3 Prospects who succeeded and 2 who failed so far from Mariners' 2021 prospect class

#3 Emerson Hancock

Hancock was thought by some to have Ace upside when he was drafted out of Georgia, but at this point, he looks more like a backend starter. He was throwing up the high 90s when he was drafted and saw his velocity drop down to the low nineties on his way to the show. He has a nice 55-grade slider and a solid changeup, but both are even better when Emerson's velocity is up. Fans were hopeful this spring, but he didn't have a great spring. Since he is starter #6 on the Mariners' depth chart, we'll undoubtedly see him for a handful of starts this season.

#2 Julio Rodriguez

After a few weeks in camp, Julio looks ready to roll for 2024. He's a top 5 player in the American League, a total stud who will have ample opportunities to win an MVP. Many scouts originally thought Julio would get pushed to right field, but he's defied those projections and now plays solid defense in CF. It's hard to imagine a 4th place MVP finish being a down season for anyone, but somehow it felt like things didn't go Julio's way last year. He hit 32 home runs last season, but I wouldn't be shocked if he flirted with 40. There were several important at-bats last season where we saw Julio swing out of his shoes and slider and curveballs out of the zone, look for him to improve in that area.

#1 Jarred Kelenic

As we all know, Kelenic was included in the Even White/ Marco salary dump deal with Atlanta. Kelenic's spring hasn't gone well, and the Braves just picked up Adam Duvall to platoon with him now. Kelenic was projected to be a star, even as recently as 2021, but that ship may have sailed. I still think Kelenic has some positive indicators, but they lead more to him being a two or three win guy than an MVP candidate. While Jarred has some makeup concerns, the 30.7% career K rate is certainly cause for concern. I'm rooting for him to figure it out, but he'll need 60 grade power to be an everyday corner outfielder in the MLB.