Mariners Add a Sixth Player into the Baseball America Top 100 Prospects
After seeing top prospect Jonny Farmelo enter the Baseball America Top 100 prospect list, the Seattle Mariners have added another minor leaguer to that list in first baseman Tyler Locklear.
Per Baseball America on social media:
Welcome to the Top 100, Tyler Locklear.
The @Mariners now have six prospects on the list https://baseballamerica.com/rankings/2024-top-100-prospects/
Welcome to the Top 100, Tyler Locklear.
— Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica) May 18, 2024
The @Mariners now have six prospects on the list 👀https://t.co/NWqZ92lbw2 pic.twitter.com/CIHMFnKxHe
The six Mariners on the list are Locklear, Farmelo, Cole Young, Colt Emerson, Harry Ford and Laz Montes. The M's had four players (Young, Emerson, Ford and Montes) on the MLB Top 100 prospect list, so the organization clearly is well thought of by multiple publications.
The 23-year-old Locklear is currently in Double-A with Arkansas and was taken by the M's in the second round of the 2022 draft out of VCU.
Through his minor league career, Locklear is a .287 hitter with 25 homers over two-plus seasons. This season at Double-A he's hitting .287 with a .403 on-base percentage. He has five homers and 21 RBI thus far.
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.
Locklear saw time at both infield corners at VCU and spent most of his pro debut playing third base, where his strong arm plays well. He lacks the range to stay there and played first exclusively in 2023, including the AFL, and is a capable enough defender there. It’s his bat that should get him to the big leagues quickly.
