Keith Law: Two routes Mariners can take with Harry Ford

Jul 1, 2025, 10:14 AM | Updated: 10:16 am

Seattle Sports

Harry Ford’s long-awaited MLB debut nearly happened last weekend, but the Seattle Mariners’ highly regarded catching prospect is still waiting to officially make it The Show.

An injury scare to backup catcher Mitch Garver caused Ford to join Seattle’s taxi squad during its three-game series against the Rangers, but Ford’s services weren’t needed.

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Ford has been knocking at the door for a big league promotion all year during a standout season with Triple-A Tacoma. The 2021 first-round pick is slashing .305/.418/.459 with 12 doubles, eight home runs and nearly as many walks (43) as strikeouts (48) for the Rainiers.

Yet MLB Pipeline’s N0. 59 prospect is blocked from getting regular playing time at his position due to the Mariners having baseball’s best catcher in switch-hitting slugger Cal Raleigh, who leads MLB with 33 home runs.

So what should the Mariners end up doing with Ford? The Athletic’s Keith Law answered that question Monday when he joined Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy.

How to get Ford in lineup

The biggest issue when it comes to promoting Ford is that the Mariners would need to find ways to get him regular playing time. Not only is Raleigh going to take up the majority of the at-bats at catcher, but Garver (three homers, nine RBIs in his last five games) is also still in the equation.

However, Law isn’t sold on the fact that Ford’s catching abilities warrant keeping the 22 year old behind the plate.

“He’s never been a great catcher, and there have been disagreements going back to when he was in high school (about) whether this guy would even stick behind the plate,” Law said.

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The Mariners had Ford dabble in playing left field last year when he was with Double-A Arkansas, but he committed three errors in just eight games there.

“To me, it may just be: what if we just go let him hit?” Law said. “He’s not the prototypical DH. It’s not going to be 30 homers, but he has a really incredible command of the strike zone, a great history of very high on-base percentages.

“That’s something – even if it does not fit our scheme of what a designated hitter usually looks like, if this guy posts even a .380 on-base percentage, which would be low for him based on his career, he’s going to help the team. And I think that’s what you try to do with him.”

Another option for M’s

While Law sees DH as a viable path to the big leagues for Ford, he sees another option that may be even more appealing for a team that is in position to be buyers leading up to the July 31 MLB trade deadline like the Mariners.

“If, however, another team calls and shows interest in Ford where they seem to think he’s a catcher, I would trade him in a heartbeat, because I don’t think (him being a catcher is) a lock,” Law said. “I think there’s a better chance that he’s not a catcher than that he is a catcher. I’m saying that in respective of Cal Raleigh, just saying, look, this guy (Ford) has never been really good behind the plate.

“What everybody likes about Harry Ford is the overall athleticism and the fact that he can really, really command the strike zone.”

Hear the full conversation at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story. Tune in to Bump and Stacy weekdays from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.