The Mariners’ farm system has plenty of momentum right now, and a handful of their prospects are finishing the season like they’ve got something to prove.
From Double-A to Single-A, Seattle minor leaguers have been piling up loud numbers in August, with power, strikeouts and on-base production all showing up across the board. Here’s a look at five players who have been scorching lately, according to MLB Pipeline rankings.
Ryan Sloan put together one of the sharpest outings of his pro career on Saturday, and it came on the same day touted prospect Kade Anderson made his MLB debut. Sloan, the No. 8 prospect in baseball, struck out 11 and gave up just a solo home run over five innings in the Double-A Arkansas Travelers’ 4-2 loss to Springfield.
The right-hander has settled in after some early trouble in his first Double-A look. Over his last nine starts, Sloan owns a 2.35 ERA with 57 strikeouts and only three walks in 46 innings. In six of those nine outings, he’s allowed one run or fewer.
Boston Smith has kept right on raking since coming over from the White Sox organization in the Luis Castillo trade. Last week, the left-handed-hitting catcher homered twice and reached base safely in all six games for Arkansas.
In 17 games in Seattle’s system, all at Double-A, Smith is hitting .305 with a 1.194 OPS. He’s added eight homers, two doubles, one triple, 11 walks and 24 strikeouts.
His 30 minor league homers this year are tied for 11th across all levels. Smith is Seattle’s No. 13 prospect.
Lazaro Montes has been doing what power hitters do best in the Pacific Coast League. The 21-year-old outfielder has mashed two more homers last week for Triple-A Tacoma and also turned in two multi-hit games.
Montes is batting .320 with a 1.140 OPS and nine homers in 19 games in August. He leads the PCL in home runs and is tied for fifth with 25 hits this month.
Across all levels, he’s second among minor leaguers with 37 homers this season. Montes is ranked as baseball’s No. 56 prospect.
Brandon Eike has been on a serious tear in August as well. The 24-year-old third baseman is hitting .394 with a 1.218 OPS, four homers, seven doubles, one triple and 22 RBIs in 18 games. He has walked 13 times and struck out only eight.
Eike leads the Northwest League this month in batting average, on-base percentage (.506), slugging percentage (.712) and OPS. He’s also logged seven multi-hit games, including three with at least three hits. A 13th-round pick in the 2024 draft, Eike is unranked.
Ace Reese is making a strong early impression in pro ball. The Mariners’ first-round pick in this year’s draft, selected 24th overall in July, is batting .439 with a 1.202 OPS, two homers, four doubles, 10 walks and nine strikeouts in 12 games since joining Single-A Inland Empire on Aug. 6.
Reese is Seattle’s No. 8 prospect.
In Other News...
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Seattles latest shuffle also sent Leo Rivas to Tacoma while keeping rookie Brock Rodden in the majors, a sign the front office is still weighing how much it wants to lean on experience versus giving a younger player a longer look. Crawfords return settles one part of the equation, but it leaves the Mariners with a familiar late-season question: how much stability they want in the middle infield, and how much flexibility theyre willing to keep as they try to cover the rest of the way. [Read more 🡒]
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Jhonathan Daz being outrighted to Triple-A Tacoma adds another wrinkle, and the depth chart talk does not stop there with prospect Ace Reese drawing attention in recent reports. Even the broader conversation around former Mariners reliever Trent Thornton and the possibility of a lockout affecting minor league games has only sharpened the sense that Seattle is trying to manage immediate needs while keeping one eye on the pipeline, because the roster churn may not be done yet. [Read more 🡒]
Mariners Farm System Suddenly Has Three Names Fans Need To Watch
Ryan Sloan keeps making the Mariners farm system look deeper than it seemed a few months ago. The 20-year-old right-hander in Double-A just turned in one of the loudest outings in the organization, throwing five innings of one-hit ball, allowing one run, walking none and striking out 11. For a club that always has an eye on pitching development, performances like that tend to get attention quickly, especially when they come from a player young for the level.
Seattles system also has plenty going on elsewhere. Reese, the clubs 2026 first-round pick, has been productive in Single-A with a strong batting average and on-base profile, while High-A catcher Luke Stevenson has paired a lower batting average with real impact, including 18 home runs, 74 RBIs and a healthy walk rate. The three names give the Mariners a useful snapshot of why the prospect conversation has picked up again, even if each player still has a different next step to prove. [Read more 🡒]