The Mariners’ most successful affiliate over the past few seasons hopes for a fresh infusion of star power
As the regular season approaches, so too is it time for the minor league season to start up. The Mariners have one of the best farm systems in baseball, and following the minor-league games is both exciting and often a welcome balm when the big-league club is frustrating. Check in on Mondays, the MiLB off-day, for our weekly minor-league roundup to track all your favorite prospects. To get you ready for the MiLB season, as we do every year, we’ll be previewing each affiliate, going over the schedule, coaching staff, and projected rosters.
In case you missed any of our previous writeups, find Triple-A Tacoma here, Double-A Arkansas here, and High-A Everett here. This will conclude our series for now; the ACL and DSL Mariners will start up later this season.
If you’re a pitching person excited-but-not-thrilled about all the position player prospects coming up through the system, Modesto is your affiliate. Most of the biggest-upside arms in the system will be here, including some we haven’t gotten to see anything from yet. If that wasn’t enough, shortstop prospect Felnin Celesten finally makes his full-season debut. It might not be the loaded squad of previous years, but there’s plenty of intrigue at the lowest level full-season affiliate.
2025 Schedule:
The reigning California League champions get to open at home this Friday, April 4, with a three-game set against the San Jose Giants, two teams that always play each other very tough. They then go on the road for a six-game set against the Lake Elsinore Storm as they begin the alternating home/away six-game series, with Monday off-days, that are standard across minor-league baseball.
Coaching Staff:
With the promotion of last year’s staff up to Everett, there will be lots of new faces on the dugout rail in Modesto. Luis Caballero, who has been managing the ACL Mariners for the past three seasons, moves up to Modesto to take the helm; he’s been in the organization so long he was a coach for the Clinton LumberKings, who haven’t been an affiliate since 2018. New to the organization is Hitting Coach Brock Stassi, yes as in Max’s older brother. Stassi spent the last two seasons as a hitting coach in the Phillies organization; he also played for the Phillies big-league club in 2017. Jake Witt returns as Pitching Coach for a third season and will have a slate of interesting arms to work with. Witt specializes in arsenal design, with a background at Driveline, and all pitching nerds should follow him on Instagram at jakewitt_ – you’ll find tons of interesting stuff related to pitching. New to coaching, but not new to the organization, is Bench Coach Josh Morgan. Morgan, a catcher, was in the Mariners’ MiLB system from 2021-23, and now makes the transition into his coaching career.
Broadcast Information:
Nuts games are available to watch on MiLB TV or the Bally Sports app. You can listen to games for free on the MiLB app or at https://www.milb.com/modesto/fans/audio-listen-live.
2025 Roster:
Catchers:
Jose Caguana, Connor Dykstra, Matthew Ellis
The catching depth has been thin in recent years, and the Nuts are unfortunately getting the short end of the stick here. Caguana was actually quite solid in the ACL last season and showed some promise, but lacked any staying power once he was promoted to Modesto late last season. Perhaps the young backstop just needed to get adjusted to the level and can return to his prior form to seize the starting catcher role. Connor Dykstra, a UDFA from last year, got some PT this spring and attended George Mason for his college ball with solid if unspectacular production. Matthew Ellis is perhaps my favorite option of this group, as the hulking backstop possesses big time power, good plate discipline, and solid bat to ball. He was a big time performer last season for Georgia Tech and signed with the Mariners as a UDFA thanks to his advanced age for the college level (he just turned 24 a few weeks ago). It isn’t all that often you can get a bona fide ACC performer that made second team All-Conference for essentially free, so we’re particularly excited to see how he fares during his first crack at pro ball.
Infielders:
Starlin Aguilar, Felnin Celesten, Ricardo Cova, Carter Dorighi, Austin St. Laurent, Dervy Ventura
This infield is much more “sneaky good” than the last few years of superstars, but there’s a chance we could see enough production out of this group to keep the lineup afloat. It all starts with Felnin Celesten, the one true superstar in this lineup and comfortably the best player on the team. He’s battled some fluky injuries early in his career and is looking to re-establish himself as a premiere prospect in the game. His mix of speed, hit, power, and defense is incredibly rare and gives him the highest ceiling of any prospect in this system. He’s special.
