Local hero prospect is quietly putting himself on the map for Mariners

The Mariners have often been called a cursed teams over their five decades of existence, and there's probably still plenty of fans who believe this after having a first ever World Series berth cruelly snatched away from them last October. However, the reality is vastly different these days, with the M's being one of the most stable franchises in all of baseball.

The Mariners are one of just four teams to win 85-plus games in the last five seasons and they have legitimate superstars like Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodríguez, who set the tone and influence the organization from top to bottom (especially Raleigh). They also have one of the strongest farm systems in baseball year after year, with other teams being particularly envious of their ability to repeatedly find and develop pitching talent.

Now, those other teams might soon have even more reason to be jealous of the Mariners' penchant for bringing along pitching prospects, and fans will be delighted to know it's someone with a local connection. The prospect in question is Stefan Raeth, who attended the University of Washington for two years and was selected by the M's in the 17th round of the 2022 draft.

Stefan Raeth just keeps on getting better for the Mariners

Raeth is an intriguing talent who has improved in each of his four minor league seasons with the Mariners organization. Last year was his best yet as he produced career lows of a 3.14 EA and 0.959 WHIP in 57.1 combined innings at the High-A and Double-A levels.

Admittedly, the returns weren't great after the righty was promoted to Double-Arkansas for the first time, but there was still enough evidence overall to indicate the Mariners might be onto something with him. He held opposing teams to a .648 OPS last season, with him being unsurprisingly hell on right-handed batters specifically with a stellar .461 OPS.

Raeth had a couple of standout accomplishments last season, including being named the Mariners minor league Reliever of the Month for July after holding opponent scoreless in seven of his eight appearances. He was also one of three players who helped pitch the first combined no-hitter in Everett's franchise history:

When FanGraphs unveiled their top 25 Mariners prospects at the beginning of January, Raeth wasn't among them, but Brendan Gawlowski did include him as a player of note: "He’s a spin-to-win righty who leans on his sweeper. He found a little extra gas in 2024, which breathed life into a guy who looked like an org arm earlier in his career."

Now, the 25-year-old is in Peoria and has made a couple of appearances in Cactus League play. And what's really been catching the attention of people during spring training is his nasty breaking ball, which you really don't want to get in the way of:

While there are no guarantees, Raeth hopes to become the latest Washington Husky to play for the Mariners at the Major League level — the most notably being Mike Blowers, who spent six seasons in Seattle. He might not be on the 40-man roster, but he's definitely an intriguing player for fans to keep an eye on and root for.