Mariners' playoff taxi squad reveals rising confidence in elite prospect

The Mariners aren’t treating this playoff bye like a victory lap; they’re treating it like an accelerator. Seattle’s first move of October wasn’t a headline-grabbing trade or a dramatic rotation reshuffle — it was a quiet, telling vote of confidence: inviting a 20-year-old phenom to ride shotgun with a postseason club.

Taxi-squad status may sound like paperwork, but in October it’s a message. It says the front office believes this kid can help real big-league hitters get real-game reps, and if the bracket gets weird, he’s close enough to matter.

Make no mistake, this isn’t charity. Colt Emerson has bulldozed his way up the ladder in 2025, turning each promotion into a new stage to dominate. He didn’t just keep his head above water as the pitching got nastier; he kept getting better. That’s the part that grabs attention.

Mariners add Colt Emerson to playoff taxi squad after rapid rise

Emerson’s receipts are loud. In High-A, he slashed .281/.388/.453, showing a patient, line-drive approach that punished mistakes. Then at Double-A Arkansas — where Dickey-Stephens Park tends to humble even polished bats — he still answered the bell with a .282/.360/.430 line in 34 games. Finally, he dropped into Triple-A for six games and set off fireworks: .364/.444/.727 with 2 HR and 9 RBI. Small sample? Sure. But the shape of it, swing decisions, contact quality, and real carry tracks with everything he’s done all season.

That’s how you go from “interesting young upstart” to “bring your spikes to October.” Emerson will help power the team’s intrasquad scrimmages this week on October 1-2, the Mariners’ preferred antidote to bye-week rust. Those sim games are built to mimic playoff tempo — real scouting reports, real sequencing, real urgency, and Emerson’s bat makes the reps more honest for everyone. The club plans to keep select taxi-squad players around as they advance, which means he has a legitimate chance to travel with the team throughout the postseason run.

Beyond the box scores, this is very on-brand for Seattle. The Mariners have made a habit of letting their best prospects feel the big-league air in the postseason. It was outfielder Cade Marlowe in 2022 who got to sit in on meetings, track tendencies, and learn how a clubhouse carries itself when every pitch is a coin flip. Even if Emerson never takes a playoff at-bat, a week spent living in the speed of October, reading the same reports, seeing the same arms, making the same adjustments could turn a hot prospect into a fast-track contributor come 2026.

And that’s the bigger picture: optionality today, acceleration tomorrow. If a series demands a contact-quality pinch hit, a late-inning baserunner, or a defensive shuffle, Seattle just put another dynamic answer within arm’s reach. If it doesn’t, they’ve still invested in a player who keeps proving the stage isn’t too big.