The Seattle Mariners made a significant investment in a young Cuban outfielder in January of 2022 when they signed Lazaro Montes for $2.5 million as an International Free Agent. He is currently listed at 6-foot-3 weighing 210 pounds and brings lots of physical projection to the table.
Jason Churchill ranks him as the Mariners 11th best prospect in their system currently. He says, “Montes is a big-bodied teenager who projects as a bat-only prospect limited to first base or DH. But with big bat speed and impressive bat-to-ball skills, the upside here is pretty high, and time is on his side — he won’t turn 19 until October and he’s already mashed his way to full-season ball.”
He did earn that promotion to full-season ball about a month ago and since then he has been on fire at the plate for the Modesto Nuts. In 24 games the Cuban outfielder is slashing .320/.426/.598 with seven doubles, a triple, and six home runs. He has been walking over 13% in 115 plate appearances in Modesto and striking out just under 24% of the time.
Lazaro Montes rockets a double to extend hitting streak to 13 games. pic.twitter.com/1EdDf4eTMa
— Mariners Minors (@MiLBMariners) August 23, 2023
If Mariners fans have MiLB.TV they should check in on Montes and the rest of the Nuts roster because they only have nine games remaining. Their season concludes on September 10 against Fresno.
Modesto Nuts (A) – California League
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| RANK | PLAYER | POS | STATS |
| 3 | Colt Emerson | SS | .368/.493/.579, 2 HR, 16.9% BB, 19.7% K |
| 4 | Michael Arroyo | SS | .269/.404/.425, 3 HR, 12.5% BB, 20.4% K |
| 8 | Tai Peete | SS | .339/.403/.523, 2 HR, 9.7% BB, 23.6% K |
| 11 | Lazaro Montes | OF | .300/.441/.575, 12 HR, 18.8% BB, 24.5% K |
| 18 | Michael Morales | RHP | 21 GS, 98.1 IP, 4.39 ERA, 24.4% K, 9.5% BB |
| 28 | Milkar Perez | 3B | .270/.378/.368, 1 HR, 13% BB, 24.7% K |
| 35 | Tyler Gough | RHP | 9 G, 8 GS, 28 IP, 6.11 ERA, 17.7% K, 11.3% BB |
Everett AquaSox (A+) — Northwest League
| RANK | PLAYER | POS | STATS |
| 1 | Cole Young | SS | .273/.399/.445, 10 HR, 14.7% BB, 15% K |
| 2 | Harry Ford | C | .254/.410/.432, 15 HR, 18.5% BB, 19.2% K |
| 5 | Gabriel Gonzalez | OF | .305/.368/.489, 17 HR 6.8% BB, 15.7% K |
| 24 | Axel Sanchez | SS | .199/.285/.353, 7 HR, 8.5% BB, 29.2% K |
| 30 | Hogan Windish | 2B | .262/.363/.485, 18 HR, 11.9% BB, 31.7% K |
Arkansas Travelers (AA) – Texas League
| RANK | PLAYER | POS | STATS |
| 10 | Tyler Locklear | 1B | .292/.407/.507, 12 HR, 12.8% BB, 20.5% K |
| 13 | Jonatan Clase | OF | .243/.349/.457, 19 HR, 13.1% BB, 27.2% K |
| 15 | Prelander Berroa | RHP | 36 G, 5 GS, 58.1 IP, 2.93 ERA, 37.7% K, 15.6% BB |
| 27 | Alberto Rodriguez | OF | .310/.383/.533, 13 HR, 8.9% BB, 23.9% K |
| 32 | Robert Perez Jr. | 1B | .251/.326/.429, 15 HR, 7% BB, 28.6% K |
| 38 | Ty Adcock | RHP | 19 G, 20.2 IP, 1.74 ERA, 29.3% K, 6.7% BB |
| 40 | Travis Kuhn | RHP | 43 G, 47.2 IP, 3.59 ERA, 20.9% K, 10.7% BB |
Tacoma Rainiers (AAA) – Pacific Coast League
| RANK | PLAYER | POS | STATS |
| 9 | Ryan Bliss | 2B | .299/.362/.500, 16 HR, 7.5% BB, 20% K |
| 22 | Zach DeLoach | OF | .288/.396/.490, 19 HR, 14.1% BB, 28.6% K |
| 26 | Juan Then | RHP | 28 G, 32 IP, 8.72 ERA, 16.6% K, 12.3% BB |
| 29 | Eduard Bazardo | RHP | 35 G, 46 IP, 3.33 ERA, 28.4% K, 7.1% BB |
Mariners Reunite with former Catcher Luis Torrens
The Seattle Mariners signed Luis Torrens to a minor league contract and he was assigned to the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers. Torrens was acquired by the Mariners in the famous trade the Mariners made with the San Diego Padres where Seattle acquired Ty France, Taylor Trammell, and Andres Muñoz along with Torrens. He played in parts of three seasons with the Mariners and hit .239/.297/.388 with a 94 OPS+ in just over 600 plate appearances.
In 2023 the 27-year-old has played in 19 minor league games with the Nationals Triple-A affiliate and played in 13 games in the big leagues with the Cubs. Now Torrens is back in Tacoma with the Rainiers, making his debut earlier this week.
The Mariners were in the market for another catcher due to Tom Murphy being on the shelf with a thumb injury currently. The club called up Brian O’Keefe from Tacoma when Murphy went down but O’Keefe has only one hit in 13 at bats. Torrens adds depth at the Triple-A level along with veteran catcher Pedro Severino. If the Mariners want to go in a different direction than O’Keefe backing up Cal Raleigh they now have another option in Torrens.
Mariners Prospects In the News
Click here to see which Mariners prospect is the hottest down on the farm according to MLB Pipeline.
Mariners prospect Tai Peete hit two grand slams in back-to-back innings for the Modesto Nuts.
The Seattle organization promoted Isiah Gilliam to Triple-A Tacoma from Double-A Arkansas after slashing .280/.393/.523 to go along with 22 home runs and 22 stolen bases.
Congrats to @isiah_gilliam24 on his recent promotion from @ARTravs to @RainiersLand! pic.twitter.com/QppNMrEReS
— Mariners Player Development (@MsPlayerDev) August 28, 2023
Two Mariners prospects took home some hardware this past week.
Big week down on the farm!
Congrats to @WindishHogan and @TaiPeete on taking home Player of the Week honors. #SeaUsRise pic.twitter.com/xLxScUV7Eu
— Mariners Player Development (@MsPlayerDev) August 28, 2023
Curtis Christianson
Curtis Christianson is the Athletic Director at Concordia Christian Academy. He also works in the Tacoma Rainiers clubhouse during the baseball season.
