There’s a new sheriff in town, and he’s younger than me. Does this mean I’m already old at 24?
Cole Young is having an incredible start to the year. He was an afterthought for me during my offseason grading, and honestly I expected him to start the year either at third base or on the bench. But with Donovan moving over to third, and subsequently to the IL, second base is a Young Man’s Game.
Cole Young currently leads all second basemen in bWAR with 1.9, slashing .278/.352/.407 with 3 HR, when he had 4 HR in all of last season. He is currently on a streak, with RBI’s in each of the last five games (actually as I am writing this he just got another RBI so make it six games, this kid is awesome), something a Mariner hasn’t done before turning 23 since A-Rod. His defense at second base has been incredible, leading the league so far in DRS, with only one error.
He’s been Cole Clutch this year also. With the RBI double he hit literally just now, Cole Young now has 4 go-ahead or game-tying RBI in the 7th inning or later, tied for most in baseball, per the Mariners. The second-year second baseman is not shy of the bright lights. (EDIT: He did it again 15 minutes after I posted this, it’s now 6 RBI)
What makes this such an especially good start is the massive improvement from last season. Cole Young looked like his roster spot was in trouble, and with all the talk about Colt Emerson and Brendan Donovan, Young was in danger of being left behind. Last season he put up 0.5 bWAR in 77 games, not even making the postseason roster. When spring training rolled around this year, Young showed up a little bigger and a little stronger, blasting six home runs. His power has translated well to the regular season. He’s hitting the ball harder and further than last year, with a lower ground ball percentage than last year. Really the only thing that he hasn’t improved from last season is his strikeout rate, which has climbed a little, up to 22% from 18%. But a little more swing and miss is a fine tradeoff for the considerable offensive uptick from the 22-year old, even though it could be why he still sits in the bottom of the batting order.
With Donovan returning to third base soon, the one question remaining is: What happens to Cole Young when the Mariners eventually call up Colt Emerson this season? His huge contract all but confirms he will see a big-league team this year, so where do you put him? As I mentioned before when talking about Emerson, the Mariners want to keep JP Crawford at shortstop, Emerson, Donovan, and Young will have two positions in the field to fight for. With Young’s hot start, this would get much more difficult.
While I’m singing Cole Young’s praises, someone who I didn’t pick to break out this year, I have a few apologies to give out.
First to Luke Raley, who I had expected to be off this team in the offseason, has turned things around so far from a sluggish 2025. 5 HR and an OPS of .827 so far is enough for me to say sorry.
And second to the heart of the order in Julio, Cal, and Naylor. Since my last frustrated post, they have all taken my advice and started playing good baseball. Julio especially makes me happy, as the ongoing talk of “Julio can’t hit in the first half” has stalled out finally.
The Mariners offense has really picked it up in the last week or so, with the usual suspects heating up. But if Cole Young can continue to play like he has been, the bottom of the Mariners lineup will be deadly.
Go M’s,
Henry “#1 Fan of Winning Baseball Games” Neiman