Mariners' Top Prospect Hits First Major League Home Run in Loss on Thursday
The Seattle Mariners lost to the Chicago White Sox on Thursday night, but it was still a very special night for top M's prospect Tyler Locklear.
The first baseman, who is up in place of the injured Ty France, hit his first major league home run. He took a changeup from Sox' starter Garrett Crochet and deposited it beyond the left field wall. At the time, it got the M's within one at 2-1, but they would go onto lose 3-2 in extra innings.
You can watch the blast below:
Lock it in 🔒
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) June 14, 2024
There goes @tylock13's first big-league home run! pic.twitter.com/1UZNM7GPBz
Locklear, who was drafted in the 2022 draft out of VCU, has just 16 plate appearances with the M's since being called up last weekend. He's hitting .250 with the homer and two RBI. Ranked the No. 8 prospect in the organization by MLB.com, he's a Top 100 prospect by Baseball America.
The following comes from a portion of his MLB.com prospect profile:
The right-handed hitter’s carrying tool is still his tremendous raw power, though he’s not a one-trick pony. He can hit the ball out to all fields and does a nice job of managing the strike zone, limiting strikeouts and drawing walks, giving him a chance to be a solid overall hitter. He can struggle with breaking and offspeed stuff and can chase too much at times.
There is no telling how long Locklear will stay with the big club, so he needs to keep making the most of his opportunity now. France is not expected to miss much more than the 10-day minimum because of his heel fracture, but perhaps Locklear can make the case to stay on the roster beyond his return if he gets hot.
The M's are 40-31 and will play the Texas Rangers on Friday night at 7:10 p.m. PT.
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BRADY FARKAS