The Seattle Mariners, rumored to be activating their top minor league prospect 2B Dustin Ackley next week, surprised many observers by calling him up after their game on Wednesday and activating him right away. Ackley is expected to be in the Mariners lineup for their interleague contest against the Philadelphia Phillies in Seattle on Friday night.
One of the benefits of calling Ackley up Wednesday was to give him a full day to get acquainted with everything at Safeco field and have an extra day with his coaches and teammates on their off day Thursday.
While Ackley, the second pick in the 2009 MLB draft after Stephen Strasburg, will not have the impact of home run hitters Mike Moustakas and Anthony Rizzo called up last week, he will be the priority addition this week for deeper mixed leagues and all AL leagues as many fantasy players could use the help at 2B or MI positions.
Ackley hit .300 this year at AAA Tacoma with nine home runs and thirty four RBI in sixty five games and stole seven bases in ten attempts. He may well start slowly for the Mariners - he has in his first games at every level, but for next year projects as a .300 hitter who will approach twenty HR and SB and should come close to a proration of those numbers for the balance of this year.
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