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5 Mariners prospects to keep an eye on this season

By Ryota Nishino

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - JULY 12: Isaiah Campbell #62 of the Seattle Mariners pitches in the first inning of an intrasquad game. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - JULY 12: Isaiah Campbell #62 of the Seattle Mariners pitches in the first inning of an intrasquad game. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /
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Isaiah Campbell of Arkansas (now with Mariners) throws.
Omaha, NE – JUNE 28: Pitcher Isaiah Campbell #55 of the Arkansas Razorbacks delivers a pitch. He is now a member of the Seattle Mariners organization. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images) /

Minor league baseball is finally back after being canceled last year. The Seattle Mariners have the third-best farm system in the MLB and have seven prospects in the Top 100 list.

The Seattle Mariners farm system is highlighted by Jarred Kelenic and Julio Rodriguez but there are some names that I am particularly interested in following this season.

Seattle Mariners prospect to follow no. 1 – Isaiah Campbell

The Seattle Mariners drafted Isaiah Campbell in 2019 as the 76th pick out of the University of Arkansas. The right-handed pitcher dealt with elbow problems in school so the Mariners decided to shut him down after completing his college season. And with the pandemic last year, Campbell did not get to debut in the minor leagues like expected.

So why am I excited to see Campbell in his first pro season? The 23-year-old prospect has a great fastball, three good offspeed pitches, and can throw strikes. His form also reminds me a lot of Taijuan Walker: relaxed, easy to repeat, and smooth.

Campbell made his minor league debut yesterday for the Everett Aqua Sox and went three innings, allowed a hit and a walk while striking out two. As you can see above, the former Razorback struck out Corbin Carroll, a Seattle native and top prospect for the Diamondbacks.

The other nice thing about our 12th ranked prospect is that he is closer to the big leagues compared to some of our other pitching prospects. Campbell is another college draftee, a trend we have seen with Jerry Dipoto over the past few years. The right-hander spent four years at Arkansas so he is definitely more mature compared to a high school draftee.

2021 is his first pro season so there will be almost no chance he gets called up to the big leagues this season, but a mid-season call-up in 2022 wouldn’t be surprising. Now, onto my next prospect to watch.

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