Mariners' spring training hype for Cole Young is backed up by key stat gains

Entering spring training, the overriding sentiment was that the job as Seattle Mariners second baseman was all but Cole Young's to lose — that he would need to have an absolute disaster not to be in the starting lineup come Opening Day. Well, early on in Peoria he seemed to be doing his best to make this worst-case scenario become a reality.

Offensively, Young was coming off a rookie season where he only hit .211 with a .607 OPS and 78 OPS+ in 77 appearances. And it wasn't any better through seven games of Cactus League play, with him going just 2-for-15 with seven strikeouts at the plate. (The only saving grace being four walks.)

As per SoDo Mojo's Zachary Rymer, Young seemed to be almost losing his grip on the starting job, with his issues only made worse by going 0-for-7 against four-seam fastballs. However, with his back against the wall, it finally all clicked into place with two home runs versus the Texas Rangers and he hasn't looked back since, with him now batting .268 with a .982 OPS though 14 games.

The Athletic has Cole Young as a player to watch this spring

This improvement at the plate has been enough to make The Athletic pay attention (subscription required), with Jim Bowden noticing that Young is looking bigger, stronger and more confident than last year. Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto remarked to Bowden about how the 2022 21st overall draft pick had clearly taken his offseason seriously.

As we wrote last month, Young's improved physique, fitness and overall health was inspired by Julio Rodríguez's words to him in the clubhouse just moments after last season's devastating Game 7 ALCS loss. In a one-sided conversation, Rodríguez basically challenged him to get after it during the offseason and come back bigger and stronger, and it speaks volumes about the desire and motivation of the 22-year-old that he did just this.

Mariners general manager Justin Hollander also spoke to Bowden, talking about how Young had really found his rhythm at the plate, making hard contact to all fields while also controlling the strike zone. The improvement in his hard contact is easily backed up by the jump in his EV (MPH), HardHit% and Barrels/BBE% from last season:

This improved bat has long been a tantalizing promise when it comes to Young. He batted .277 with a .853 OPS in 54 games for Triple-A Tacoma last season, and had a 50-game stretch for the Mariners between June 7 and August 15, when he was hitting .281 with a .768 OPS.

Mariners might not be worried about Cole Young's defense, but this is looking better as well

Even though there was less concern about the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native's defense, he's still also been working hard on this area of his game during the offseason and the results are there for all to see:

We appreciate that Young still has some way to go to become the finished product, but he's providing a legitimate reason for hope among fans back in Seattle during a spring that has been horrendous on many levels for the Mariners. And combined with the acquisition of Brendan Donovan and the continued development of top-rated prospect Colt Emerson, the infield is now looking like a a strength for a team with genuine World Series aspirations.