‘I got so much better’: Touted M’s prospect relishes spring experience

Colt Emerson is soaking in every bit he can during his journey through professional baseball.

Whether it’s rubbing shoulders with big leaguers in spring camp, battling through challenges or winning championships in the minor leagues, the highly regarded Seattle Mariners prospect uses each experience as an opportunity to learn.

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The most recent of those opportunities came this spring in Peoria, Ariz., when the 19-year-old infielder spent weeks alongside the likes of J.P. Crawford, Dylan Moore and other veterans in the M’s infield during spring training.

“Being around those guys has just been great,” Emerson said Sunday during the Mariners’ opening week warm-up event at T-Mobile Park. “I got so much better at baseball just because the guys are willing to answer your questions. Whether it’s the staff, whether it’s the players, I mean, all the guys are great. They’re great people, and I’ve just been so thankful to get that chance and opportunity.”

Emerson, who’s ranked as the No. 1 prospect in Seattle’s farm system and No. 20 in all of baseball by MLB Pipeline, got his first taste of major league spring training this year.

The end results don’t jump off the page. He had just two hits in 17 at-bats, but there were signs as spring progressed showing why Emerson is a touted prospect.

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After going 0 for 12 over his first seven spring games, the 2023 first-round pick strung together back-to-back impressive outings just before his time in big league camp came to an end. His first hit of spring came when he clubbed a solo home run off Cubs starting pitching prospect Cade Horton, another former first-round draft pick. The next day he worked a 14-pitch at-bat against Rockies starter Germán Márquez (a nine-year veteran) and later hit a double off a reliever with big league experience.

“All these guys are good, but you can’t think that way,” Emerson said of his Cactus League experience. “I mean, all these guys are going to be good and they got good stuff, but at the end of the day, they got to throw it over the plate. And for me, I just got to be on time for the fastball and I’ll be good from there.”

Emerson’s first full pro season in 2024 had its ups and downs as he made his way from Single-A Modesto to High-A Everett. He continued the strong showing he had during limited action in Single-A in 2023 early last season with Modesto, but dealt with an oblique injury in April and then spent just over a month on the injured list after breaking a bone in his foot in mid-May.

However, Emerson used those injuries as another learning experience.

“I got an idea of what the season is going to be like last year,” he said. “You can say that you were prepared, but nobody was for their first year. You don’t really know what it takes to get through that, and this year it’s just a lot more comfortable just knowing what I need to do on and off the field.”

Another challenge Emerson faced was the adjustments that came with moving up to High-A Everett. He hit just .225 with .648 OPS in 29 games with the AquaSox.

According to Emerson, the biggest difference was dealing with more off-speed pitches. But he hasn’t let it impact the way he approaches the game.

“The Mariners preached since I got here, ‘Just stay within yourself. Don’t try to do too much,’” Emerson said. “And for me when I get too big, when I’m trying to do too much, that’s when I’m not good. So if I can swing at the right pitch, get my pitch (and) do what I can with it, I’m good. And that’s what I did (in spring) and that’s how I plan to do this season.”

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