Mariners go all-in on bucking surprise MLB Draft trend with Jake Brown pick

The Seattle Mariners only had two picks on Day 1 of the MLB Draft. and they used them both on left-handed sluggers out of the SEC. Points for consistency, for sure, though we're going to find out if they missed the boat while every other team gobbled up contact hitters.

First it was Mississippi State third baseman Ace Reese (and noted Carlos González lookalike) with the No. 24 pick. Then it was Jake Brown, an outfielder from LSU, with the No. 65 pick. The latter is a fun-looking player, albeit one with the kind of flaws that give scouts pause.

There are multiple scouting reports that bring up Brown's left-on-left splits, which aren't good. And one in particular from Baseball America ups the spook meter by noting how the 21-year-old's strikeout rate was 24.4 percent against SEC pitching, compared to 16.9 percent overall.

Something like that doesn't bode well for a shift to the pro ranks, where the best pitchers from all over the world gather to give batters hell. And other MLB teams seem ready to adjust for this. As was frequently noted during the MLB Draft broadcast — and also by Mike Axisa of CBS Sports — it was bat-to-ball skills that were in demand on Saturday.

If other teams are thinking it's harder to teach contact than it is to cultivate power, they may be right. If they're also thinking that the game is about to shift away from homers-first offense toward a more holistic style of ball, they may be right about that, too.

Pitchers are only getting meaner and nastier, and high batting averages feel like relics. Especially in an era where players can steal bases pretty much at will, there may be some sense in going back to getting 'em on, getting 'em over and getting 'em in. It means copycatting the Milwaukee Brewers, who are fourth in scoring despite being third-to-last in home runs.

New Mariner Jake Brown may only be beginning to come into his own as a slugger

All this said, Brown is a $1.4 million lottery ticket whose slugging prowess might eventually rival that of even Reese, whose power was in the running for best in class in this year's draft.

As part of a Tigers squad that rode Kade Anderson's left arm to the College World Series in 2025, Brown hit only eight home runs in 64 games. In 2026, he hit 16 in 42 games before a broken hamate brought an early end to his season. That's a pretty big jump, and it was fueled by a concerted effort to pull more balls in the air. It's a never-fails strategy for adding power, folks.

The question is what else Brown might bring to the Mariners, and the answer may be "plenty." Joe Doyle of Over-Slot characterizes Brown as a "Crazy athlete with loads of untapped potential." The trick will be figuring out his lower half, in which case he could emerge as a complete hitter.

Basically, the challenge with Brown is the same as the one with Reese: Keep the power, but try to make the overall batting profile more consistent. From the looks of things, it's the opposite game from the one that other teams want to play.

Well, so be it. May the best approach win.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow