Mariners sign veteran LHP, add Lazaro Montes for September call-ups

The Seattle Mariners have announced their two September call-ups as MLB active rosters have expanded from 26 to 28 players for the remainder of the regular season.

Seattle Mariners’ Cal Raleigh wins AL Player of the Week

The promotion of top outfield prospect Lazaro Montes from the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers is now official after first being reported Sunday night. Joining him on Mariners roster is veteran left-handed reliever Hoby Milner, who Seattle signed to a minor league contract Tuesday, two days after he was released by the Chicago Cubs.

To make room for both players on the 40-man roster, the Mariners have designated outfielder/first baseman Connor Joe and right-hander pitcher Nolan Kingham for assignment. Both were with the Rainiers.

Montes, 21, is the No. 56 prospect in baseball and No. 5 in the Mariners farm system as ranked by MLB Pipeline. An imposing presence from the left side of the plate, the 6-foot-5 Montes has 38 homers this season between Double-A and Triple-A, which is a career high and ranks second across all levels of the minor leagues.

Lazaro Montes hammers his 37th homer of the season 415 feet to the opposite field!

MLB's No. 56 prospect (@Mariners) ranks second in the Minors in roundtrippers and has gone deep nine times this month for Triple-A @RainiersLand: pic.twitter.com/bYp8vaP6sh

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) August 23, 2026

Montes is hitting .249 with a .927 OPS, 24 doubles, one triple, 79 walks and 166 strikeouts in 123 combined games this year with Tacoma and the Double-A Arkansas Travelers. In 44 games after being promoted to the Rainiers, he hit .247 with a .940 OPS, 13 homers, 13 doubles, 25 walks and 63 strikeouts in 44 games. His 10 homers in August led the Pacific Coast League.

Strikeouts will be a concern with Montes. He has a 30.4% strikeout rate this year, including 31.3% in Triple-A.

The 35-year-old Milner had a 3.53 ERA in 38 games earlier this season for the Cubs, then landed on the injured list for an appendectomy. He appeared in 10 games over the last month with the Triple-A Iowa Cubs, during which he had a 2.53 ERA.

Milner has a fastball and a sinker that both sit around 87 mph, as well as a sweeper and changeup. He used the sinker 42.1% of the time while with the Cubs this year, followed by the sweeper at 28.5%, changeup at 15.7% and fastball at 13.7%.

Now in his 10th MLB season, Milner spent 2025 with the Texas Rangers, which came after a four-year tenure with the Milwaukee Brewers. A seventh-round pick by Philadelphia in 2012 out of the University of Texas, Milner also pitched for the Phillies, Los Angeles Angels and Tampa Bay Rays early in his career.

The Mariners (64-74) will look to stop a five-game skid in Tuesday’s 3:45 p.m. contest at Fenway Park, which is the second of a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox. Mariners Radio Network coverage on Seattle Sports will begin at 2:30 with the pregame show.

Seattle Mariners news and more

• Red Sox put star Contreras on IL, push ace Gray out of M’s series
• Ex-Mariners OF Kelenic signs minor league deal with Yankees
• Seattle Mariners place Emerson Hancock on 15-day IL

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