Mariners May Be Getting A More Dangerous Cole Young Than Expected

Cole Young was never really supposed to be the guy generating this kind of buzz. Not in this specific way, anyway. The conversation around him has almost always started with polish. He was the prospect people described with words like advanced, reliable, and steady. All good things, obviously.

But those are not always the words that light up a fan base that has spent the better part of the last few years begging for more impact, and more hitters who can do something violent to a baseball. Young’s profile has long sounded like the kind of player you can learn to trust, but not necessarily the kind you fear. Which is why this recent power surge has felt a little different. It’s not just that he is producing in spring training. It’s that he’s starting to look like a hitter with a lot more damage in the bat than people may have originally expected.

That's another dinger for Cole Young! #TridentsUp pic.twitter.com/vjISQx6M00
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) March 6, 2026

Cole Young’s Spring Power Flash May Reveal A Bigger Mariners Shift

In Seattle’s 5-1 win over the Rangers, Young went deep twice, drove in three runs, scored twice, and one of those home runs came off Jack Leiter, a pitcher Texas still very much wants to believe in. It is spring, yes, and nobody needs to start building a parade route because a top prospect punished a mistake in March. But there is also a difference between meaningless spring noise and a young hitter continuing to show a skill that is starting to feel a little less accidental.

The power is becoming harder to brush off. Young got off to a slow start this spring, so it would have been easy for the conversation to drift back into other options at second base. Cole Young still considered as a nice player with a solid approach. Maybe some doubles and enough on-base skill to be valuable. Instead, he has already mashed three home runs with seven RBI and a .211/.348/.684 slash line in a tiny but attention-grabbing sample.

The strikeouts are definitely still there, too, with seven in 19 at-bats, so this is not some perfect, polished showcase. The swing-and-miss that remains in the profile matters. But honestly, that almost makes the whole thing more interesting.

Because if Cole Young is going to strike out some while also driving the ball like this, then maybe the offensive conversation around him needs a tune-up.

Young’s late-2025 rookie stint already gave the Mariners some reason to feel encouraged. The quality of the at-bats stood out, and his walk rates painted the picture of a hitter who was not drowning in the moment. He looked like someone who understood how to survive major league pitching before he had fully figured out how to damage it.

What makes this version of Young more compelling is the skill set may be stretching wider than many expected. If the plate discipline stays real, if the bat-to-ball instincts are still there, and if the power keeps peeking through like this, then the Mariners may not just have a high-floor middle infielder. They may have a hitter who can do a lot more than simply keep the line moving.

You do not accidentally hit a 470-foot home run like he did last July. That kind of raw juice does not belong in the “cute little contact hitter” bucket. It suggests there is more lurking in there than the public version of the scouting report is letting on. The question has always been how often it would show up in games, and whether it would show up without wrecking the rest of his offensive identity.

4️⃣7️⃣0️⃣ ft dinger from Cole Young‼️ pic.twitter.com/oFsduBUxZO
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) August 1, 2025

That is why this spring matters. Not because it gives final answers, but because it is reinforcing a possibility the Mariners should be paying close attention to. Young may still be the disciplined, poised, maturing hitter everyone liked as a prospect. But if he is also becoming a real threat to leave the yard with regularity, then Seattle is not just watching a good young player develop.

They may be watching a more dangerous one emerge.