M’s prospects Arroyo, Montes excelling just a step away from big leagues
The recent promotions of Lazaro Montes and Michael Arroyo to the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers are going quite well.
TUCSON, ARIZONA - MARCH 02: Michael Arroyo #8 of Colombia throws to first base for an out during the fourth inning of game two of the World Baseball Classic Qualifiers at Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium on March 02, 2025 in Tucson, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)
(Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)
The promotions of top Seattle Mariners prospects Michael Arroyo and Lazaro Montes to Triple-A are going pretty well so far.
Through 21 games into their tenures with the Tacoma Rainiers, the pair are turning heads with their production at the plate in the last level before the big leagues.
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Montes, a 6-foot-5 slugger from Cuba, smacked a pair of home runs for his first multi-homer game with the Rainiers on Tuesday night.
The 21-year-old Montes is ranked as the No. 38 prospect in all of baseball by MLB Pipeline, and after his 3-for-5 performance that also included a double on Tuesday, his slash line with the Rainiers sits at .273/.343/.545 for an .888 OPS with five homers and nine doubles.
Tuesday also came with a milestone for Montes, who reached the 30-homer mark on the season combined between his time with the Rainiers and Double-A Arkansas Travelers. It’s the second straight year the lefty-swinging outfielder has reached 30 homers.
As impressive as Montes’ season has been, Arroyo – MLB Pipeline’s No. 40 overall prospect – is arguably having an even better 2026 campaign.
The 5-foot-10 Colombia native went 3 for 4 on Tuesday for his fourth multi-hit game in a five-game span. With Tacoma, he is slashing a tremendous .352/.398/.549 for a .947 OPS with three homers, seven doubles and a triple.
Arroyo, who is also 21, was being considered for a call-up to the Mariners according to a report last week by Adam Jude of The Seattle Times. While it’s hard to say if that remains the case after the M’s acquired veteran outfielder Taylor Ward from the Baltimore Orioles before Monday’s trade deadline, it makes sense that Arroyo could be in the mix for Seattle as a right-handed bat who has split his time between left field and second base this year.
Montes, Arroyo and the Rainiers are currently in Las Vegas and set to play Game 2 of a six-game series against the Aviators at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday night. The Rainiers will return to Tacoma’s Cheney Stadium for a six-game set with the Reno Aces next Tuesday, Aug. 11.
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Comments
3 Comments
Power power power. What about line drives to get on base or bunts? Small ball please to score runs.
This is a very intellectually dishonest post feeding off the perceived ignorance of Mariners fans.
First 21 games is small sample. Really small sample.
More importantly, Laz has played over half his games including the big one Tuesday in Las Vegas and Reno. Look up the elevation and park factors for each place. It isn't sea level. Heck Ben Williamson had everyone freaking out when he hit 3 dingers in a game in Vegas. Give me the Home and Road AAA splits which are still small sample (he was good against OKC but only 1 home run and terrible against Sacramento at home.)
You can't look at a stat line in AAA especially one in the PCL where he isn't even OPSing over .900 and yeah thats a high number in MLB but you gotta succeed at a high level in AAA and more relevantly the PCL is baseball on the moon.
So if you look at .273/.343/.546 and call that good in the PCL, well I wonder if you even know baseball at all, and I actually think you do.
I think you are selling to fans the hope that these guys are good when they have barely gotten their feet wet, when they are playing in a high offensive environment, and choosing to ignore these facts to present a team friendly story.
In 2011 a young slugger came up to Tacoma and in 57 games hit .317/.364/.558 with 13 bombs in 258 PAs. Bet you would have written a glowing report on one Carlos Peguero, too.
time to see what the kids can do...Ive seen enough failures from the old men