Minor League Baseball

Seattle Mariners Prospects Cole Young, Harry Ford Record Their First Triple-A Hits

The Top 100 prospects both had solid showings in their debuts with the Tacoma Rainiers.
Teren Kowatsch|
Seattle Mariners infielder Cole Young poses for a portrait during media day Feb. 20 at Peoria Sports Complex.
Seattle Mariners infielder Cole Young poses for a portrait during media day Feb. 20 at Peoria Sports Complex. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

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Seattle Mariners

The Seattle Mariners' farm system is considered one of the better ones in baseball. Baseball America and MLB Pipeline both have seven Mariners minor leaguers listed on their respective top 100 rankings.

Two of those top 100 players, catcher Harry Ford and second baseman Cole Young, played their first Triple-A game on Friday for the Tacoma Rainiers against the Round Rock Express.

In a 6-1 win against the Express at Cheney Stadium in Tacoma, Wash., both Ford (No. 64 MLB Pipeline, No. 95 Baseball America) and Young (No. 49 MLB Pipeline, No. 56 Baseball America), recorded hits for Tacoma.

Ford went 1-for-3 with a walk and Young went 1-for-4 with a run. Neither struck out in their Triple-A debuts.

Young also flashed off his glove and helped turn a 4-6-3 double play.

Both Ford and Young played with the Double-A Arkansas Travelers in 2024. Young hit .271 with nine home runs, 57 RBIs and 23 steals. Ford hit .249 with seven homers, 45 RBIs and 35 steals. Both represented Seattle in the MLB All-Star Futures Game in 2024 at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. It was Young's first time playing in the Futures Game and Ford's second.

Both former first-round draft picks are predicted for call-ups this season, per MLB Pipeline. Ford might have a hard time breaking through on the major league roster given starter Cal Raleigh is locked down through 2030 and backup Mitch Garver is on the team through this year.

The Mariners scraped the top of Triple-A depth several times last season with their infielders. If the team finds itself in that position again, Young might get his first look in the majors this year.

If Friday were a sign of things to come for Ford and Young, it should be a successful season at Triple-A.

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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