PEORIA, Ariz. -- The lid has been lifted, and the Mariners are off and running in Cactus League play.
Seattle opened its 31-game Spring Training slate on Friday against the Padres, their neighbors at the Peoria Sports Complex.
While outcomes won’t matter over these next four weeks, the results within them will -- for the front office to gauge who might be next up within a farm system ranked No. 3 by MLB Pipeline, which dovetails into the finite position battles.
With that in mind, here are four things to watch as Cactus League games begin:
No. 1 prospect Colt Emerson
President of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto wasn’t kidding when he suggested that Emerson would get a long look this spring, as the 20-year-old was in Friday’s lineup batting ninth and playing third base. His reps will likely increase even more once Seattle’s nine players expected to be on the Opening Day roster depart for the World Baseball Classic.
Emerson saw 22 plate appearances in Cactus play last spring, and a guesstimate of double that could be in play.
Emerson was working out at shortstop on Thursday alongside J.P. Crawford, but he’s also seen extended action at second and third. How the latter two positions play out, with Brendan Donovan and Cole Young as the leading candidates to win each gig, respectively, will determine Emerson’s more immediate roster status.
“He's got excellent hands,” said Dipoto. “He’s the kind of guy you want them to hit the ball to when the game's on the line, because you just trust him.”
Beyond what Dipoto called “sneaky five-tool” potential, Emerson has drawn rave reviews for his maturity. This is his second big league camp, and he was also part of the Mariners’ postseason taxi squad last October.
“The relationships I have with older guys, the big league guys, have just grown more,” Emerson said. “I’m more comfortable being in the clubhouse.”
Next arms off assembly line
Kade Anderson and Ryan Sloan are further behind Emerson on their path to The Show, yet perhaps not by much.
This might sound lofty, but the strong early-camp impressions for Seattle’s top two pitching prospects have drawn comparisons to the Mariners’ most recent tandem to graduate to the big league rotation -- Bryce Miller and Bryan Woo in 2023.
“They started that season having not pitched above A-ball, really, and the next thing you know, they're in the big leagues,” Dipoto said. “I would say right now, Kade and Sloan are maybe where Woo and Miller were at that time.”
Anderson, 21, will probably have more runway with a Cactus workload, with potentially two or three starts, while Sloan, who just turned 20, might only get one or two. It’ll be fascinating to see how their stuff plays against opposing big leaguers, as this is each pitcher's first big league camp.
The trade acquisitions
Brendan Donovan has already been working closely with infield guru Perry Hill as he transitions to third base more full-time. But seeing his bat in action is what fans have anticipated since the splashy trade that netted the versatile veteran from St. Louis on Feb. 2.
“When you come into an organization, you kind of ask, like, ‘Hey, what are some things I should be aware of?’” Donovan said. “Like rules or things, just so you kind of don't get caught off guard. And it was just like, ‘We're going to prepare. We're going to be great people.’ And I was like, ‘I like it.’”
The winter’s other defining trade saw Seattle deal away a face-of-the-future candidate in Harry Ford. Yet that the Mariners were willing to part ways with the former Top 100 prospect underscores how bullish they are on leverage lefty Jose A. Ferrer.
Acquired from Washington, Ferrer had a 54.6% in-zone rate last season (32nd among 275 qualified pitchers) and a 64.3% ground-ball rate (second among 194). For a bullpen that badly needed a reinforcement for Gabe Speier, that’ll play.
Opening Day starter debate
This won’t intensify for a bit, given that the Mariners will slowly roll out their starting five in Cactus play, yet their assessment for the assignment will be intriguing. Manager Dan Wilson is a loyal guy and, at least in his first year, made the decision on merit by selecting Logan Gilbert.
In that context, Woo would be the obvious choice for ‘26. But Wilson also said that the plan for Woo would be similar to last season, when he was rolled out fourth in order to bake in April’s bevy of off-days into his routine. Woo didn’t pitch on a standard four days of rest until May 7.
If not Woo, Gilbert seems like the leading alternative for March 26 vs. Cleveland.