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5 Mariners Hitters to Keep an Eye on at 2023 Spring Training
It's so close. We are finally within a week of the Mariners playing actual Spring Training Games, and their first one is set to kick off on Friday the 24th as they will face the Padres.
In case you didn't realize it, that's tomorrow. Just one more day. One more day until we finally get to switch over from watching media highlights of the Mariners practicing to actual baseball. Sure, it might not all be televised throughout the Spring, but we will still have it available, and they'll be highlights out there to see.
I think one of my favorite things about Spring Training is seeing the young guys get a chance to shine. Or, the longer in the tooth Minor Leaguers finally get their chance to prove that they deserve a shot at the next level.
I wanted to take a look at some of the back-end 40-man roster players as well as the non-roster invitees to see who could provide an interesting case for either an invite to the bigs in the near future or the chance to move up to the 40-man if it's ever available. Here are five players I'm interested in watching as the Mariners take the field in Spring Training this year.
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.
Mariners Hitters to watch - A Vet, an Uber Athlete, and Bobby Bombs
Harry Ford (20 Years Old - C) is going to be a problem once he gets to the pros. He's incredibly athletic and is already a great hitter with a good eye at the plate. He actually turned 20 this week and is coming off a strong season in Modesto where he hit .274/.425/.439. The SLG might seem low, but I fully believe it will increase as he matures. The impressive part is his speed, as he went 23-28 on SB attempts last year. This is a huge leap for him to get an invite to ST, and will easily be his toughest competition faced.
Mason McCoy (27 Years Old - SS) is by far the oldest out of anyone on this list but is on here for good reason. 2022 was his first year in the Mariners organization, and he found new power by increasing his career-high HR mark from 9 to 21! That means that Marlowe wasn't the only 20/20 the Mariners had in the minors, as McCoy also swiped 22 bases. With a thing middle infield in Seattle, McCoy could definitely see time in the majors this year if anything goes wrong for the Mariners or they are faced with some injuries.
Robert Perez Jr. (22 Years Old - 1B) AKA Bobby Bombs broke out in 2022 because of his power. We wrote a bit about him towards the end of last year, and for good reason. He had a great slash line between A/A+ Ball, hitting .288/.398/.523 with 27 HR. He was even in the HR derby, which he did incredibly in. He's gonna get chances at 1B, and maybe even in a corner OF spot, so watch for how the power shows and how often he K's, but he is becoming a player to watch for the Mariners.
There are a lot of fun players to watch on the Mariners, but I didn't want to combine the pitchers and the hitters. Stay tuned for the next list as we go over some of the more interesting pitchers to watch at Spring Training for the Mariners this season.