Mariners to Promote Tyler Locklear; Here's What You Need to Know
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The Seattle Mariners are calling up top first base prospect Tyler Locklear on Sunday.
They are doing this because Ty France suffered a heel injury on Friday and looks to need at least a few days off - if not more.
Per Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times:
With Ty France banged up, Tyler Locklear is on his way to Kansas City tonight and will be put on the roster tomorrow.
With Ty France banged up, Tyler Locklear is on his way to Kansas City tonight and will be put on the roster tomorrow. https://t.co/TEi5k6tjl7
— Ryan Divish (@RyanDivish) June 9, 2024
It's a quick rise for Locklear, who has played just 10 games at Triple-A since earning a recent promotion to that level. He just hit his first Triple-A home run on Friday.
Locklear is one of seven Mariners ranked in the Top 100 prospects by Baseball America. He is not ranked in the Top 100 at this time by MLB.com. That service has him as the No. 8 prospect in the organization. Locklear was drafted in the second round of the 2022 draft out of VCU. He plays primarily first base but can play some third.
Since being promoted to Triple-A, he hit .300 over those 10 games. He has a .417 on-pace percentage for the Rainiers after hitting .291 (41 games) at Double-A Arkansas.
Here's 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.
Since we don't know how long France will be sidelined, it's unclear how long Locklear will remain with the big league club. However, this sample could go a long way toward determining whether he can help the team's offensive woes later this summer, or if the team needs to go out and trade for a guy like Pete Alonso or Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who they've been linked to.
The Mariners will try to avoid the sweep against the Royals on Sunday afternoon.
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