Could Cole Young Be Due For Mariners Promotion After Hot Streak?

The Seattle Mariners have been struggling offensively compared to the first month of the season. The offense hit much better in April than it has been hitting through nearly the whole month of May, due in large part to injuries and some regression.

A large change has been that Jorge Polanco went from one of the hottest hitters in all of baseball to one of the coldest. Luke Raley also got injured at the end of April and has not made a return yet either.

In April/March, Polanco put up great numbers, slashing .384/.418/.808 with 9 home runs and 25 runs driven in. Those were putting him in early MVP conversations, but so far in May he is hitting only .155/.234/.241 with one home run. The elite performance he contributed in the first month of the season helped turn the offense from decent to elite.

Is it time for the Mariners to finally call up top prospect Cole Young?

Given the Mariners' struggles of late, this leads many to wonder if a hot-hitting second base prospect could find his way to Seattle soon to help the offense.

Cole Young is one of the Mariners' top five prospects and he is also the closest to the big leagues out of all of the M's young position player prospects. The 21-year-old got off to a slow start in Triple-A with the Tacoma Rainiers, but lately he has been a hitting machine and has been lighting up the Pacific Coast League. Part of this is certainly due to the hitting environment. Many of the PCL ballparks are hitters' paradises due to weather and elevation.

However, Young is no doubt a very talented hitter and the former first-rounder is benefiting from hitting in the same parks as every other hitter in the league, where he is nearly six whole years younger than the average player. He is coming off a great road trip and has been hot for nearly a month now. Since May 3, Young is hitting .385/.478/.744 with 7 doubles, 3 triples, 5 home runs, and more walks than strikeouts (11 to 6).

Getting on base nearly half of the time for a 20-game stretch and hitting for some decent power too? That is a good sight for Mariners fans who want to see some good offense in Seattle. Yet while it seems easy to want to call up the top prospect from Triple-A who is raking, the Mariners can't jump too quickly here and risk ruining Young's development.

The Mariners know that Young could very well be their second baseman of the future, but they might also have to trade for a veteran to play the position, or trade Young to acquire some other veteran. Keeping him in Tacoma where he is hitting well helps his trade value to other organizations. But if he keeps hitting at a high level for long enough, the Mariners will have not choice but to call up the young infielder.

After spending all of last year in Double-A Arkansas, Young is now on the doorstep of the Majors. Only playing 50 games at the Triple-A level is not a lot and if he can get another few weeks to a month of hitting at or near the level he has been hitting at, then we will likely see him in Seattle.

Something interesting to note is that Young has been splitting his time evenly between shortstop and second base and has been mostly playing shortstop in May. This is likely to keep his trade value high, though there could also be a case where the Mariners will need a shortstop if there were to be an injury to J.P. Crawford.