Mariners Hot Stove: Evan White interview, inside Baseball America’s top 10 M’s prospects

If you missed the Mariners Hot Stove show on 710 ESPN Seattle Tuesday night, you missed two hours of baseball conversation with an array of guests that hit on everything from the Astros’ cheating scandal to the second and third wave of Mariners prospects and their 2019 progress.

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Houston Astros beat writer Brian McTaggart, new Mariners head athletic trainer Kyle Torgerson, first baseman Evan White and Baseball America’s Bill Mitchell all joined Rick Rizzs, Dan Wilson and Gary Hill on the Stove, and lucky for you, we have a podcast.

White called in from Arizona, where he is getting ready for spring training. With the offseason coming to a close, Wilson was interested in the specifics of White’s work and what his areas of focus were both offensively and defensively this winter. Defense was indeed a focus, which is nothing new for White. He shared the story of how he has evolved his defense, which is rated to be among the best at his position in the minors. Who his influences were, what he looks to improve on in 2020 and which teammates from Double-A Arkansas he thinks Mariners fans should get excited about can also be heard in the podcast.

Next up was Torgerson, who joins the Mariners training staff coming over from the Diamondbacks. A UW grad and former player at Bellevue Community College, Torgerson grew up in Edmonds watching the Mariners and is thrilled to be home with the opportunity to make an impact on the players for the home team.

Torgerson spoke to the changes in training we have seen since the days when he was a player. The understanding of biomechanics and the data that comes from it has changed the training game, and it is a passion of Torgerson’s. He explained how the impact of what can be called new-school training has shown to have on players, and how it has led to more of a collaboration between the trainers and coaches in keeping those players healthy. A trainer is doing far more than just being on hand in case an injury occurs when you see him on the rail during a game. They are looking for cues that can alert to a possible injury and Torgerson gave a good explanation of this.

Wrapping up the first hour was McTaggart, who covers the Astros for MLB.com. He gave an update on the Astros’ search for a manager after the suspension and subsequent firing of AJ Hinch, then shared some thoughts on what he expected to see from the players as far as a more complete response to the cheating scandal when they hit spring training. McTaggart believes the team will still be very good in 2020, but after that there are big question marks with a number of prominent Astros contracts coming up and draft pick penalties in both 2020 and 2021.

Mitchell was the final guest and addressed the first question, giving the hows and whys behind Baseball America jumping Julio Rodriguez over Jarred Kelenic for the top spot in their latest organizational top 10 list. In his words, it was the toughest call at the top of a list that he has had to make in his time at Baseball America and that the Mariners have a good problem on their hands with “two bona fide No. 1 prospects.”

Mitchell went into depth on a number of prospects including Brandon Williamson and Isaiah Campbell, a pair of pitchers taken on the first day of the 2019 draft, and highly-touted 18-year-old shortstop Noelvi Marte, who he sees likely to ultimately land at third base. Mitchell also addressed what the Mariners’ top 10 list could look like going forward as a number of players should matriculate to the big leagues in the next year.

The Mariners Hot Stove can be heard on 710 ESPN Seattle on Tuesday nights from 7-9 p.m.

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