Minor League Baseball

Seattle Mariners Top Prospect Colt Emerson Hits His First Spring Training Home Run

The top-20 prospect and former first-round pick's first hit of spring training was a homer against the Chicago Cubs on Saturday.
Teren Kowatsch|
Seattle Mariners infielder Colt Emerson runs after hitting a home run against the Chicago Cubs on March 8 at Sloan Park.
Seattle Mariners infielder Colt Emerson runs after hitting a home run against the Chicago Cubs on March 8 at Sloan Park. | Allan Henry-Imagn Images

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Seattle Mariners

There might not a prospect with more expectations in the Seattle Mariners farm system than Colt Emerson.

The 2023 first-round draft pick is almost universally considered the best prospect in the Mariners' elite minor league system. He's considered by some as the future of the organization's infield. MLB Pipeline ranks him 20th in its top 100, Baseball America has him at No. 16 and The Athletic has him fifth.

He was a "Fall-Star" in the Arizona Fall League in 2024 after hitting .370 with nine doubles, 10 RBIs and eight steals in 13 games.

Emerson, 19, is in the middle of of his first spring training with Seattle and has been featured often in the first two-and-a-half weeks of games. Entering Saturday's game against the Chicago Cubs, Emerson had flashed his plus-grade glove on defense and displayed his speed with a pair of steals.

But he hadn't recorded a base hit.

Emerson was 0-for-12 before taking the plate against the Cubs. But he had several long at-bats in recent games that indicated he was starting to see the ball better.

Emerson saw the ball as well as a player could on Saturday and had his first hit of spring training — a solo home run to right field in the top of the ninth. The homer accounted for the Mariners' final score in the 9-8 loss against Chicago.

Despite Emerson's struggles at the plate, he's had his moments where he's looked every bit the elite prospect most consider him to be. And it will be interesting to see how he finishes the spring.

Emerson will begin 2025 with either the High-A Everett AquaSox (where he ended 2024) or with the Double-A Arkansas Travelers.

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Teren Kowatsch
TEREN KOWATSCH

Teren Kowatsch is a staff writer for ''Minor League Baseball on SI'' and other "On SI'' baseball sites. He has been a writer for “On SI’’ for two years and is a graduate of the University of Idaho. You can follow him on Twitter @Teren_Kowatsch

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