Mariners’ Jonny Farmelo Hits The Ground Running
Less than a year after a devastating knee injury led to season-ending surgery, 20-year-old center fielder Jonny Farmelo was looking as good as ever with High-A Everett.
Fans might be surprised to hear that—full tears of the anterior cruciate ligament typically require nine to 12 months of recovery—but those who know Farmelo aren’t shocked.
“Jonny is about as optimized from a health standpoint as anybody I’ve ever met and as diligent about taking care of his body,” Mariners minor league hitting coordinator CJ Gillman said. “I’m not surprised that (his recovery timeline) was on the shorter end.”
Prior to his injury, Farmelo was in the middle of a breakout season with Low-A Modesto. He was hitting .264/.298/.421 with four home runs and 18 steals through June 11 while also providing stellar defense.
Though he couldn’t participate in games and workouts after that point, Farmelo took the opportunity to develop other areas of his game.
“I think he said, ‘Look, I can’t do anything physical, so let me just crush the mental (development),’ ” Gillman said. “You’re watching a player who’s clearly grateful to be on the field and playing the game. Those types of perspective shifts are so impactful on your ability to handle the lumps of hitting.”
Farmelo is known for his breadth of tools, which have been on display this season. Through eight games he was hitting .257/.435/.714 with four homers, two doubles and a triple.
The growth in Farmelo’s on-field game can be attributed more to his natural progression as a player, rather than specific tweaks Seattle coaches have made with him.
“We drafted a really good player,” Gillman said. “We haven’t done much, if anything, physically with him. That’s one thing we hang our hat on as an organization—when guys come in with strengths, we’re pretty good about improving them incrementally without getting in the way.
“There’s nothing that needs to change drastically for him to be a really good big leaguer one day.”
While Farmelo was playing well, he’s still in the final stages of his recovery. The Mariners expect to ease Farmelo back into games with planned off days throughout the season. Those limitations will gradually disappear as the season progresses.
MARINADE
— Triple-A Tacoma second baseman Cole Young batted .455/.539/.818 from May 6–11, which earned him Pacific Coast League player of the week honors and a spot on the Prospect Hot Sheet.
— Mariners No. 1 prospect Colt Emerson was thriving for High-A Everett in May, hitting .342/.438/.579 with three homers and seven walks against just seven strikeouts.
— Slugger Lazaro Montes was demolishing High-A Everett, hitting .276/.401/.578 with a Northwest League-leading seven homers. He also had cut his strikeout rate from 29.6% in his previous stint with the AquaSox to 26.8% this season.
— Righthander Ryan Sloan is turning heads as a 19-year-old with Low-A Modesto. The Mariners’ 2024 second-rounder has a 3.31 ERA with 19 strikeouts and just five walks in 16.1 innings.
