the Tacoma players, especially the ones that have been with the big club and the ones that will surely make it there.  However, I am a Portland Beavers fan as well.  I live within half an hour of the city and the Beavs are the closest pro team to me, so I go to games here and there.  So there I sit, a few rows behind home plate, sporting my Portland Beavers cap, cheering for both teams equally and feeling slightly strange.  Anyway…

Wlad Balentien- Playing left field in this afternoon’s game, Wlad looked a lot like the guy that got sent down a while back.  Swinging hard, swinging often, swinging at breaking balls low and off the plate.  He was visibly trying to go the other way, which couldbe a good thing, and he worked the counts decently.  A couple walks, a couple K’s.  In the field he wasn’t tracking flyballs very well, often arriving barely in time to make a catch.  This could have been a result of the sun, though, as a few players seemed to be having trouble with it, but Wlad’s defense has been suspect.

Victor Diaz- The 26 year old outfielder/DH has been causing a bit of a stir since joining the Seattle Mariners organization a couple months ago.  He is currently hitting .286 with 12 homers and 50 RBIs since joining Tacoma (55 games).  This afternoon he took the first pitch he saw out of the park to left field for a two run homer.  The ball was an absolute laser with little arc, and yet it was just inches from making it onto the busy street 40 feet above the playing surface.  He could be an interesting player to watch, especially if Balentien continues to struggle.  You may recognize Diaz from his days with the New York Mets big league club and a stint with the Texas Rangers.

Prentice Redman- Redman is one of those guys, like the Charlton Jimersons of the organization, that is no longer considered a prospect.  He’s 28 years old and hasn’t yet worked his way into a long term spot on an MLB roster.  He’s got some skills though.  He’s put some pretty solid seasons together over his long minor league career, and is a very athletic outfielder.  Since being promoted from AA he’s hitting .315 with 8 homers (34 games).  In this ballgame he smashed a ball, high yet solidly hit, way over the fence, 40 foot wall and over most of the three lane street.  Redman figures to be a none factor in Seattle’s future plans and sits in AAA as outfielder insurance (behind Wlad, Diaz and others), but he isn’t a bad guy to have around.

Luis Valbuena- I mentioned Valbuena in a recent post in regards to trading Jose Lopez, writing that he figures to be as good or better than Lopez in the near future.  I got my first live-action glimpse of Valbuena today.  I had read that his swing is reminiscent of Jose Reyes’ and Rafael Frucal’s, though it reminded me more of Luis Castillo’s.  He looked solid in the field, quick to the ball.  He didn’t have any hits so I didn’t get to see him on the bases, but running to the first base he looked quicker than Lopez, but not necessarily fast. 

Pitchers- None of the pitchers showed much worth noting.  Starter Chris Jakubauskas went down with an injury early.  It looked like a low back strain or something in his left side/ribs, but I haven’t followed up on it.  Jake Woods relieved him and was followed by Jon Huber and Jared Wells.  All three kept the Beaver offense scoreless, though none were especially dominate.  Mumba Rivera came in to close it out and lost the lead (and the game).  One note on Rivera, there was a scout a couple rows up from me that was paying close attention to him once entering the game.  This scout didn’t seem to show any interest in any other players in the ballgame except for Beavers starter Clay Hensley.  Granted, I wasn’t exactly watching this guy all throughout the game, but slightly intriguing nonetheless. 

That’s it.  I didn’t take as many notes as I originally intended and opted to enjoy the ballgame instead.  I was disappointed that I didn’t get to see Michael Saunders play, one of my favorite Mariner prospects.  As far as other names you know: Matt Tuiasosopo didn’t show much of anything, Charlton Jimerson showed the same extra long swing that keeps him out of the show, and Tug Hulett allowed the winning run to score with two outs by lallygagging his throw to first base with 2 outs in the 9th.  So much for him being a “hustle” player. 

Beavers won 4-3 in walk-off fashion.  It was a great game to watch, even for a fan with split allegiance.