Mariners borrow from Twins' playbook by promoting top slugger Lazaro Montes

Like the Mariners, the Twins haven't exactly established themselves as playoff contenders. FanGraphs is giving them odds of just 5.9% to make the postseason, but the organization has found a way to make the last month of the season worth watching with their recent promotion of Walker Jenkins.

Jenkins is the Twins' No. 1 prospect and the No. 15 prospect in baseball, and will likely be a big part of the franchise's future. His call-up won't save the team's chances of playing baseball in October, but it'll give him a head start on getting big league at-bats before hopefully breaking out in 2027.

The Mariners are in a similar boat. Their postseason chances have taken a nosedive and it looks like they're trying to salvage their season by calling up their own slugging prospect, Lazaro Montes.

For the Mariners, calling up Lazaro Montes is the best use of the remainder of the season

Montes has had a great minor league season this year. After posting a .919 OPS in Double-A, he continued hitting well after being promoted to Triple-A and has posted a .941 OPS over 203 plate appearances. For the most part, he has been exactly as advertised. His whiff and strikeout rates are among the worst in Triple-A, but his quality of contact has been incredible.

It may be surprising given how poor his strikeout and contact numbers are, but it seems that there isn't much else to learn or accomplish in the minor leagues. So far, Montes has largely gotten away with swinging and missing because of how lopsided his power profile has been. However, for a team that already depends on a feast-or-famine approach to score runs, Montes will need to evolve if he wants to be more of an asset than a hindrance in the big leagues.

This is one of the best ways for the future of Seattle's outfield to get started. The stakes are low enough for him to focus on getting reps and improving, but the increase in competition should push him to turn it up a notch. If the team continues to slide in the standings, the organization could call up another prospect for similar reasons.

The season isn't quite over for the Mariners, but it doesn't look like they'll get a chance to make up for last year's ALCS disappointment. Nonetheless, they're already looking to the future by giving their elite prospects like Kade Anderson and Lazaro Montes a chance to dip their toes in the water. A failed season is understandably discouraging yet Seattle is opting to make the most out of what's left. If nothing else, this could be the beginning of an exciting stretch of Mariners baseball.

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