Why the Mariners should have an All-Star surprise in 2B Cole Young

The MLB All-Stars will be announced Saturday on FOX, and the Seattle Mariners – like every team in the league – are guaranteed to have at least one player sent to the festivities in 12 days in Philadelphia.

Why Seattle Mariners can cast a wider net at trade deadline

While the Mariners enter play Thursday tied for the AL West lead, they don’t have any guaranteed All-Stars. A few pitchers have a decent case, as do outfielders Julio Rodríguez, Randy Arozarena and Dominic Canzone.

It’s now looking like Seattle’s most realistic All-Star, though, is a pretty surprising player: second-year second baseman Cole Young.

Some of this has to do with the second base position in the American League being fairly shallow this year. Toronto’s Ernie Clement has already locked up the starting spot at the position for the AL due to the fan vote (the Canadian fans have really come out to support the Blue Jays after their World Series appearance last year), but the pickings are slim for reserves.

That’s not to discount what Young has done, because he is having a stellar season. In fact, Young is having a better season in terms of WAR value than even Clement according to both Baseball Reference and FanGraphs. Young’s bWAR of 2.8 is the best of any AL second baseman and 14th of any player in the AL regardless of position. His fWAR, meanwhile, is 1.6, which is behind only the New York Yankees’ Jazz Chisholm Jr. (2.1) among AL second basemen.

Young, who has played all 87 of Seattle’s game this season, should have the edge over Chisholm because he’s been an above-average hitter (107 wRC+, 104 OPS+) whereas Chisholm has been below average (99 wRC+, 97 OPS+). Chase Meidroth of the Chicago White Sox is another player who could challenge Young for a second base reserve spot on the AL team, though he has a slightly lower wRC+ (105) than Young and doesn’t have the same kind of defensive marks as Young and Chisholm.

Guardians rookie Travis Bazzana, a former No. 1 overall MLB Draft pick, could get in Young’s way even though he’s played just 55 games after debuting on April 28. Bazzana, who has a 1.3 bWAR and 1.2 fWAR, is slashing .245/.336/.412 for a .748 OPS, 110 OPS+ and 111 wRC+. And he is the AL All-Star pick for reserve second baseman by The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, who did not mention Young in his All-Star Game roster predictions published Thursday.

On the year, the 22-year-old Young owns a .261/.323/.392 slash line for a .714 OPS with nine home runs, 12 doubles and a Mariners-leading 41 RBIs. He’s been especially strong at the plate over his last 37 games, slashing .288/.331/.446 for a .777 OPS with six homers, four doubles, 15 RBIs, and seven walks to 15 strikeouts. And he’s even amped things up over his last nine games, hitting 11 for 32 (.344) with three homers, a double, a 1.039 OPS, and two walks to just three strikeouts.

What really helps Young’s All-Star case is his defense – particularly with how well regarded it is by Baseball Reference, which ranks him third among all AL players with a 1.4 defensive WAR.

Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto recently praised Young when he was asked about his All-Star case on a pregame interview with Mariners TV’s Brad Adam.

“(Young is) starting to show the consistency day in, day out that we were anticipating. He is just a consistent player,” Dipoto said. “He’s been that since rookie ball. It’s high contact, it’s spread the ball around. I think he’s shown us that when he gets to the pull side in the air, he’s got a lot more pop than maybe people expected. He takes a walk, he puts the ball in play, it’s not a high strikeout rate.

“And all of that, the thing that has improved most is the defensive consistency. He’s gonna be a staple here in the middle of the infield for us for many years to come. He’s a steady, quiet, unassuming force. I think the fact that we’ve been able to bounce him from the bottom of the lineup to the top and he just keeps on churning, and we’ve not seen the best of what he can provide yet. His prime is still years ahead of him.”

Seattle Mariners news and more

• Stacy: Two things to watch with Mariners in the coming weeks
• The crazy Mariners trade idea that just might work: George Springer
• Updates on four Seattle Mariners working back from the IL

Related

Mariners add former Tigers playoff hero on minors dealMariners are seeing what Brendan Donovan can mean for lineupRecap: Mariners even series with 7-5 win over BrewersEarly offense helps Mariners bounce back against BrewersJ.P. Crawford set to begin rehab assignment in Triple-ATaylor Ward returns to Mariners’ lineup for Game 2 vs Brewers