With Julio Rodríguez’s surge in Detroit and Cal Raleigh continuing his record-setting season, the recent performance of Seattle Mariners rookie Cole Young could easily fly under the radar.
Young, who is ranked as the Mariners’ No. 3 prospect and No. 33 in all of baseball by MLB Pipeline, ended the first half of the season on a high note during Seattle’s six-game road trip. The 21 year old hit his first career home run at Yankee Stadium and went yard again in Detroit during his final at-bat before the All-Star break.
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In 18 plate appearances on the trip, Young hit .389 with an eye-popping 1.256 OPS. His 252 wRC+ was the highest on the team during the stretch.
Mariners insider Shannon Drayer and longtime prospect insider Jason Churchill of Future Stars Series discussed Young’s recent performance when they joined Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk on Tuesday.
“What I enjoy watching with him right now is he’s turning into Cole Young at the big league level,” Drayer said. “It’s never instantaneous, there are ups and there are downs, but of late we’re starting to see him become who he is here.”
Young had a memorable moment when he had a walk-off fielder’s choice in his major league debut at T-Mobile Park on May 31, but it was a bit of struggle for the second baseman afterwards. Young went 0 for 15 over the next five games and was hitting just .053 (1 for 19) with eight strikeouts in his first 20 plate appearances in the majors.
Drayer said Young’s confidence never waivered through those early struggles.
“With Cole, there’s a good amount of confidence to him,” Drayer said. “You didn’t see any panic, you didn’t see him wearing it when he got off to a little bit of a slow start.”
Since a two-hit night on June 7 broke Young’s five-game hitless streak, he has been a key contributor at the bottom of the lineup. In 29 games, he’s hitting .293 with a .747 OPS.
“Cole also puts in the work. That’s a guy who works a ton but is supremely confident,” Churchill said. “… We talked a little earlier about (how) Julio’s still trying to learn who he is as a hitter. Cole Young knows exactly who he is as a hitter. Exactly. There’s nothing he does that strays from that. I’ve never seen that in the minors.”
Hear the full conversation at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story. Tune in to Brock and Salk weekdays from 6-10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.
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