The Mariners rookie who should be on breakout watch for 2nd half of 2025

Cole Young has been with the Seattle Mariners for 35 games and is already beginning to make his mark with the team. The rookie could be on the verge of a special second half, as he continues to break out and make a name for himself at the MLB level.

Young currently holds a slash line of .254/.305/.347. His OPS+ sits at 92. He has scored 13 runs, driven in 11, hit five doubles and two home runs. He's accumulated 0.8 bWAR despite the below average offensive numbers, due to his strong defense at second base.

Cole Young is trending toward a breakout for the Mariners

That already bodes well for Young. He has a 162-game average of 3.6 bWAR, and that's with a below-average offensive profile. If he hits even five or 10 percent above league average, Young could become an annual 5-WAR player in his future.

However, the trends are even more promising for Young. Since June 7th, he has a .747 OPS in 29 games. Since June 29th, he has a .838 OPS in 12 games. Since July 8th, in his five final games before the All-Star break, his OPS was 1.254.

Young's improvements have been mostly gradual, but he's been consistently hitting at a solid mark ever since his 1-20 stretch to begin the season. If he continues to show gradual improvement every week, he could soon be one of the Mariners' most consistent hitters. At the pace he's improving at, it would not be out of the question to see Young hit .275 and slug .400 by the end of the season. That would make him an above-average MLB hitter and would make the Mariners' lineup that much deeper.

Still, Mariners fans should not be too worried if Young does show some regression. In baseball, improvement is almost never linear. Players have ups and downs, hills and valleys. Young managed to fight through a tough slump to begin his MLB career and has continued to break out. If he slumps again, the kid will find a way to make the necessary adjustments again.