Baseball America Praises Top Seattle Mariners Prospect Colt Emerson
The Seattle Mariners farm system is one of the most well-regarded in Major League Baseball, and will likely continue to maintain that status through 2025.
The Mariners ended 2024 with eight prospects ranked in Baseball America's top 100 list, which was more than any other team. The organization had five in MLB Pipeline's.
A part of the Seattle's minor league rise was the continued growth of the club's top prospect and first-round 2023 draft pick Colt Emerson.
Despite only playing 70 games in 2024 due to a foot injury, Emerson rose several top 100 lists and ended the season with the Mariners High-A affiliate, the Everett AquaSox. He finished the year with a .263 batting average to go with four home runs, 37 RBIs and 15 steals.
Emerson made up some missed time by playing in the Arizona Fall League. He hit .370 with nine doubles, 10 RBIs and eight steals in 13 games played while posting an OPS of .972.
Colt Emerson still hot. Singles the other way in his first at-bat. pic.twitter.com/C0prQefjDe
— Mariners Minors (@MiLBMariners) October 22, 2024
Emerson maintained his status as the Mariners' top minor leaguer in the latest team prospect rankings released by Baseball America, and publication writers Ben Badler and Collazo continued to praise Emerson in a video where they discussed Seattle's top minor leaguers.
"I really liked Colt Emerson when he was 16 as an underclassmen in high school to the point where I wondered if I was maybe I was little too high on him sometimes," Badler said. "But what I really like with him was, I thought he was a really advanced left-handed hitter for his age. It was a compact swing, a very hitter-ish look. He was young for the class, wasn't sure if he would stick at shortstop, I thought at the time maybe second base. He's young, he's athletic. A lot of traits to like in an offensive-oriented middle infielder.
"Now he's one of the best pure hitters in the lower levels of the minors. The foot injury cost him a good chunk of time this year. But when he's healthy, you can see excellent barrel accuracy. It's a sweet lefty stroke, he controls the strike zone. All the foundational traits that you want to see in a young hitter, with the potential to register high OBPs, Colt Emerson has all those. The two questions right now with him are the power and where does he ultimately play."
Emerson is likely to continue his stint in High-A to begin 2025 after playing 29 games with Everett to end 2024. But based on his current trajectory, there's a good chance that he continues to rise in the top 100 and finds his way in Double-A.
Emerson is projected for a 2026 call-up according to MLB Pipeline.
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