New level, same power: M’s prospect Montes mashes 435-foot HR

It didn’t take long for Lazaro Montes to unleash his immense power at the Double-A level.

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In just his second game since being promoted to Double-A Arkansas, the highly touted lefty-hitting Seattle Mariners prospect uncorked a massive 435-foot home run to right-center field on Wednesday night. The solo blast rocketed off Montes’ bat with a 113 mph exit velocity and soared well past the outfield fence at Amarillo’s Hodgetown ballpark.

It was Montes’ 19th homer of the season, which moved him into a three-way tie for the minor league home run lead among all four levels affiliates.

The 6-foot-5, 210-pound Montes also had an RBI double and finished the night 2 for 5.

Montes, a 20-year-old outfielder from Cuba, is ranked as MLB Pipeline’s No. 31 overall prospect and Baseball America’s No. 53 overall prospect.

Montes was promoted on Tuesday from High-A Everett, where he slashed .268/.387/.572 with 18 home runs, five triples 12 doubles and a .959 OPS in 67 games this season. At the time of his promotion, he led the Northwest League in homers, slugging percentage and OPS, while ranking third in walks and tied for fifth in hits.

Montes also had the ninth-best walk rate in the Northwest League at 15.9%, but also had the 10th-highest strikeout rate at 27.6%.

Over four minor league seasons, Montes is hitting .286/.408/.538 with 63 homers and a .946 OPS in 312 career games.

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