Lazaro Montes heating up for Double-A Arkansas | Mariners extra

Welcome to The Seattle Times' Sunday inside baseball page, where we review the week that was on the diamond, highlight key trends with the Mariners and present our weekly MLB Power Rankings.

Stat of the Week

5

The Mariners' pitching staff entered the weekend ranked No. 5 in MLB with a 3.53 ERA and the Mariners' offense ranked No. 5 in MLB with a 108 wRC+ (weighted Runs Created, which measures overall production, with 100 representing average).

Prospect Watch

Lazaro Montes, a 21-year-old right fielder/designated hitter, belted four homers in his first four games in June, and he ranks second in the Texas League with 16 home runs for the Arkansas Travelers, the Mariners' Double-A affiliate. Montes' home/road splits are notable. In 93 at-bats at home, he has a .140/.257/.258 slash line (.515 OPS) with three homers. In 99 at-bats on the road, he has a .303/.405/.778 slash line (1.183 OPS) with 13 homers. The Travelers' home field, Dickey-Stephens Park, is regarded as perhaps the most pitcher-friendly environment in all of baseball.

Arkansas left-hander Kade Anderson, the No. 1 left-handed pitching prospect in baseball, pitched another gem Friday night, allowing only one hit over five scoreless innings, with no walks and nine strikeouts. In 10 pro starts, Anderson has a 1.29 ERA with 27 hits allowed and a 76-to-7 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 49 innings.

Mariners prospects in the latest Baseball America Top 100 list:

3. Colt Emerson, SS/3B*

7. Ryan Sloan, RHP

9. Kade Anderson, LHP

57. Lazaro Montes, OF/DH

98. Luke Stevenson, C

*Emerson will graduate from prospect status when he exceeds MLB rookie limits.

Who's Hot

Emerson, the Mariners' 20-year-old rookie, posted a .582 slugging percentage in his first 17 MLB games, with nine of his first 14 hits going for extra bases. Just four 20-year-olds have ever posted a higher slugging percentage their first 17 games: San Diego's Fernando Tatis Jr. (.583), Atlanta's Andruw Jones (.590) and the Nationals' Juan Soto (.593).

Who's Not

George Kirby has a 7.29 ERA over his past four starts, during which his season ERA has risen from 2.84 to 4.04. Kirby's 96.6-mph fastball still ranks as one of baseball's most effective - 91st percentile in run value, per MLB's Statcast - but his 19.8% strikeout rate is on pace for a career low.

Ex-Mariner of the Week

Edwin Arroyo, a 22-year-old switch-hitting shortstop, made his major-league debut for Cincinnati on Monday and had two hits, two walks and six strikeouts in his first 12 plate appearances. Arroyo was hitting .323 with 11 homers and nine steals in 53 Triple-A games this season. A 2021 second-round choice by the Mariners, Arroyo was one of four prospects Seattle sent to the Reds in the Luis Castillo trade in July 2022. Noelvi Marte, another top prospect in that deal, returned to Cincinnati on Wednesday after being recalled from Triple-A. Marte, 24, is hitting .152 in 36 plate appearances for the Reds this season.

Mariners Top 5: Runs Created

As part of the M's 50th season, we'll look back each week at the team's all-time leaders in various statistical categories. This week, it's the top five leaders in Runs Created, a metric developed by Bill James as a way to assess overall offensive performance. James' basic formula: base hits plus walks, multiplied by total bases; the result is divided by at-bats plus walks. Source: Baseball Reference.

Career

1. Edgar Martínez, 1,631

2. Ken Griffey Jr., 1,339

3. Ichiro, 1,269

4. Jay Buhner, 901

5. Kyle Seager, 796

Season

1. Edgar Martínez, 161 (1995)

2. Álex Rodríguez, 157 (1996)

3. Ken Griffey Jr., 152 (1997)

4. Álex Rodríguez, 150 (2000)

5. Ken Griffey Jr., 147 (1993)

Note: M's manager Dan Wilson ranks 10th on the career list (480), and J.P. Crawford (459) ranks highest among current players, at No. 12.

Power Rankings

MLB's definitive weekly rankings, from The Times' Adam Jude

1. Braves (Last week: 1)

2. Dodgers (3)

3. Brewers (5)

4. Rays (2)

5. Yankees (4)

6. Phillies (8)

7. Guardians (6)

8. Pirates (11)

9. Mariners (10)

10. Cardinals (9)

11. Padres (7)

12. White Sox (14)

13. Cubs (12)

14. Rangers (19)

15. Diamondbacks (13)

16. Nationals (17)

17. Orioles (22)

18. Reds (16)

19. Blue Jays (15)

20. Astros (20)

21. A's (18)

22. Twins (21)

23. Tigers (26)

24. Mets (23)

25. Red Sox (25)

26. Marlins (24)

27. Royals (27)

28. Giants (28)

29. Angels (29)

30. Rockies (30)

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