Here's the Mariners' Spring Breakout roster
Jesus Cano
@jesus_cano88PEORIA, Ariz. -- Cole Young has opened some eyes in big league Spring Training. Now MLB Pipeline’s No. 37 prospect will get the opportunity to shine on a new stage.
Seattle’s top prospect and the nine other players in the Top 10 will showcase their talents while providing a glimpse into the future when they participate in MLB’s inaugural Spring Breakout. Seattle is one of five teams to send each of its Top 10 prospects.
The Mariners and Padres' top prospects were scheduled to face each last Friday, but the game was rained out. Fortunately, the two organizations, which share the Peoria Sports Complex for Spring Training, already had a prospects game scheduled for Saturday, so they've turned that contest into their Spring Breakout matchup.
“It's an opportunity to show, especially with the talent that we have, and when we look at a lot of our top prospects, quite a few of them are young position players,” Mariners director of player development Justin Toole said. “So it's an opportunity for fans and the baseball world to kind of get a glimpse of them earlier than maybe they would have in the past.”
Young, Seattle’s first-round pick in 2022, had a standout season in 2023, where he was one of only seven Minor Leaguers with at least 30 doubles, 20 steals and 90 runs scored. This spring, he is batting .273 with a home run and five RBIs.
But he isn’t the only Mariners’ MLB Top 100 member scheduled for the showdown. Harry Ford (No. 38) -- the fourth-highest-ranked catcher -- and shortstop/second baseman Colt Emerson (No. 87) are penciled in.
Ford had a busy 2023, starting with the World Baseball Classic, where he hit two home runs for Great Britain. He slashed .257/.410/.430 with 15 home runs and 67 RBIs for High-A Everett and drew the third-most walks in the Minors, and finished the year with the Peoria Javelinas of the Arizona Fall League.
Around this time last season, Emerson, the Mariners' No. 22 overall pick in 2023, was still a high school senior in Ohio with advanced hitting with a pretty left-handed swing. While the sample size was small, the 18-year-old continued his success by hitting .374 with 10 doubles and 13 RBIs through rookie ball and Single-A.
Along with Emerson, Tai Peete, Jonny Farmelo and Ben Williamson are the other Day 1 picks from last year’s Draft who will participate in the game.
Tyler Locklear, who played in the AFL’s Fall Stars Game, gets a chance to impress after missing time last season with a broken hand.
Jeter Martinez, Logan Evans and Brody Hopkins are the highest-ranked pitching prospects in Seattle’s organization who will take the mound. This will be the first time Hopkins -- Seattle's sixth-round pick in 2023 -- will display what he brings.
As the Padres field their top 14 prospects, including three from Pipeline’s Top 100, this matchup promises to be a fiercely competitive look into the future talent of both organizations.
How can I tune in?
The game will be available on MLB Digital (MLB.TV, MLB.com, MLB App), Mariners.com, Padres.com and Gameday.
What is Spring Breakout?
MLB Spring Breakout was a four-day event showcasing baseball’s future: the current stars of Minor League Baseball. The inaugural edition was held from March 14-17 at Grapefruit and Cactus League stadiums during Spring Training. A series of 16 exhibition games were scheduled to be played between teams comprised of each MLB organization’s top prospects, creating a new touchpoint on the baseball calendar that celebrates our sport’s budding talent. Three of the March 15 games were rained out.
Here's the Mariners' Spring Breakout roster with MLB Pipeline's rankings: