Mariners first-round pick Colt Emerson: ‘The goal is to win a World Series’

Colt Emerson, the Mariners’ top pick in the first round of the MLB draft, wasn’t shy about sharing his lofty ambitions in his first meeting with Seattle reporters Monday afternoon.

Asked if there were a major-leaguer after whom he models his game, Emerson quickly pointed to Yankees legend Derek Jeter.

“Just the way he loved to win and the way he helped his teammates play up to his talent,” said Emerson, a shortstop/third baseman from Cambridge, Ohio, selected No. 22 overall Sunday. “He made guys better and he was a great source of leadership for that team.”

And Emerson’s goal is to someday make the Mariners better.

“If you have a team full of guys doing stuff for themselves, you’re never going to win a World Series doing that, right?” he said on a Zoom call. “The goal is to win a World Series. It’s not to boost yourself.”

The Mariners used all three of their first-round picks on left-handed-hitting high-school position players. After Emerson, they drafted outfielder Jonny Farmelo (Chantilly, Va.) at No. 29 and shortstop Tai Peete (Sharpsburg, Ga.) at No. 30.

On Day 2 of the draft Monday, the Mariners used four of their eight picks on college pitchers, starting with Wake Forest right-hander Teddy McGraw.

McGraw missed all of his junior season this year after having Tommy John surgery on his elbow, his second such surgery. The Mariners have had success drafting players who have had the surgery, most notably current big-leaguer Bryan Woo, a sixth-round pick in 2021.

The Mariners also selected three other right-handed pitchers: Brody Hopkins (Round 6) out of Winthrop University; Ty Cummings (Round 7) out of Campbell University; and Ryan Hawks (Round 8) out of the University of Louisville.

Seattle’s other four selections Monday:

Round 4: Aidan Smith, a 6-foot-3, 195-pound outfielder from Lovejoy High School (Lucas, Texas).

Round 5: Brock Rodden, a 5-foot-9, 170-pound infielder out of Wichita State.

Round 9: RJ Schreck, a 6-foot-1, 210-pound outfielder out of Vanderbilt.

Round 10: Jared Sundstrom, a 6-foot-3, 225-pound outfielder out of the UC Santa Barbara.

Two UW pitchers drafted

After a breakthrough season at UW, right-hander Kiefer Lord was selected by Baltimore in the third round (No. 86 overall) Monday.

He’s the Huskies’ highest-drafted player since Austin Rei (No. 81) in 2015.

The Huskies’ closer, Case Matter, a Mill Creek native, was selected in the 10th round by Texas.

Washington State outfielder Jonah Advincula was selected by the Cleveland Guardians with the 248th pick.

Logan Gilbert takes weekly honor

Logan Gilbert’s best week in the big leagues got a little bit better Monday.

The 26-year-old right-hander was named American League Player of the Week after throwing his first career shutout last week in San Francisco.

In two starts, Gilbert allowed one run over 16 innings with no walks and 13 strikeouts last week, leading the Mariners to two victories.

His July 4 shutout against the Giants was the first thrown by a Mariners pitcher since 2019.

Gilbert is the second Mariners player to win AL Player of the Week this season, joining outfielder Julio Rodriguez (May 22-28). Gilbert is the first Seattle pitcher to win AL Player of the Week since left-hander James Paxton won it May 12, 2018.

The Spokesman-Review contributed to this report.