Seattle Mariners' Top Prospect Hits First Triple-A Home Run on Friday
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Congratulations are in order for Seattle Mariners' top prospect Tyler Locklear, who hit his first Triple-A home run on Friday night.
Locklear, who was recently promoted to Triple-A Tacoma, hit the blast 418 feet.
418 feet later, Tyler Locklear checks in with his first Triple-A home run to grow our lead! pic.twitter.com/Wo8Y1pZEEi
— Tacoma Rainiers (@RainiersLand) June 8, 2024
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's hitting .300 over 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.
With the Mariners starved for offense at the big league level, there is a thought that the team could go out and trade for a big bat like Pete Alonso or Vlad Guerrero Jr. If they are looking for help at that position, perhaps Locklear could force the organization's hand and get called up himself.
The M's will play the Kansas City Royals on Saturday.
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