Lazaro Montes has been the headliner in the Mariners’ minor league lineup boom, but he’s not carrying the load alone.
Seattle’s system has long been known for producing pitching, and that reputation still holds. What’s changed this season is the production on the other side of the ball.
The top hitting prospects are putting up real numbers, with Montes pacing the group in both home runs and RBI. Right behind him, though, is a name that doesn’t carry nearly the same buzz: Hunter Fitz-Gerald.
Montes has 25 homers and 66 RBI, numbers that point to what could be a career year in both categories. Fitz-Gerald has quietly put together a breakout of his own, with 19 home runs and 61 RBI - both already personal bests in his pro career. The power jump stands out even more because he had only 15 home runs total entering the 2026 season.
At 6-foot-5 and 230 pounds, Fitz-Gerald looks like a hitter built to do damage, and he’s backing that up with production. Nine of his homers have come at Dickey-Stephens Park, a place that’s tough on hitters. He’s also shown he can drive the ball the other way, as the Mariners’ minor league account highlighted after one of his recent blasts:
Hunter Fitz-Gerald goes oppo for his 19th HR. pic.twitter.com/X1vCcIdZw6
- Mariners Minors (@MiLBMariners) July 1, 2026
That nine-homer total at Dickey-Stephens Park is actually one more than Montes has there. For Fitz-Gerald, that’s a pretty good place to make a little noise next to the organization’s top power prospect. At 25, he’s become one of the best breakout stories in the Mariners’ farm system this year.
Part of what makes the rise so striking is how unlikely the path has been. Fitz-Gerald came out of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where he played for his dad, and was taken by the Rockies in the 33rd round of the 2019 draft. He chose the college route instead, moving on to Florida Southwest College, where he made the All-State Team in 2022.
His best season came in 2023 at Old Dominion, when he hit .316 with a 1.061 OPS in 55 games. That performance helped get the Mariners interested, and they signed him to a minor league deal as an undrafted free agent.
There’s a little Mike Yastrzemski feel to the whole thing - a late bloomer forcing his way into the conversation when most people probably weren’t expecting it. For now, Fitz-Gerald has already done enough to beat the odds by breaking out in Double-A Arkansas. And it’s no small thing that he’s holding his own alongside Montes, Michael Arroyo, Jonny Farmelo and Felnin Celesten.
In Other News...
Randy Arozarena Created A Bizarre Mariners Problem In His First At Bat
Randy Arozarena gave the Mariners an unusual early headache in their game against Toronto, and it had nothing to do with his bat. In his first at-bat, the Seattle outfielder went to the Automated Ball-Strike system twice, challenging pitches that were called balls and strikes as he tried to extend the plate appearance.
Both appeals came up empty, and because of the way the ABS system works, Seattle was out of challenges for the rest of the game. It was a rare sequence for any hitter, let alone so early in the night, and it left the Mariners without a tool they might have wanted later on as the game unfolded. [Read more 🡒]
Ryan Bliss Is Heating Up But Seattle Has A Bigger Problem
Ryan Bliss spent the early part of 2026 trying to get his footing, but by June he was making a much stronger case for himself. The infielders bat started to show more life, and the added production on the bases only reinforced the idea that he can bring value in more than one way. Seattle even gave him a brief look in Baltimore before sending him back to Tacoma, a reminder that the organization is still sorting out where he fits.
The problem for Bliss is not whether he has started to turn a corner, but whether the Mariners have anywhere to put him. His improvement has come with a crowded middle infield picture, and that leaves his future tied to a bigger roster question than his own performance. If Seattle cannot carve out a real role, Bliss could end up as one of those useful upper-minors pieces teams use to chase a bat elsewhere. [Read more 🡒]
Mariners Prospect Jonny Farmelo Is Forcing His Way Into The Conversation
For much of his pro career, Jonny Farmelo has been more about promise than production, the kind of Mariners prospect whose talent was easy to see even when the results and the health were not. Drafted 29th overall in 2023, he spent the early part of this minor league season trying to shake off the same mix of early struggles and injury setbacks that had slowed him before, but the second half of the spring started to look a lot different.
June was the month that changed the conversation. Farmelo hit .309/.412/.629 with seven home runs, and the steady run of at-bats mattered as much as the numbers, because he has now stayed on the field for 71 games. MLB Pipeline took notice with a climb to No. 64 in its latest rankings, and for a Mariners system always hunting for the next wave, Farmelo is suddenly making a convincing case that he belongs in the center of the discussion. [Read more 🡒]