Within hours of trading reliever Stephen Pryor to the Minnesota Twins for 1B/DH Kendrys Morales, the Mariners Thursday made three more roster moves and announced a fourth. Called up were 1B/DH Jesus Montero and SS Chris Taylor from AAA Tacoma, put on the 15-day disabled list was Willie Bloomquist and confirmed that RHP Taijuan Walker was optioned to the Rainiers.
Montero, 24, returns to the Mariners for the second time this year and will hit sixth Thursday against Orioles lefty Wei-Yin Chen. In five games in June, Montero hit .286 (4×14) with one home run and two RBIs. In the 21 games since being shipped out June 25, Montero hit .420 (34×81) with eight doubles, seven home runs and 29 RBIs (1.238 OPS). In 80 games with the Rainiers this season, Montero hit .310 with 23 doubles, 15 home runs and 69 RBI.
Taylor, 23, will be make his major league debut Thursday night when he starts at shortstop and bats ninth in the 7 p.m. series opener against the Baltimore Orioles.
In 75 games with the Rainiers, Taylor hit .328 with 63 runs, 22 doubles, seven triples, five home runs and 37 RBIs. Among Pacific Coast League leaders, Taylor ranks second in batting average, T4 in runs and T3 in triples. Taylor went 3-for-3 with two doubles in the AAA All-Star Game to earn Top Star honors. Taylor is batting .347 over his last 19.
Selected by the Mariners in the fifth round of the 2012 June draft out of the University of Virginia, Taylor hit .320 with 96 extra-base hits and 119 RBIs in 258 minor league games. He has appeared almost exclusively at shortstop (192 G) and second base (54 G).
Bloomquist was injured legging out an RBI ground-out in the eighth inning in Wednesday’s 3-2 loss to the New York Mets. In 47 games, he is batting .278 while playing seven positions.
Walker (1-2) allowed two earned runs in five innings and took the loss Wednesday night.
1 Comment
I like this move. Hallelujah.