Seattle Mariners Breakdown: Who’s hot in the farm system

A whopping three Seattle Mariners minor leaguers took home player of the week honors for July 21-27.

Seattle Mariners get ESPN’s best grade for trade deadline moves so far

Triple-A Tacoma swept the Pacific Coast League’s weekly awards with first baseman Tyler Locklear receiving Player of the Week honors and right-hander Casey Lawrence garnering Pitcher of the Week. High-A Everett center fielder Tai Peete earned Player of the Week in the Northwest League.

Locklear continued the tear he’s been on since the start of June. The 24 year old went 11 for 23 with one double, five home runs, 10 RBIs and a 1.745 OPS over six games. Locklear started the week by going 9 for 9 and reaching base in his first 11 plate appearances. He also homered in four games, including three straight.

The big week added to Locklear’s strong case to be named PCL Player of the Month for July. He entered Tuesday slashing .425/.495/.825 with five doubles, nine home runs and 33 RBIs in 20 July games.

Locklear, ranked as Seattle’s No. 9 prospect by MLB Pipeline, has hit 16 home runs since the start of June. On the season, he’s slashing .316/.401/.543 with 25 doubles, 19 home runs and 81 RBIs. He’s top five in the PCL in batting average, on-base percentage, home runs and RBIs.

The 37-year-old Lawrence earned his award with a two-hit complete game in Tacoma’s 6-1 win over Round Rock on July 24. Lawrence allowed only one walk, struck out six and had a run of 20 straight batters retired during the outing. It was the first nine-inning complete game in the PCL this season.

The veteran right-hander has been on the Mariners’ big league roster for five different stints this year, posting a 3.00 ERA over 15 innings in five appearances. He’s been designated for assignment six times this season, including five times by the M’s.

Peete, a first-round pick in 2023, went 8 for 24 with one double, three home runs and eight RBIs over six games for AquaSox. The 19 year old picked up a hit in all six games.

Peete, the Mariners’ 10th-ranked prospect, was slashing .225/.283/.415 with 14 doubles, two triples, 16 home runs, 49 RBIs and 19 stolen bases in 90 games with Everett entering Tuesday. His 16 home runs lead active Northwest League players and trail only top Mariners prospect Lazaro Montes’ 18. Montes was promoted to Double-A in June.

Two top prospects trending up

Top Mariners prospects Colt Emerson and Ryan Sloan are each in the midst of strong runs with their respective minor league clubs.

Emerson, a 20-year-old shortstop ranked as Seattle’s top prospect by multiple publications, is on pace for his second straight month with a batting average over .300 with Everett. After closing last week on a five-game hitting streak, Emerson entered Tuesday slashing .310/.412/.521 with four doubles, three home runs and 11 RBIs in 19 July games.

Emerson also hit .324 with three home runs in June, and has raised his average from .246 to .277 and OPS from .715 to .825 since the start of that month.

Sloan, a 19-year-old right-hander who was a second-round pick last year, has posted a 0.72 ERA and 26 strikeouts with just four runs (two earned) and four walks allowed in 24 innings over his past six starts with Single-A Modesto.

The recent run of success has helped Sloan drop his ERA from 5.15 to 3.36. Sloan is the Mariners’ fifth-ranked prospect and No. 59 overall, per Pipeline.

Two farmhands promoted

The Mariners promoted shortstop Carter Dorighi from Single-A to High-A and second baseman Dustin Crenshaw from the Arizona Complex League to Single A last week.

Dorighi, 22, joined Everett after slashing .299/.382/.368 with 21 doubles, 47 RBIs and 19 stolen base in 85 games with Modesto. Dorighi signed with the Mariners as a minor league free agent last July.

Crenshaw, 23, joined Modesto after slashing .327/.412/.480 with nine doubles, three triples, five home runs, 22 RBIs and eight stolen bases in 55 games with the ACL Mariners. Crenshaw also signed with the Mariners as a minor league free agent last July.

More on the Seattle Mariners

• What ESPN’s Passan expects from Seattle Mariners at trade deadline
• Seattle Mariners’ addition of Josh Naylor looks great in two surprising ways
• Who M’s are jockeying with for Eugenio Suárez on trade market
• Dipoto: Seattle Mariners to be ‘aggressive’ in bullpen trade market
• If Seattle Mariners want to go big on a bullpen trade, there are options

Related

Seattle Mariners’ J.P. Crawford lands on injured list againMorosi makes case for Otto Lopez as Mariners trade deadline targetTwins come to Seattle riding wave of momentumThe 2 examples of where this Mariners’ season could go after trade deadlineTrade Deadline: Twins get LHP from Mets before visiting MarinersBrendan Donovan’s return will be ‘huge boost’ to M’s, analyst says