4 prospects Mariners can promote to ease the sting of Colt Emerson's IL stint

Pour one out for Colt Emerson, who has gone on the injured list with with a left wrist injury. It's better than the minor league demotion that was reported on Thursday, but he's out of the picture either way. Yet as a wise fellow once said, "When one door closes, another opens."

This is already true for Brock Rodden, who got the call to replace Emerson on the Mariners' active roster on Friday. He has an easy sales pitch as a fun prospect: Dude is 5-foot-7, 170 pounds, yet he's come to the Mariners after having slugged .499 with 19 home runs for Triple-A Tacoma.

The Mariners could call on 4 prospects after removing Colt Emerson, promoting Brock Rodden

Call it a hunch, but Rodden probably won't be the last Mariners prospect to get his shot before the season ends. Rosters will expand in just a couple weeks, and there's no shortage of candidates who are ready to make the leap from the high minors. The list of the best is kind of obvious, but still worth going over.

LHP Kade Anderson: Double-A Arkansas

Mariners Rank: No. 1

This is the one everyone wants to see, most notably including Bill Simmons. Anderson doesn't have anything left to prove at Double-A, where he's posted a 1.13 ERA and 0.650 WHIP through 17 starts. And like Logan Gilbert and George Kirby before him, he's a candidate to skip Triple-A Tacoma.

Mind you, the Mariners are still in a spot where they have to be wary of exhausting Anderson's PPI eligibility for 2027. Jerry Dipoto also doesn't want him pitching in relief, and there isn't a starting spot for him while the rotation is full of five good pitchers.

Nonetheless, it doesn't seem likely that Anderson will be shut out of the majors until next season. If an injury doesn't happen, the Mariners could always move another starter to the pen or simply go back to a six-man rotation.

RHP Ryan Sloan: Double-A Arkansas

Mariners Rank: No. 2

The conversation has shifted more toward Anderson of late, but whether he or Ryan Sloan is the better pitching prospect was a fun debate for a minute there. Sloan is just that good despite being Anderson's junior by two years.

Sloan has a relatively modest 3.82 ERA to show for two seasons in the minors, but that's with 6.5 times as many strikeouts as walks. He's an extreme strike-thrower whose act could play better in the majors just by way of having a better defense behind him.

Whereas Anderson isn't being eyed for bullpen work, the Mariners could potentially think differently with Sloan. His 100 mph fastball and nasty sweeper would play up in a relief role, and they could then return him to the minors in 2027 to keep getting stretch out until he's ready to get called up as a starter.

RF Lazaro Montes: Triple-A Tacoma

Mariners Rank: No. 3

Though Lazaro Montes recently proved that he doesn't need to hit the ball over the fence to go yard, it is his preferred means of adding to his home run total. He has 34 this year, tied for the second-most of any hitter in the minors.

Montes' strikeout rate has hovered above 30 percent since he arrived at Double-A last year, and is now at 32.3 percent through 28 games at Triple-A. After Emerson's strikeout issues followed him from Tacoma to Seattle, the Mariners might be wary of making the same mistake twice.

But then again, the Mariners are second-to-last in MLB in slugging. They need Montes' juice, and you can even look at him and see more than meets the eye. For a guy who's billed as a power-only prospect, he plays the game really dang hard.

2B/LF Michael Arroyo: Triple-A Tacoma

Mariners Rank: No. 4

Up until Thursday, it was hard to see how the Mariners would be able to find playing time for Michael Arroyo in the big leagues. But now that Emerson is out, maybe Cole Young can shift to shortstop and Arroyo can play second?

Perhaps it sounds like a cockamamie scheme, but all options should be on the table if it means getting a look at Arroyo's bat. He has a .400 OBP in five seasons in the minors, and he's been on a heater consisting of a .317 average and .938 OPS dating back to May 26.

Even better, Arroyo is a righty hitter who has crushed lefty pitchers for a .331 average and .955 OPS this season. Even though the Mariners have been better recently against southpaws, they still rank just 27th in wRC+ against lefties for the season.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow