Seattle Mariners Minor League Prospect Abruptly Retires at Age of 26

Riley Davis helped Single-A Modesto win a California League title in 2023, but now he's hanging up the spikes early.

A detailed view of the Seattle Mariners armed forces day hat in the dugout against the Atlanta Braves in the first inning at Truist Park in 2023. / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Seattle Mariners minor league pitching prospect Riley Davis abruptly retired this offseason. Davis, who was selected in the 18th round of the 2021 draft out of Alabama-Birmingham, just turned 26 years old.

The "X" account @RosterMoves_MLB had the news, and Davis's MiLB.com page shows him on the voluntarily retired list.

Seattle Mariners RHP Riley Davis has retired from professional baseball. pic.twitter.com/dI5aXRUZH4

— MLB Roster Moves (@RosterMoves_MLB) November 16, 2024

Davis did not pitch this season at any level of the Mariners system, but he went 10-1 at the professional ranks since getting drafted. Davis appeared in 41 games with seven professional starts. He carried a 4.05 ERA in total. He went 8-0 for Single-A Modesto in the 2023 season, helping the Nuts to the California League title.

The popular @MiLBMariners account had the following on social media:

Good luck to Riley Davis. I will always remember him as the winning pitcher in Game 2 of 2023 Cal League Division Series. Davis tossed 6 shutout innings of 2-hit ball sending Modesto to the championship series.

Good luck to Riley Davis. I will always remember him as the winning pitcher in Game 2 of 2023 Cal League Division Series. Davis tossed 6 shutout innings of 2-hit ball sending Modesto to the championship series. https://t.co/vIDQ3o35Cu

— Mariners Minors (@MiLBMariners) November 17, 2024

With Davis retiring so early in his professional career, we'll never quite know what the Mariners are missing out on. The M's are built around their pitching at the major-league level and have done wonders with several pitchers in their system, so there's always a chance that Davis could have been a diamond in the rough.

With him out of the fold, the M's will need to look to acquire another arm this offseason. That shouldn't be difficult, as there are always players looking for opportunities.

The Mariners went 85-77 this past season and missed the playoffs.

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