Breaking down Mariners' new Top 30 Prospects
This story was excerpted from Daniel Kramer’s Mariners Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
SEATTLE -- It’s been one month since the MLB Draft, and all of the Mariners’ selections have reported to lower-level affiliates, with some even reaching Single-A Modesto already.
As such, with the dust settled on the Mariners' 19 selections of 2023, MLB Pipeline has unveiled its midseason re-rank of its Top 100 list across the sport and the Top 30s for each club.
The Mariners received a fairly notable facelift among their group, headlined by each of their top three selections -- Colt Emerson (No. 22 overall pick), Jonny Farmelo (No. 29) and Tai Peete (No. 30) -- all cracking Seattle’s Top 10 in the prospect re-rank.
Here’s a look at the Mariners’ top prospects:
Biggest jump/fall
Here are the players whose ranks changed the most from the preseason list:
Jump: Alberto Rodriguez (Preseason: 28 | Midseason: 18): The youngster was promoted to Double-A Arkansas to begin the second half and has slashed a formidable .255/.306/.327 (.633 OPS).
Fall: Taylor Dollard, RHP (Preseason: 9 | Midseason: 22): Dollard suffered a shoulder impingement that has sidelined him to the point where he’ll be out for the rest of the season.
New to the list
Here are the players added to the Top 30 from outside the organization:
4. Emerson, SS (Draft)
9. Farmelo, OF (Draft)
10. Peete, SS (Draft)
13. Aidan Smith, OF (Draft)
17. Teddy McGraw, RHP (Draft)
20. Ben Williamson, 3B (Draft)
Impact callup: RHP Emerson Hancock
What more impact could you expect than the farm system’s top pitching prospect immersing himself in the thick of a pennant chase with the performance that he showed on Wednesday? Hancock is here to stay, probably even after Bryan Woo returns from the 15-day injured list, in large part because the Mariners will need pitching reinforcements down the stretch.
Best tools
Players are graded on a traditional 20-80 scouting scale for future tools -- 20-30 is well below average, 40 is below average, 50 is average, 60 is above average and 70-80 is well above average. Players in parentheses have the same grade.
Hit: 60 -- Young (Emerson)
Power: 60 -- Lazaro Montes
Run: 70 -- Jonatan Clase
Arm: 60 -- Ford (Peete, Smith)
Defense: 55 -- Felnin Celesten (Peete, Smith, Ryan Bliss, Williamson, Axel Sanchez)
Fastball: 60 -- Prelander Berroa (Ty Adcock, Isaiah Campbell, Travis Kuhn)
Curveball: 50 -- Hancock
Slider: 55 -- Prelander Berroa (Hancock, Ashton Izzi, Campbell)
Changeup: 55 -- Hancock (McGraw)
Control: 60 -- Dollard