Could Mariners’ top prospect Cole Young ascend to MLB as soon as this summer?
SEATTLE – The question isn’t whether Cole Young will eventually earn a promotion to the big leagues.
It’s how quickly will the Mariners’ top prospect get here.
Jerry Dipoto, president of baseball operations, isn’t ruling out anything with the 20-year-old infielder, including the possibility of Young joining the major-league club as soon as this summer.
In his first big-league camp this spring, Young impressed Mariners manager Scott Servais with his advanced approach at the plate, solidifying his top-prospect status and generating buzz about a potential midseason call-up.
Young will open this year with the Double-A Arkansas Travelers when their season opens Friday in North Little Rock.
As Dipoto noted, “Once you get to Arkansas, you’re in play (for a major-league promotion).”
Young will be one of the youngest players in the Double-A Texas League. Two of the Mariners’ other top prospects, catcher Harry Ford, 21, and first baseman Tyler Locklear, 23, will join Young to form the nucleus of Arkansas’ lineup.
A 2025 major-league call-up is the more realistic timeline for all three prospects, but if they’re able to produce in Arkansas, they could force Dipoto’s hand.
“They are on the (MLB) depth chart, and they’ve shown by climbing to this level of the system that they’re capable,” Dipoto said.
The Mariners do have a recent history of calling up prospects straight from Double-A. They did it with Julio Rodriguez and George Kirby in 2021, and they did it with Bryce Miller and Bryan Woo last season.
“We don’t mind throwing the young players in the deep end of the pool and letting them paddle,” Dipoto said. “Because that’s how you learn.”
Young, the Mariners’ 2022 first-round pick out of high school in suburban Pittsburgh, has a clean and simple left-handed swing.
He’s a contact hitter who uses the whole field – he had nearly as many walks (96) as strikeouts (98) between two Class A stops in 2023 – and more power than you’d expect from his 6-foot, 180-pound frame. He hit two home runs during Cactus League play this spring, including a 440-foot blast onto the grass berm at the Mariners’ Peoria Sports Complex.
“Cole’s got a good heartbeat,” Dipoto said. “And I think everybody learned how good his heartbeat is. He never gets going too fast. He understands the pace of the game. He knows his skill set. No one is going to be less surprised by the things he does than Cole.”
Primarily a shortstop during his first two pro seasons, Young played mostly second base for the Mariners during spring training, and that projects as his long-term position in the majors.
In 14 games with the Mariners during Cactus League play, Young was 8 for 24 (.333) with two homers, two doubles and a .987 OPS.
“He’s hit everywhere he’s gone. He dominates the strike zone. He’s a high-contact hitter,” Dipoto said. “He is a reliable defender who can handle both of the middle (infield) spots. He has enough on-base ability that he can hit at roughly any of the first three spots in a lineup and make the lineup go. He’s a good base runner.
“He does a lot of really good things on the baseball field that are well beyond his years of experience.”
The ballpark in Arkansas is known to be a challenge for hitters – particularly right-handed hitters – and Dipoto said he’ll be curious to see how Ford and Locklear (both right-handed) handle that early this season.
Hogan Windish (22 homers, .878 OPS at High-A Everett in 2023) and Spencer Packard (14 homers, .842 OPS) are more names to watch in Arkansas’ lineup.
“The likelihood that they spend the entire year in Arkansas is very low,” Dipoto said of the group. “The greater likelihood is that they quickly move on to Tacoma or even here (to Seattle) as needs arise.”