Playing in Front of His Family For First Time in Two Years, Laz Montes Hits Monster Home Run
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One of the Mariners most promising prospects scored three times in a spring training win against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Every single year, each MLB team has a respective international signing class consisting of as many as dozens of players from just as many countries. Most who sign the contracts are teenagers or young adults who are committing to live the better part of their lives in a foreign country, away from friends and family.
Most of these players are under minor league deals for the first several years of their professional careers, making it difficult for players to fly out their families, or for them to come stateside to see games.
Such is the case for Seattle Mariners outfielder and top 100 prospect Lazaro Montes. His family hadn't been able to see him play in person for several years.
That was before Feb. 24. Seattle played the Milwaukee Brewers that day at the American Family Fields in Maryvale, Ariz. The Mariners completed a come-from-behind 12-8 win against the Brewers. The last three runs of the game were scored by Montes, who put three scores on the board with a home run to dead-center field that went off the batter's eye. He went 1-for-1, walked twice, scored three times and had three RBIs.
Lazaro Montes with a certified BLAST. #TridentsUp pic.twitter.com/9Plz5O9vwN
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) February 24, 2025
And Montes' family were in the stands to see all of it.
Montes' relatives watched him play for the first time in two years, and were among the most vocal people at the ballpark.
"The first time, when I reached home plate, I looked up and celebrated with them," Montes said via a translator after the game. "They're loud. You can hear them throughout the whole ballpark. ... It's been a while. It's been two years since they've seen me play. They're here, and just let them have fun and do whatever they're here to do."
Montes is ranked the No. 42 prospect according to MLB Pipeline and the No. 97 prospect according to Baseball America. He's expected to start 2025 or get promoted early to the Double-A Arkansas Travelers.
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