Drayer: Top M’s prospect Felnin Celesten learning after tough 2024

Friday night under the lights in Goodyear, Ariz., the Seattle Mariners’ top prospects will get their chance to shine as they take on the best of the Cleveland Guardians farm system in the annual Spring Breakout Game.

The Mariners and Padres now will play for a real Eddie Vedder Cup

The Mariners roster will feature six of the organization’s seven prospects ranked in the top 100 by Baseball America, and 18 of their top 30 prospects as ranked by MLB Pipeline.

Five of the Mariners’ top 100 prospects – Colt Emerson, Cole Young, Michael Arroyo, Harry Ford and Lazaro Montes – have had good looks in both Cactus League games and workouts this spring as invites to Major League camp. On Friday night, Mariners fans will get a chance to see a sixth – No. 89 Felnin Celesten, who has spent his spring mostly on the minor league side but brings the star power nonetheless.

Breaking out the lineup for today’s Spring Breakout game! #TridentsUp

📺 Watch: @ROOTSPORTS_NW, @MLBNetwork (out-of-market)
📻 Listen: @SeattleSports pic.twitter.com/cIB5IdMyA7

— Mariners Player Development (@MsPlayerDev) March 14, 2025

There has been much excitement around Celesten, 19, since the Mariners signed the Dominican Republic native to the largest bonus in team history in the 2024 international signing period. His first look however was limited as the shortstop dealt with a hamstring injury early last year and required a cleanup of a previous hamate bone surgery late in the season.

Unable to play in the Dominican Summer League, where most international signees get their first taste of professional ball, the organization sent him straight to the Arizona Complex League once he was healthy. He quickly made up for lost time, slashing .352/.431/.568 in 32 games and winning the league’s top MLB Prospect award. An incredibly short season for Celesten, but he was determined to get the most out of it.

“I think I learned a lot about myself in those few games I played,” Celesten said through interpreter Freddly Llanos. “I think I learned more about what situations or where I can help the team most when I am on the field. I’ve always felt that I was that player that can hit the ball, put it in play and run fast. What I also learned was how I can be a leader.”

Felnin Celesten launched his first two professional home runs last night down in Arizona! #TridentsUp 🔱

(via @IsItTheWelsh) pic.twitter.com/OOKJI0KJch

— Mariners Player Development (@MsPlayerDev) May 14, 2024

It’s an opportunity he likely hasn’t had much in the past as the baseball experience for players growing up in the DR is very different from that of what we see in this country. They don’t play Little League, travel ball or even high school baseball. Their training is almost exclusively skills based. For most, their first experience with being part of a team comes after signing with an organization.

It was an experience Celesten appears to have embraced and appreciated. When asked what the most impressive thing he has seen from a teammate was since being a member of the Mariners organization, he didn’t talk about a nasty pitch, a light tower home run or a sick play in the field. He talked about something many take for granted.

“It’s the fact we are so close,” he said. “How they’ll come up to you and try and communicate or tell you if you are doing something wrong – it’s just the teammates themselves. When you become a professional, you come in here and you are put in with everyone so close, not just living close to each other but having that connection with everybody. It’s definitely new for me.”

Celesten appears comfortable in his new environment and focused on moving forward. His eyes and ears have been wide open in camp, where he has had the opportunity to work with coaches including Edgar Martinez and Perry Hill, and come over from the minor league side as a call-up for the day for a few Cactus League games.

“It is so much more professional,” he said of those games. “They really do the little things right. Down to running the bases, how they take care of themselves, the routines. It’s all the little things they do.”

Felnin Celesten (@Mariners) notches his first career Cactus League RBIs with a 99.1 mph two-bagger.

MLB's No. 2 int'l prospect in the 2023 class ranks among the Top 75 overall prospects after slashing .352/.431/.568 in the Arizona Complex League last summer. pic.twitter.com/y2S2AOFrub

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) March 1, 2025

He has taken note and is learning from those around him. Big expectations come with being one of the top ranked players in his international class. One look no further than the large diamond-studded personal logo he wears around his neck to get the feeling like he has big expectations for himself. The self-designed logo flashy, but not without meaning. At first glance it looks like his initials, FC. On closer inspection, it is a Phoenix – or Fénix, his nickname.

“I picked (El Fénix as a nickname) myself because it just told me to never give up,” he said. “Even in the low points, always keep your head up. I just feel like with the Fénix the more you get burnt, the stronger it becomes. That’s why even in hard times I have just got to be better.”

There were plenty of hard times in 2024, but the story could be very different for Celesten in 2025 if he remains healthy. For now, it is one game at a time and he looks forward to getting on the field with his team Friday in Goodyear.

“It’s a beautiful thing when all of the prospects get together and play,” he said.

The Mariners’ Spring Breakout game against the Guardians can be heard on Seattle Sports beginning at 4:55 p.m., and will air on ROOT Sports with the Cleveland broadcast grew.

More from Seattle Mariners spring training

• Seattle Mariners Notebook: Latest on George Kirby’s status
• Mariners’ Matt Brash takes big step toward return from UCL tear
• M’s Notebook: Big Unit make rare visit, plus some updates
• Drayer: The reasons top M’s prospect Colt Emerson is a spring standout
• Longtime Seattle Mariners voice Rick Rizzs OK after foul ball to head

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