Beyond Celesten, both Dervy Ventura and Ricardo Cova were excellent last season for the ACL Mariners, though Cova struggled in a brief stint with Modesto upon being promoted. Both are on the small side and profile best at second base, using a line drive approach at the plate to get their business done. Neither is really a burner on the basepaths, but Cova managed to swipe 16 bags last season and neither is an anchor in the run game. Cova in particular saw a lot of time with the big-league club this spring. Neither are Top 30 guys just yet, but have the potential to make their way into that territory. Aguilar was once a top international recruit for the Mariners that was deemed “Baby Devers”, but he’s struggled to live up to that namesake. He made a lot of physical changes last season, adding a ton of lean muscle, but that’s yet to translate into significant improvements at the plate. Finally, Dorighi and St. Laurent were with the Nuts after the draft last season, with Dorighi being a UDFA and St. Laurent a 14th rounder out of App State. They both bring versatility defensively and briefly showed well upon making their pro debuts.
Outfielders:
Carlos Jimenez, Ryan Picollo, Cesar Quintas, Curtis Washington Jr.
This is another group that doesn’t get super-interesting until rehabbing top draft pick Jonny Farmelo is (hopefully) added to it. Like Aguilar, Jimenez was a buzzy, high-dollar signing in 2019, but his progress up the minor-league ladder has been slow and laborious. In a half season, he contributed a lot to Modesto’s championship run last season, and as a reward, saw significant time with the big-league club this spring. Old for the level at 22, he’ll try to earn his way to Everett ASAP. The other returner is speed-and-defense centerfielder Curtis Washington Jr., who is a 10/10 human and definitely has a career in coaching if he wants to pursue that. Enormous Ryan Picollo is 6’5” and was drafted with the Mariners’ final pick in last year’s draft; he’s the son of Royals GM J.J. Picollo and has some interesting power-speed potential. Quintas is a Mariners MiLB Rule 5 draft choice, and you should pay attention to him because he comes from the San Jose Giants, who play the Nuts approximately 7,854 times a season..
Pitchers:
Yensy Bello, Gage Boehm, Walter Ford, Jose Geraldo, Harrison Kreiling, Christian Little, Aneury Lora, Pedro Da Costa Lemos, Wyatt Lunsford-Shenkman, Jeter Martinez, Harold Melenge, Jean Munoz, Anyelo Ovando, Adrian Quintana, Calvin Schapira, Ryan Sloan, Matt Tiberia
This group divides fairly easily into classes of players. The Prospects are Ford, Little, Martinez, and Sloan. Sloan and Martinez have the most shine to them with considerable ceiling, however neither has pitched in affiliated ball just yet and will need to show just how well their arsenal will play. Sky high ceilings, but there’s essentially no floor. Ford and Little are both exciting pieces that could easily blossom thanks to their intriguing stuff, however need to prove they are more than what they’ve shown on the field in recent years. The collegiate, fast-moving bullpen pieces are Kreiling, Lunsford-Shenkman, and Tiberia, with Lunsford-Shenkman and Kreiling each possessing a wicked slider capable of getting punchouts. The returners are Boehm, Da Costa Lemos, Lora, Geraldo, Munoz, Quintana, and Ovando. This bullpen has some big time stuff from guys like Munoz, Ovando, and to a lesser degree Boehm, a massive human who struck out 15 in eight innings after being signed as an UDFA last season. Yensy Bello and Jeter Martinez combined to throw a no-hitter in the DSL in 2023 and Harold Melenge is an undersized crafty lefty type that’s performed well at essentially every stop thus far but is a bit older for someone of his experience level. Calvin Schapira is a Driveline signee out of Indy ball and possesses a funky lefthanded arm slot and a deep pitch mix with a heater in the low 90’s.
Projected IL:
Jonny Farmelo, Tyler Gough, Trevor Long, Will Riley
Top prospect Jonny Farmelo was a known commodity over the offseason after missing most of last season with a torn ACL, however Tyler Gough, Trevor Long, and Will Riley were all more of a mystery. It wasn’t until recently Gough went public with his Tommy John surgery over the winter, a big blow for a pitcher that was starting to come into his own on the mound. Will Riley, last year’s eighth rounder out of Virginia Military Institute, made a brief debut for the Nuts last season while Trevor Long, a UDFA out of ASU, got more run in the bullpen and was excellent. Long has been placed on the 60 day IL while Riley has not, perhaps a good sign for Riley and his return to the Nuts.