Seattle Mariners: Rule 5 pick Will Vest big part of M’s bullpen turnaround
Joe Swenson
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The Seattle Mariners’ most recent Rule 5 Draft addition, Will Vest, is tearing it up so far in 2021.
By now, nearly every Seattle Mariners fan has heard of Will Vest. Why? Aside from having one of the shortest names in MLB, the rookie, Rule 5 Draft pickup is outperforming his more experienced teammates in the early stages of the 2021 season. Today we dig a little deeper.
Vest-ory
The Beginning
Will Vest played shortstop for nearly all of his life leading up to college. The 25, almost 26-year-old right-handed reliever graduated from Ridge Point High School in Sienna, Texas. The Lone Star State is a hotbed for professional sports talent, yet Vest is the only player on the Mariners from Texas.
Vest never started a single game as a pitcher in college or professionally. Some pitchers are like that, but they don’t come around very often. After his senior year at Stephen F. Austin, he was drafted in the 12th round by the Detroit Tigers in 2017.
Minor Leagues
It’s not like Vest toiled in the minors; he actually moved through the Tigers system pretty fast for someone that was drafted as late in the amateur draft as he was. He immediately made an impression with a mid-90s fastball and a mid-80s slider with late-breaking action. The same year Detroit drafted him, Vest appeared in 21 Rookie League games, posting a 2.83 ERA and 0.84 WHIP.
In 2018 he struggled. Although Vest struck batters out at a higher clip (10.4-per-9-innings), he also gave up many more hits. Despite a promotion to High-A Lakeland, Vest’s struggles continued. He finished the year with a 5.18 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP.
The following season, Vest started in Lakeland and was outstanding, giving up only a pair of runs in 21.1 innings and striking out 30. His performance earned a promotion to Double-A Erie, where he fell flat.
Despite the poor results, he was promoted again to Triple-A Toledo, where he pitched 6.2 innings in three appearances and yielded two earned runs. His 2019 ended in the Arizona Fall League, where he was terrible.
Overall, his minor league numbers don’t look terrible. Vest has a career 3.88 ERA and 1.24 WHIP. What stands out the most is that he only gave up eight home runs in 132.1 minor league innings. Very impressive numbers. He also struck out batters at a 9.7-per-9-innings clip.
Vest did not play during the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He did, however, play in the Arizona Fall League again. That’s where he caught the eye of Seattle Mariners scouts.
Will Vest, worked 95-96 T97 w/ hard ASR. Both secondaries flashed AA. Hard SL @ 86-88 F good lateral. CH may better of the two, heavy fade, parachute in mid 80s. Pieces for potential hi lev relief role. #Tigers pic.twitter.com/ibreXjgD1Q
— Kyler Peterson (@KPetersonPG) October 17, 2020