5 Mariners Hitters to Keep an Eye on at 2023 Spring Training

Mariners Hitters to watch - The Outfielders

Jonatan Clase (20 Years Old-OF) is hands down my favorite prospect in the Mariners system. I was lucky enough to talk to him a while back, and he was incredibly impressive for someone so young. He will be 21 in May but is impressing with a surge in power while keeping his speed.

Oh, and he's learning how to switch hit, also. In 2022, he hit .232/.312/.438 as an RHB as opposed to .276/.392/.482 as an LHB. It's progress and would be a nice tool to have if he can keep it up. Not expected to have power, he actually blasted 13 HR in 2022, and anyone who followed him online knows that he was putting serious time in at the gym in order to get stronger.

It's the speed that is his calling card though. He swiped 55 bases on 65 attempts in 2022, in just 107 games. This is game-changing speed, and we should see him flying all over the place in Peoria.

Cade Marlowe (25 Years Old - OF) made headlines last year and surprised a lot of fans when he was added onto the postseason taxi roster. Not a ton of people knew much about him, so I think it caught people off guard a bit when he was announced as one of the players headed to Toronto.

At 25, this is technically going to be his age-26 season with a late June birthday. He's put up good numbers wherever he has been at, but really showed out in 2022. Spending most of the year in AA before getting a late call to AAA Tacoma, Marlowe hit .291/.380/.483 with a BB rate of 10.6% and a K rate of 25.7%, both strong numbers.

More impressive is the power/speed combination. He had 20 HR and 36 SB in Arkansas last year, then hit 3 HR and stole 6 bases in Tacoma in just 13 games. He's got a great combination of skills, and I really want to see if he can hit for power against big league pitching while holding a decent average.