These five Mariners minor leaguers are red hot

The MLB season is hitting its stretch, as are the seasons for teams across the minor leagues.

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Several Seattle Mariners farmhands are in the middle of strong stretches that have them poised to end their seasons on high notes. Below is a look at some Mariners minor leaguers who have been on a tear of late. All prospect rankings are according to MLB Pipeline.

Ryan Sloan

On the same day touted prospect Kade Anderson made his MLB debut, Sloan turned in one of the best starts of his pro career. The right-hander tied a career high with 11 strikeouts and allowed only a solo home run over five strong innings during the Double-A Arkansas Travelers’ 4-2 loss against Springfield on Saturday.

Sloan, ranked as the No. 8 prospect in baseball, has been on a solid run since early struggles in his first taste of Double-A. Over his past nine outings, he’s posted a 2.35 ERA with 57 strikeouts and only three walks over 46 innings. He allowed one run or fewer in six of the nine outings.

Boston Smith

The prospect Seattle received in Luis Castillo trade continue his impressive performance at the plate since coming over from the White Sox organization. Smith homered twice and reached base safely in all six of games for Arkansas last week.

In his 17 games in Seattle’s farm system (all in Double-A), the left-handed-hitting catcher is batting .305 with a 1.194 OPS, eight homers, two doubles, one triple, 11 walks and 24 strikeouts. His 30 total homers in the minors this year are tied for 11 across all levels.

Smith is the Mariners’ 13th-ranked prospect, per MLB Pipeline

Lazaro Montes

The Mariners’ slugging prospect has unsurprisingly put his tantalizing power on display in the hitter friendly parks of the Pacific Coast League. Montes hit two more homers last week and turned in two multi-hit games with Triple-A Tacoma. Montes is batting .320 with a 1.140 OPS and nine homers in 19 games in August. He leads the PCL in homers and is tied for fifth with 25 hits this month. He’s also second among minor leaguers with 37 homers across all levels this year.

Montes, a 21-year-old outfielder, is ranked as baseball’s No. 56 prospect.

Brandon Eike

Eike, a 24-year-old third baseman, has been red hot in August, batting .394 with a 1.218 OPS, four homers, seven doubles, one triple and 22 RBIs in 18 games. He’s also walked more times (13) than he has struck out (eight). He leads the Northwest League in batting average, on-base percentage (.506), slugging percentage (.712) and OPS during this month and has seven multi-hit games, including three with at least three hits.

Eike, a 13th-round pick in the 2024 draft, is an unranked prospect.

Ace Reese

The Mariners’ first-round pick in this year’s draft is off to an impressive start to his pro career. Reese, a left-handed-hitting third baseman 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 the Mariners’ eighth-ranked prospect.

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