As Co-Host of your Seattle Baseball 2gether Podcast, aka SeaPod, I wanted to recap some of the Mariner's top-10 picks in the draft with the exclusions of the non-250 prospects who were drafted. Welcome baseball family and ball boys and girls, similar to the first draft breakdown. We will also be doing one of these for Angel's top-5 picks as they could and likely will be future members of the Tri-City Dust Devils, who I beat write for.
#21 SS Cole Young- Out of North Allegheny HS, Wexford, PA. Young was the national winner of the Pitch, Hit & Run competition at Target Field when he was only 10yo. On the surface, for Young, you watch him one game; he is very mid, not exciting, and not an impact player. You watch this kid for a week- you see him impact the game with his speed, defense, arm, ability to hit the ball all over the yard, and baseball instincts. The swing is pretty and looks like a big league swing already at 18yo. Young is a Left handed hitter with pop and plays solid defense at SS. Young slashed .428/.554/.766 in 73G in high school with 11HR, 64RBI, 37XBH, 34SB, and 53BB-24K. A pure hitter is what the Mariners are getting in Young.
#58 3B Tyler Locklear- out of VCU, a college 3B/1B is not a sexy pick in the 2nd round. This past season on the college circuit, he posted a .402/.542/.799 with 36HR over the last two seasons at VCU with an impressive 101BB-78K in that same span. The fielding splits are a slight worry as 1B looks like the future for Locklear, but the raw power potential and ability to get on base at a high clip are intriguing. Locklear is a pull hitter and pulls comps to Pete Alonso when it comes to power and getting on base.
#74 RHP Walter Ford- Aka Vanilla_Missleout of Pace HS(Fl). The tall righty has dominated HS baseball in FL during his senior season posting a sub- 1ERA. Ford has shown a 96-97FB, good changeup, and other secondary stuff is developing. The tall RHP is working out for the Mariners IE- Gilbert, Kirby. I would say that Ford, only being 17, is about 2-3 years off from MLB, assuming he signs and hits. At Pace HS this last season for Ford 126K-30BB and only giving up 10R in 70.1IP. He also has two sliders: one that starts outside the zone and breaks in and the other that starts in and moves out. The frame, athleticism, and pure arm talent will carry Ford. The best part about Ford is that he already changed his Twitter profile pic to a Mariners logo; no doubt he will sign.
#126 RHP Ashton Izzi- The 6' 3" RHP out of Oswego East HS, IL, aka AJ Izzi, has an excellent frame for SP. The primary tool for Izzi is the 97MPH fastball and + slider coming into form. There is also a changeup in his arsenal that is underdeveloped. He can throw gas, control, and command need work, and he is only 18, plenty of time to develop in the system assuming he signs.
#156 LHP Reid VanScoter- The 5th-year senior out of Coastal Carolina (SC) is an excellent 5th-round pick. Sits between 88-92 on the FB, slider, curveball, and changeup in the mix. For a pitch-to-contact pitcher, however, the developed four-pitch mix should play well in the minors and for rapid development. In 16 starts, he went 9-4 with a 3.65ERA over 88.2IP with 85K-24BB and only 2HR given up all season; in 4 seasons, he gave up a total of 7HR, which is telling for the pitch-to-contact that is within his profile.
#186 SS Josh Hood- The 4thyr senior out of NC State (NC). Hood can play SS, 3B, and LF and improved his stock quite a bit after being drafted in the 20th round last season. Hood spent two seasons in the Ivy League at Penn and didn't play in 2021 at the colligate level, but did play in the Cape Cod League and Coastal Plain League with excellent results in 34G with 5HR 28RBI, 5SB. His senior season couldn't have gone much better with 13HR, 52RBI, 31BB-57K, and a slash line of .268/.350/.498 and .848OPS in 57G.
#276 RHP Tyler Gough- The 6'2" High School SR out of Jserra Catholic HS (CA) is committed to Oregon State, which could play into his signability in the 9th round. However, a top-250 prospect in the draft. Gough is a power pitcher with a 96-97MPH fastball, a high-spin slider, and a bending curveball.
The Mariners saved a bit of money on 5/7/8 to be able to afford Ford, Izzi, and Gough to keep them from going to college instead of pro-ball. Those who do sign will report to the ACL, if not to Modesto and Everett, over the next week or two.
The M's finish the draft tomorrow, 7/19, with rounds 11-20.
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