Young Gun Delivers! Top 100 Prospect Cole Young Wins it for Mariners in Spring Training Thriller
The Seattle Mariners roster was thought to be set going into spring training. With that fact looming over the Peoria Sports Complex in Peoria, Ariz., a lot of the attention has been delegated to the prospects at big league camp for the Mariners.
In the first week of spring training, many Seattle minor leaguers have answered the call and have been solid to great. But the prospect with the most expectations going into spring training had yet to find his footing.
Cole Young, MLB Pipeline’s No. 49 prospect and Baseball America’s No. 56 prospect, was 2-for-7 (.286) with one run and no RBIs entering a game against the San Diego Padres on Friday. He’d been relegated to a designated hitter/pinch hitter role due to a sore arm that’s kept him from playing defense.
The 21 year-old Young had his first signature moment of the spring in the top of the seventh against the Padres. With the score tied 1-1, Young hit an RBI double to left-center field that scored catcher Nick Raposo from first base. The double resulted in the Mariners’ eventual 2-1 win.
Last year with the Double-A Arkansas Travelers, Young hit .271 with nine home runs, 57 RBIs and 23 steals in 124 games.
Young was anticipated to compete for the open second base job with Dylan Moore, Ryan Bliss and Leo Rivas.
The sore arm and lack of playing time on defense has put Young at a disadvantage in the competition. But there’s still over three weeks until Seattle begins the regular season against the Athletics on March 27. There’s still a lot of time for Young to bounce back and make his case to be the Mariners starting second baseman.
