Mariners' prospects could shine in new MLB All-Star weekend event

The 2024 MLB All-Star weekend is fast approaching. The defending World Series champion, Texas Rangers, will host the event at their new park Globe Life Field (not to be confused with their previous stadium name Globe Life Park). The weekend is full of exciting events including the celebrity softball game, Home Run Derby, and All-Star game. All of those events showcase the Major League talent, but since 1999, teams have been able to see some of the top prospects in the game at the same time in the Futures Game.

For prospect fans, the All-Star Futures Game is the key event from All-Star Weekend. It gives fans a peek into the future of their team as well as the rest of the league. The MLB has switched things up for the prospects during the weekend which will allow them to really showcase their talents outside of just the seven-inning game.

MLB has introduced the Skills Showcase for prospects to show off during All-Star Weekend

This skills competition should be an exciting one and involves three different rounds. Mariners' prospects could show out in each one of these and MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo thinks so too.

Round one is "Hit it Here" where batters will try and hit targets to earn points. There will be targets scattered throughout the outfield as well as four goals (where traditional infielders are) that hitters will try and hit. An interesting wrinkle is the inclusion of a bunt bullseye. Bunting is a rarely used tool compared to previous decades, but players can earn points by putting a bunt into a specific area.

The second round, and this is where the Mariners prospects could shine, is called "Call your Shot". As Mayo points out, this is all about bat control, something the Mariners love their prospects to possess.

In this competition, prospects will call out one of left field, center field or right field. If they hit it where they called their shot, they will move forward and have to hit it to one of the remaining two spots. Finally, they must hit the remaining outfield spot and if they do complete all three, they will continue to call their shot.

Mayo highlights a couple of Mariners' prospects here, Cole Young and Colt Emerson. Both Mariners check in on MLB.com's "Top 10 Pure-Hitting prospects". Young and Emerson are both talented left-handed bats who each received a 60-grade hit tool from MLB. Pipeline.

The final showcase, and one that is likely to be the most entertaining one is the "Swing for the Fences" competition. It is pretty self-explanatory, but hitters will hit as many home runs as possible. There are incentives for batters to hit a home run the other way as they will earn bonus points, while streaks of home runs are another way for batters to earn extra points.

When you think of legit power, when it comes to Mariners prospects, there is little doubt that Lazaro Montes is the first name that comes to mind. The towering lefty often earns Yordan Alvarez comps and has been nicknamed "Baby Yordan". MLB.com gives Montes a 65-grade power and even states, "Nothing stood out more than his raw power, which has legitimate 80-grade potential". Let's hope we get to see Montes in this competition because he is a massive human being, and it would be a treat to watch Montes hit moonshots in the first iteration of this competition.