Stephen Pryor got a much-deserved promotion to Triple-A Tacoma after impressing the Seattle Mariners with his work this year. Pryor had been pitching at Double-A Jackson, where he went 1-0 with 7 saves and a paltry ERA of just 1.13 over 16 innings of work.

I think it is almost at the point where the Mariners have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to pitching in their minor league system. There isn’t another team in baseball that is as deep in the minors as the Mariners’, which certainly raises the level of expectations about how well this team should do by 2014 or 2015.

I got to see Pryor pitch a little bit during spring training this year, but he only pitched one official inning. He walked a batter and struck out two others, showing the talent that he has to simply blow away hitters. During Monday’s Mariners game (May 7), Mike Blowers was talking about how Pryor was reaching 100 mph out of the bullpen in Jackson. I love hearing numbers like that, because the Mariners have never had a closer that simply went out there and blew hitters away.

Looking harder at the numbers that Pryor put up at Double-A this season, it’s amazing to note that he allowed just 7 hits in his 16 innings of work. That’s simply an unbelievable statistic, showing just much better he was than most of the hitters at that level. He also struck out 24 batters in those 11 games, leading to a .125 batting average against him. If he can get anywhere close to those numbers at his next two stops, Pryor could seriously become a hot commodity in the Seattle bullpen.

I am a fan of Brandon League, but with the life-expectancy of closers being so low in baseball, I am really glad that Pryor is coming along so well. His success brings up another question though, because it takes away some of the value that Chance Ruffin could have had with the big club. Maybe the pair will start shutting down opponents in the eighth and ninth innings for the Rainiers and lead to the Mariners promoting them both at the same time in September.

More From YCN:

Miguel Olivo Heads to DL

May 2012 Mariners Schedule

Mariners At Spring Training

Casper Wells Ready to Rock

Mariners Payroll Breakdown

References:

Mariners_Pitching_Stats

Mariners_Hitting_Stats

Best_Mariners_Of_All_Time

Seattle_Mariners_Team_Page

*Ryan is a lifelong Seattle Mariners fan who never misses an opportunity to attend a game at Safeco Field. He has been attending games since 1985, and has fond memories of The Kingdome, Edgar Martinez, and the historic 1995 team. Sodo Mojo!

The Seattle Mariners snped a four-game skid in their opener in Detroit, and they have to feel awfully confident about securing a series victory with the man they’ll send to the mound next.

Coming off a 12-strikeout effort, Felix Hernandez looks to become the first pitcher in 23 years to win a ninth straight decision against the Tigers on Wednesday night.

Seattle (8-10) lost six of nine on a homestand prior to arriving in Detroit, including their last four while totaling eight runs. The offense broke out at Comerica Park on Tuesday, pounding out a season-high 15 hits in a 7-4 victory.

“Our team did a pretty good job putting pressure on the pitcher,” said infielder Alex Liddi, who had a career-high three hits. “Every inning, we had somebody on base, so it was a really good game for us.”

It was the Mariners’ sixth win in eight games against Detroit (10-7) – all in the Motor City – and now they’ll turn to the pitcher who’s been responsible for tormenting the Tigers for even longer. Hernandez is 8-0 with a 3.05 ERA in his last nine starts in the series, posting quality starts in his last seven without allowing a homer in 47 2-3 innings.

With a victory Wednesday, Hernandez will become the first pitcher since Dennis Lamp in 1989 to win nine decisions in a row against Detroit. Lamp’s streak of 11 consecutive victories – six as a starter – versus the Tigers began in 1982 and saw him pitch for the Chicago White Sox, Toronto, Oakland and Boston.

Hernandez (1-1, 2.76 ERA) only faced one team – the A’s – in his first three outings this season, and he turned in his best performance so far when he finally saw someone else. The right-hander held the Indians to five hits and struck out 12 over eight scoreless innings Thursday, but Brandon League couldn’t close it as the Mariners lost 2-1.

“Felix was incredible tonight,” manager Eric Wedge said. “… Just a tremendous effort.”

Though Hernandez has fared very well against the Tigers throughout his career, Miguel Cabrera is 9 for 18 with three walks when facing the 2010 AL Cy Young Award winner.

Cabrera homered Tuesday and is 12 for 29 (.414) over his last seven games.

Detroit’s offense may need to provide a decent amount of support if it plans on winning with Adam Wilk (0-2, 4.00) on the hill. The rookie left-hander gave up only three hits – thought two were homers – while lasting five innings in his first career start ril 14, but he allowed 10 hits and three runs while only getting through four in Thursday’s 10-3 loss to Texas.

Wilk has actually pitched in the same game as Hernandez before, giving up a two-run homer to Justin Smoak in the ninth inning of a 7-3 Seattle win at Comerica on June 12. Hernandez went eight in that contest before League pitched the ninth.

League hasn’t allowed a run to the Tigers in 16 pearances spanning 18 innings dating to September 2006.

Liddi started at first base Tuesday with Smoak dealing with soreness in his right hamstring, but Smoak should be back in the lineup Wednesday.

Detroit should hope he needs a few more days to recover. Smoak hit five of his 15 homers last season against the Tigers, including four at Comerica.

Seattle Mariners’ Dustin Ackley slides safely into home plate to score as Detroit Tigers catcher Alex Avila waits for the throw on a Kyle Seager RBI single in the third inning of a baseball game in Detroit on Tuesday. / Paul Sancya/