Seattle Mariners: Breaking the Status Quo Mentality of the Top 100 MLB Prospects
Future Megastar and Face of the Franchise
Julio Rodriguez is a beast and the uncontested number one Seattle Mariners prospect. His numbers were insane. He was better at AA in more at-bats than he was a high A. In 174 at bats, he batted .362 with a 1.007 OPS and he didn’t really hit a lot of home runs, but he hit a lot of balls very hard.
Also, J-Rod barely struck out at both levels, especially Arkansas. If his numbers translate to the big leagues, then the M’s are about to have a new face of their franchise. He deserves Top 3 prospect status from the big three (#2 Baseball America) evaluation sites.
From relative unknown to future megastar
Noelvi Marte has an incredible ceiling and is easily the Mariners’ second-best prospect. Yes, he has a bit of a strikeout problem and played only 8 games at High-A, but he’s on the rise.
Marte’s speed, power combination plays for a middle infielder, and the fact that he could move over to third base gives the Mariners something to look forward to. It’s even more true if they can’t land Kris Bryant. At 20 years old, Marte has some growing and filling out to do as well. He could develop into an absolute terror in the batter’s box.
Seattle Mariners Top Prospects
by @jeffpaternostro, @JohnTrupin, and BP Prospect Staffhttps://t.co/mtWnjOO50a pic.twitter.com/mNvKbOd1B1— Baseball Prospectus (@baseballpro) January 26, 2022
Kicking batters to the curb with authority
George Kirby is in the top 100 for MLB and Baseball Prospectus for the third consecutive year, but Baseball America failed to list him until now. The 23-year-old pitcher is a unicorn, with a 100 mph fastball and pinpoint accuracy. That’s unheard of. I’d currently rank him as the Seattle Mariners’ number three prospect.
Kirby walked 6 batters in 88.1 innings during his junior year at Elon. Then he went on to add another 23 innings at Everett without adding to his base-on-balls total. That’s right, just 6 walks in 111.1 innings. His peripheral numbers in the minor leagues last year were fantastic. Aside from the outstanding control, Kirby increased his strikeout percentage while lowering his batting average against. He finished with a 2.53 ERA and 80 strikeouts in 67.2 innings with only 15 walks.