Praise for Mariners prospect Ryan Sloan goes over the top after near-perfect game

When it comes to Kade Anderson, there's no doubt he's the best pitching prospect in the Mariners farm system. (And arguably the best in Major League Baseball full stop.) However, even as he continues to shove, of late he's been having to at least share if not outright cede the spotlight to fellow M's pitching prospect Ryan Sloan.

Sure if you look at Sloan's season as a whole it doesn't exactly jump out at you, with a 4.34 ERA and 1.232 WHIP in 37.1 innings over nine starts. However, he's really gotten on track in his last four outings, as evidenced by allowing only 14 hits, one walk and four earned runs in 19.2 innings, while also collecting 29 Ks. And last time out on Saturday he was perfect… quite literally, at least for six innings.

Cheered on by his mom in the stands at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock, Sloan had the best outing of his professional career. He went six innings and retired all 18 batters he faced, taking just 61 pitches and throwing 46 strikes, including a career-high 11 strikeouts. Double-A Arkansas went on to win 7-3 and actually still held onto their perfect game as a team, until they entered the top of the ninth.

Let the hyperbolic plaudits begin (continue) for Ryan Sloan

The phenomenal performance resulted in plenty of praise from around the baseball media world, with some of it verging on being a little too hyperbolic. Thomas Nestico of TJ Stats called Sloan the No. 1 pitching prospect in baseball, while Lance Brozdowski of the Marquee Sports Network actually saw shades of a certain Shohei Ohtani:

Stop it, please. But also, keep going!

Sloan really does have some big-time believers out there including Keith Law of The Athletic, who ranks him as the No. 8 prospect in the game. And keep in mind that Law gave the righty this ranking prior to his perfect six innings, so goodness knows how highly he rates him now!

MLB Pipeline isn't quite as over-the-top, but still has Sloan ranked as the No. 21 prospect in baseball. Although we suspect they'll be looking to move him up soon enough, if he continues his recent form. And as much as he had an uneven start to the 2026 campaign, an overall season stat line which includes a 31.8 strikeout rate, 6.5 walk rate and 3.01 FIP makes for promising reading.

The next stage of Sloan's development will involve him showing he can go deeper in games. Saturday's outing versus Double-A Frisco was the first time he'd thrown into the sixth inning since his pro career began last season. However, the future looks bright for a pitcher who has a baby face, but is also a grown-ass man who might have a larger lower half than "The Big Dumper," Cal Raleigh.

Mariners general manager Justin Hollander admitted back in spring training that he wasn't prepared to rule out the possibility of Sloan (and Anderson) actually pitching in the majors this year. Whether this comes to fruition is another thing altogether, but what's already one of the very best rotations in baseball figures to hold that position for years to come yet. As far as we're concerned Sloan deserves all the plaudits he's receiving these days, excessive or not.

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