The Mariners announced Monday that they’ve designated right-hander Jimmy Yacabonis for assignment. His spot on the active roster goes to first baseman/outfielder Jose Marmolejos, who has been selected from Triple-A Tacoma.
Yacabonis, 29, hasn’t pitched in the Majors with Seattle this season and only tossed 2 1/3 innings with them last year after coming over in a cash deal with the Padres. He opted for free agency last winter after the Mariners removed him from the roster but ultimately returned to Seattle on a minor league pact. The Mariners selected him to the Major League roster just this weekend, but he didn’t appear in a game prior to being designated.
It’s been a strong season for Yacabonis down in Triple-A, where he’s logged 31 1/3 innings of 1.72 ERA ball with a 23 percent strikeout rate, a 7.1 percent walk rate and a 45.9 percent ground-ball rate. Opponents have batted just .205/.282/.286 against him through 124 plate appearances so far in 2021.
It’s a continuation of a strong Triple-A track record for Yacabonis, who carries a career 2.94 ERA in 192 2/3 innings at that level. He’s had a much tougher go in the Majors, with a 5.71 ERA through 104 frames — nearly all of which have come with the Orioles. Yacabonis hasn’t gotten much of a look with another club in the Majors to date, but it’s possible that with rosters set to expand, his strong work down in Tacoma will earn him a look with another organization once he’s placed on waivers. He’s out of minor league options, so if he does land elsewhere, his new club will have to carry him on the MLB roster or else again expose him to waivers before sending him down.
Marmolejos, 28, was outrighted off the 40-man roster earlier this season after batting .139/.266/.278 in 94 plate appearances. He’s had an absolutely mammoth season down in Tacoma, however, hitting .260/.452/.700 with 23 long balls, 13 doubles and three triples in 303 plate appearances. He’s played himself back onto the 40-man roster with that huge showing and will now have another opportunity to show whether he can carry some of that production over to the big leagues in the season’s final five weeks.
I don’t mind this move. They need another bat and Marmo has hit well in AAA
Yacabonis and Marmolejos. Perhaps the most phonetically beautiful roster transaction pair of all time.
Um hitting well is an understatement lol….360 average…long overdue
360 avg in triple A =150 average in MLB
Had no clue marmolejos was babe ruthing triple a like that, my gosh.
There is an error in the articles. Marmolejos is hitting .360 in Tacoma, not .260
Marmolejis: voulez vous coucher avec moi?
Ce soir?
I’d much rather see Dayeison Arias b given a shot. How he is still in AA is beyond me. Throws 98 with a wipeout slider, has a sub 2 ERA, only 2.96 BB/9 with an eye popping 14 K/9. We’ve all seen what Marmo can do in the bigs. He is a prototypical AAAA player. I doubt it will be any different this time around.
Huh? They want to add a bat so you think they should go with a AA reliever? I would bring up Ray Kerr before Arias. He is unhittable when in the zone, which he usually is. He’s in AAA, throws a wipeout slider from the left side and can throw 100 as well
Edwin Diaz was called up directly from AA if I recall.
Arias isn’t remotely close to Diaz in stuff. As I said, Kerr is better and closer if they wanted a power reliever. Munoz is throwing in Arizona and sitting 99 as well. Nothing against Arias as I like him, just not right now.
Well Arias, and Kerr would be a huge improvement over Smith and Andriese. I think we can both agree on that.
Smith has been in 14 games. In 12 of those games he didn’t allow a run.. Just before he allowed his first run (August 25), the announcers were talking about how perfect he’d been, not even allowing inherited runs to score.
Then he messed up, and he messed up again a couple days later. Other than those two days, he’s been perfect.
Hey elias! A chance for a recycle!