Ranking the 4 hottest hitters in the Mariners farm system with July nearing

The farm system continues to be a bright spot for the Seattle Mariners organization. Prior to the start of the season, it was among the highest-ranked systems in MLB. To some, it even took the top spot.

Now that we're roughly halfway through the minor league season, the results have lived up to the hype. The Everett AquaSox have already secured a major accolade and while most of the top prospects have put up great numbers, production has also come from some surprising names.

With so much talent, it can be difficult to keep track of what's going. So, here's a list handful of the hottest hitters in Seattle's farm system right now.

The 4 hottest hitters in the Mariners farm system

No. 4: Harry Ford (Triple-A Tacoma)

Ranked as Seattle's No. 5 prospect by MLB Pipeline, Ford has been having a resurgence at the plate in 2025. Across 268 plate appearances, he's slashing .306/.422/.468 with eight home runs and 12 doubles. While his wRC+ of 134 is actually in line with what he had done in the past two years, part of that is due to the more competitive nature of Triple-A.

A closer look at the individual numbers of Ford's slash line shows that he's genuinely taken a step forward on all fronts and most importantly, his power has returned. His average exit velocity is 90.2 mph and he's topped out at 109.3 mph.

His path forward with the Mariners remains unclear given the team's current catcher situation. But regardless of what happens, his numbers this season will result in some sort of value for the team, either as a trade piece, backup catcher, or even an outfielder.

No. 3: Lazaro Montes (High-A Everett)

Dubbed Seattle's own Yordan Alvarez, Montes has started to live up to the lofty comparisons. A fellow Cuban, Montes possesses similar raw power to Alvarez and hasn't hesitated to show it off during his first full season with the High-A Everett.

Across his 301 plate appearances, he's at a 147 wRC+ with 12 doubles, five triples, and 18 home runs. Unfortunately, Statcast data isn't publicly available at his level of the minor leagues but given some of the shots we've seen on film, it's safe to say that he's capable of hitting the ball quite hard.

At just 20 years old, Montes has got plenty of his athletic prime left and it shouldn't be long before he's ready to be called up. Given the Mariners' problems with injury and lackluster production from the right field spot, Montes could be the corner outfield power bat the team has been looking for in just a couple of years.

No. 2: Michael Arroyo (High-A Everett)

Despite being the organization's No. 7 prospect and the No. 77 prospect in baseball, Arroyo doesn't always get the same amount of attention as some of the other names on the farm. However, being out of the spotlight hasn't held him back from being an outstanding middle infielder for the AquaSox this year.

He has a 150 wRC+ over 306 plate appearance this year and in addition to having a .422 on-base percentage, he's slugging .512 with 15 home runs and 14 doubles.

It should be noted that having a high on-base percentage in the lower levels of the minor leagues always deserves a closer look. In this case, Arroyo has a respectable 12.7 walk rate but has also been hit by 25 pitches, so he isn't a master of plate discipline quite yet. Still, the future is bright for the 20-year old who joins a long list of other top middle infield prospects out of Seattle.

No. 1: Victor Labrada (Double-A Arkansas)

Victor Labrada is an intriguing player in several ways. He was signed as an international free agent out of Cuba when he was already 21 years old. He has been ranked in the organization's top 30 just once in 2022, placing 27th, before quickly falling out following an average season in High-A.

This year, he's tearing it up in his first full season with the Travelers, at one point winning Texas League Player of the Week. Over his 295 plate appearances, he has posted a 153 OPS+, the highest of any player in the Mariners minor league system with more than 200 plate appearances.

He doesn't hit the ball as hard as Montes or Ford but his bat-to-ball skills are great, making contact on nearly 80 percent of his swings. He also walks nearly as often as he strikes out and his on-base percentage of .407 seems more like a true measure of plate discipline since he has only been hit by five pitches this year.

Labrada is a little on the older side for a prospect in Double-A, but his numbers could warrant a move to Triple-A soon. If he continues this current stretch of momentum and becomes big league ready, he could be an underrated corner outfielder for Seattle or a major piece of a trade package come this year's deadline.