The Mariners didn’t expect to call up Colt Emerson, but they had no choice.
Emerson made his major league debut Sunday in the Mariners’ 8-3 loss to the Padres. It wasn’t an eventful day at the box office. He flied out to right field in his first at-bat, drew a walk in the second, then flied out to right again in the third. But at just 20 years old, he became the youngest Mariner to reach the majors since Félix Hernández in 2005.
General manager Justin Hollander told the media that calling Emerson was not a move he expected to make when he woke up that morning. However, Emerson was next on the depth chart, and when it became clear that Brendan Donovan needed time on the injured list, Hollander felt that was the only option.
“We want to do the right thing for Colt. We want to do the right thing for the Mariners. We think he’s the best. This time is going to give him a run. This is not a 15-at-bat or 20-at-bat tryout to see if he can take the job and work with it for the rest of the year.”
Seattle’s top pick in the 2023 draft, Emerson quickly moved through the system and came to represent the team’s next wave of development, leading the team in hopes of extending the team’s competitive window into the final days of Julio Rodríguez and Cal Raleigh.
Emerson was the best prospect in the Mariners program when Brendan Gawlowski reviewed it in January. He also ranked 11th on our preseason Top 100 Prospects list. Gawlowski wrote that Emerson “offers the best combination of tools and skills in all of the minor leagues,” with a good understanding of the strike zone, reasonable power, and plenty of athleticism to stick to shortstop. He gets thumbs up from both scouts and analysts alike, and his intangibles have received positive reviews from the team.
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The Mariners felt strongly enough about Emerson that they offered him a $95 million extension in April to keep him in Seattle for most of his season. At the time, he had played just six games above Double-A, making it a historic deal for a player with no major league experience. Still, the team declined to include him on the Opening Day roster, raising questions about his readiness.
Did you answer those questions six weeks ago? Well, no. Emerson posted just a .364 wOBA (105 wRC+) in 169 Triple-A plate appearances in the Pacific Coast League while striking out 27.2% of the time. The peripherals were very flattering. He hustled a lot, pitched a lot, and hit a lot of grounders. It’s a small sample – made smaller by a wrist injury that kept him out for a week – and it doesn’t matter that the 20-year-old struggled in a much older competition. But it’s clear the timing of this release was less about his readiness and more about the Mariners’ 2026 situation.
I contacted you this Friday when Raleigh went on the injured list. The Mariners were a game under .500 at the time and still had to settle into the new season. They were playing better than their record suggests and were trending higher. More had gone right than wrong, I wrote. Then the Mariners were swept over the weekend and fell to four games under .500. Emerson struck out only three times in his first start because the players only got one hit. The sense of urgency is suddenly palpable, with frustration reaching the rare sacking of manager Dan Wilson on Saturday.
Things took a turn for the worse when Donovan was put on the IL on Sunday morning. He was the Mariners’ Plan A at third base this year, after they acquired him from the Cardinals in February for Jurrangelo Cijntje. He was very good at the plate with a 146 wRC+. But he was terrible in the field with a -5 OAA, playing a position he had little experience coming into the year.
He didn’t enter the field much either. Donovan missed nearly three weeks at the end of April with a groin injury, and has been in and out of the lineup ever since. The issue worsened on Thursday after he took several more hits, and now he is expected to be out for at least three more weeks with the same injury. He underwent sports hernia surgery in October, which is known to come with long recovery times.
Before Sunday, the Mariners had assigned Leo Rivas the job at third base in Donovan’s absence. But Rivas dropped to a 41 wRC+ in 120 plate appearances, and it became clear that a change was needed. The plan going forward is for Emerson to be a full-time third baseman, and Donovan will take on the role of power forward if healthy.
Emerson’s position was ultimately designed to be shortstop. For now, though, he’s standing at the hot corner while the longest-tenured Mariner, JP Crawford, finishes the final year of his contract. It’s been a difficult transition, because while Crawford has hit well, he’s been one of the worst players at any position (a problem made worse by playing next to Donovan). There are others who feel Emerson should take over immediately, with the 31-year-old Crawford moving to DH, second, or third. But Crawford doesn’t have an arm at third, and neither does anyone else on the Mariners’ roster, which is full of defensively limited left-handed hitters, making Emerson’s start difficult.
Of course, indicative of how things are going for the Mariners right now, Crawford took a fastball off his right tricep on Sunday and left the game with a concussion. Rivas took his place at shortstop, and Emerson remained at third. Crawford is not expected to miss much, if any, time, but it will be interesting to see if Emerson gets short time on the days Crawford needs to sit. Regardless, Emerson is expected to play every day, even against the remaining pitchers, who have recorded Seattle’s lopsided lineup this year.
That said, it was the beginning of the situation. My expectations for Emerson in the next few weeks are very low. He is very young, and has over 1,000 professional at-bats. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him return to Triple-A at some point. Still, the Mariners can no longer afford it. Emerson was clearly the best offensive lineman in the organization, and it’s time to see where he is. Maybe he’ll give a spark, or maybe he’ll just hold his own. Regardless, it’s the start of something new, and sometimes that’s enough.
