Reports: Mariners to promote slugging OF Lazaro Montes

The Seattle Mariners are calling up slugging outfield prospect Lazaro Montes from Triple-A Tacoma, according to multiple reports.

Mariners place Emerson Hancock on the 15-day IL

Francys Romero first reported the news. Seattle Sports Mariners insider Shannon Drayer reported Montes will join the club Tuesday in Boston when rosters expand to 28 players.

The 21-year-old Montes, who is ranked as the No. 56 prospect in baseball and No. 5 in the Mariners farm system by MLB Pipeline, is known for his prodigious power from the left side of the plate. His 38 homers this season are a career high and rank second across all levels of the minors. He also finished tied for third in the minors with 32 homers last season.

In 123 games across Double-A and Triple-A this year, Montes is batting .249 with a .927 OPS, 24 doubles, one triple, 79 walks and 166 strikeouts. Since being promoted to Triple-A on July 7, the 6-foot-5 outfielder has hit .247 with a .940 OPS, 13 homers, 13 doubles, 25 walks and 63 strikeouts in 44 games. He leads the Pacific Coast League with 10 homers in August.

In 495 career minor league games, Montes has hit 114 homers while batting .267 with a .915 OPS.

The monster power Montes possess comes with some swing and miss. He has struck out in 30.4% of his plate appearances this year, including a 31.3% strikeout rate in Triple-A.

While Montes is best known his bat, Drayer noted that the Mariners “have also been pleased with the work he has put in on his defense.”

Montes has set a career high with 38 HR in the minors this year but the Mariners have also been pleased with the work he has put in on his defense. https://t.co/V7yIVEyOND

— Shannon Drayer (@shannondrayer) August 31, 2026

The Havana, Cuba, native has also shown some surprising speed for his size during his time in the minors, including hitting an inside-the-park home run with Tacoma earlier this month. He has 25 stolen bases in 495 career minor league games.

Montes is reportedly set to join a Mariners team that is in search of an offensive spark. They were held to one hit in a shutout loss against the Blue Jays on Sunday and rank last in MLB with 530 runs scored this season, which scoring the least runs in August at 87.

Seattle signed Montes as an international free agent in January 2022. He was ranked the No. 8 prospect in the 2022 international class, per MLB Pipeline.

Seattle Mariners news and more

• Ex-Seattle Mariners OF Kelenic signs minor league deal with Yankees
• The Seattle Mariners’ top candidates for September callups
• Kade Anderson on debut: ‘I had my D+ stuff’

Related

Scherzer, Blue Jays blank Mariners 7-0 to sweep seriesRed Sox get two key returns ahead of series against MarinersMariners place Emerson Hancock on the 15-day ILEx-Mariners OF Kelenic signs minor league deal with YankeesMariners fall to Blue Jays 4-3 in Kade Anderson’s 2nd startMariners Notebook: The latest on Hancock and Donovan