Mariners Prospects: Getting to know Austin Shenton

Okay, so this one means a bit more to me. Austin Shenton is from the same county as me, so I got to see him play a bit while he was in high school, and while playing summer league ball for the Bellingham Bells. Yes, that same Bells team that used to be the Bellingham Mariners that Griffey himself once played for. I’m hoping that he receives the same kind of luck that Williamson did when I wrote about him, as he was called up within a few days.

I’ve also had the chance to talk with him since he got to the Mariners, and they have gotten one heck of a kid in their system. He’s a great guy, and easy to talk to. I’m also friends with a couple of kids who played with him, and they having nothing but praise for Austin Shenton.

It’s not just that he is a good kid though. He’s quite the hitter. How good, you ask? Why not take a look at some of the minor league seasons and college seasons that he has put together. I think you will be quite happy to see just how well he can hit.

Austin Shenton, simply put, is a hitting machine.

Back to those Bellingham Bells that I was talking about earlier. In his second season for them, he hit an astounding .409, with 15 doubles, limited strikeouts, and a good walk rate. And really, there isn’t much better than a sweet-swinging lefty.

HE would go onto Florida International University, and the hitting would continue on. He showed that in moving up to a bigger college, he could still hit gaps, take walks, and hit for average, as he batted .344 there as a 20-year-old. He would hit .349 in summer ball, this time at Wareham in the Cape Cod League. If you can play well there, then people take notice.

In his return to FIU, he would hit .330, putting up similar numbers across the board as compared to the season before. Everyone in baseball knew that Shenton could hit, and the hometown Mariners took notice.

They would take him in the fifth round, fulfilling most young baseball player’s dreams of being drafted by your local team. Just 90 minutes from where he grew up, Shenton became a member of the Seattle Mariners.

He would split time in 2019 between Everett and West Virginia, and the highlights came from his time in Everett. In 80 plate appearances, he would hit .367/.446/.595.

He’s had a bit of a roller-coaster season this year and started slow for Everett. Since that start though, he has been playing much better. Even despite a recent mini-slump, Shenton is still in the .260s, after starting the season in the low .200’s. The bright spot is his walk rate, and he has an OBP of .385.

Look for him to possibly fall into the mode of Ty France, but with more of an arm. He currently plays third base and looks to translate to the majors as a passable defender. There is a lot of chatter surrounding him that he could either fall into a utility role or end up as the Mariners next third baseman in the majors. If the glove improves a little bit, we should all be prepared for Austin Shenton as the next third baseman for Seattle.