How Mariners No. 1 prospect Colt Emerson can become America's shortstop

The World Baseball Classic has been a great opportunity to see some of the best players in the game play for their countries. Team USA has one of the best teams in the tournament, featuring two incredible shortstops in Bobby Witt Jr. and Gunnar Henderson. In Colt Emerson, the Mariners might just have a prospect who could turn into the same star-level shortstop who could represent the USA.

There are many similarities to the two American star shortstops and the young Emerson. Both Witt and Henderson both were high draft picks out of high school. Witt was the second overall pick back in 2019 and Henderson was an early second- rounder the same year. Emerson was a first-round pick out of high school as well, going No. 22 to the Mariners in 2023.

Colt Emerson has already put himself on a path to MLB stardom with Mariners

Emerson even has a similar build to the two of them. He is listed at 6-foot and 195 pounds while Witt is 6-foot-1 and 200 pounds. Henderson is a little bigger at 6-foot-3, 220 pounds and he has the most raw power in his game of the three, partially due to his larger and stronger frame. Witt also has plus power, but is the most well-rounded due to his elite five tools. Henderson still has five strong tools, but is not as fast or as elite of a defender as Witt.

While Emerson has yet to make his Mariners debut, check out this detailed explanation of how a swing adjustment in 2025 led to a major second half of the season:

While Witt and Henderson play shortstop now, they both came up on teams that did not have an immediate opening at shortstop. Both started playing at third base because their teams knew that they were just too talented to keep off the big league roster. All offseason, the Mariners have talked about how the opportunity would be there for Emerson to take the third base job on Opening Day.

So even though there are all of these similarities between three talented American shortstops, is it really possible for Emerson to reach the heights of the two Team USA shortstops? The short answer is yes, but the detailed answer is much more interesting.

Coming out of the draft, Emerson was thought of as someone who might eventually move off of shortstop due to being a little bigger than the traditional shortstop. However, the game has been evolving and there are more "bigger" shortstops in recent years. There isa list of some of the best shortstops in the game, including Witt and Henderson, but also stars like Corey Seager, Carlos Correa, and Elly De La Cruz who have had success at shortstop with a larger frame.

Emerson's defense has also improved, which helps the case for him to stick at shortstop. He has truly turned himself into a solid defender at shortstop and once J.P. Crawford's contract expires after this season, the path is totally clear for Emerson to take over at shortstop in Seattle in 2027. Just like the two All -Stars, Emerson is poised to come up and play around the infield in his rookie season before settling into shortstop next year.

It's tough to compare a prospect who is so young and has barely played in the high minors to two superstar shortstops in the game. Emerson is turns 21 this summer and has only played 224 career minor league games. Witt played a super low amount of minor league games, only 161, while Henderson played 251. Those two missed significant development time due to no games in 2020 but came up and it didn't take long for them to have success.

Even though the path to quick big league superstardom is difficult, Emerson has the tools to play in a similar fashion to those two Team USA representatives. Emerson is strong and an above-average athlete. He does not jump off the page with athleticism like Witt, but he does still move around of defense really well and he has an athletic swing that works well with his approach of hitting the ball all over the field.

The young Mariners prospect was one of the best pure hitters in the draft when he came out and even now, MLB Pipeline says Emerson is "Considered one of the best pure hitters in the Minors." That is why they give him a 65 for his hit tool on their 20-80 scouting scale. That gives him the chance to be a big who hits the ball all around the yard for a strong average. He might not hit .332 like Witt did in his best season so far, but he could challenge to hit .300 at his peak.

One thing that is still growing in Emerson's game is his power, but that is something that lots of players have grown into while in the majors. He doesn't have a whole lot of homers to show for it in his young minor league career, but he did hit 16 home runs last year across three levels. Henderson hit 17 in his age 20 season in the minors very similarly to Emerson. Only 11 shortstops last year hit 20 or more home runs in the big leagues and only four hit 25 or more, and Witt and Henderson did not.

So while there are many challenges to becoming a superstar in the big leagues at a young age, Colt Emerson has all the tools and the well-rounded game to become the next in a long line of stud shortstops in America. Emerson will not be alone in his quest because there are multiple other talented young shortstops coming into the big leagues — like Konnor Griffin and Kevin McGonigle — who will be his contemporaries as they try to follow in great footsteps.