Two Mariners prospects named to MLB Futures Game
C Harry Ford and SS/2B Cole Young will represent the Mariners
The Mariners have an exciting group of young top prospects, but will be represented at this year’s Futures Game by just two of them: C Harry Ford and 2B/SS Cole Young. This will be Ford’s second time at a Futures Game and Young’s first. Both Ford and Young, drafted by the Mariners in the first round out of high school in 2021 and 2022, respectively, will be on the younger end of the spectrum, even with Ford making a repeat appearance, as the Futures Game—the MiLB version of the All-Star Game—skews towards established prospects, often at the Double-A level or above. Both Ford and Young are playing in their first season at Double-A Arkansas.
It’s been an adjustment for the two young players at Arkansas, one of the toughest hitting environments in the league. The organization would ideally like to see better power production from both players, but the righty Ford has struggled both with the tougher pitching in the league and with the dimensions at Dickey-Stephens Park; he has just five homers, and one at home. His plate discipline continues to be excellent, as he walks over half as often as he strikes out, but he needs to continue working on driving the pitches he gets in his zone. Young is also still working on finding the power aspect of his game; as a lefty, he’s fared slightly better in DSP, with four of his seven homers coming at home. If possible, Young’s plate discipline and contact ability is even better than Ford’s, with his walk and strikeout percentages hovering close to equal. Each player rounds their game out with average to above-average defense—with Young the slicker fielder of the two, but Ford seeming to be able to stick at the much tougher catching position—and solid base-running abilities.
When the Mariners took Ford twelfth overall in the 2021 draft, it represented a shift away from their previously established draft strategy of taking proven college performers, especially pitchers, with their first picks. Ford was the bell-cow of the Mariners’ shift in strategy of targeting young position players early in the Draft, seen again with Young (21st overall in 2023) before blossoming with their three first-round picks in 2023, all three of which they used on prep position players (SS Colt Emerson, SS Tai Peete, and OF Jonny Farmelo). However, fans will have to wait to see any of the younger Mariners prospects in the Futures Game—including international signings INF Michael Arroyo and OF Lazaro Montes—until next year, assuming they remain with the organization. (On the bright side, if you’re local to the NW you can see Arroyo and Montes right now in Everett.)
The Futures Game will be played on Saturday, July 13 at 1:00 PM PT in Arlington. The Futures Game will air exclusively live on MLB Network and will be simulcast on MLB.TV, MLB.com and in the MLB App with Melanie Newman (play-by-play), Mark DeRosa (analyst), Jonathan Mayo (analyst) and Sande Charles (reporter) on the call. As a fun bonus, imminent HOFer and former Mariner Adrián Beltré will have the honor of managing the AL Futures team. Hopefully Cole and Harry know not to try to touch his head.