SEATTLE – Seattle Mariners Director of Player Development Justin Toole announced today the following Mariners Minor League Award winners for the month of August:
- Ryan Sloan, RHP – Pitcher of the Month
- Boston Smith, C – Co-Hitter of the Month
- Ace Reese, INF – Co-Hitter of the Month
- Scott Rouse, RHP – Reliever of the Month
- Nick Raposo, C – Baserunner of the Month
- Nick Becker, INF – Defensive Player of the Month
Sloan, 20, earns his second Mariners Pitcher of the Month award this season after going 2-1 with a 2.84 ERA (8 ER, 25.1 IP) and a 0.91 WHIP over 5 starts with Double-A Arkansas during August. He recorded 34 strikeouts to 2 walks allowed during the month for a minor league-leading 17.00 K/BB (min 25.0 IP).
In each of his final 3 starts of August, the 6-foot-5 right-hander allowed 1-or-fewer runs and struck out 6+ batters over 5.0+ innings of work, including earning his 3rd quality start of the season in his final August outing. On Aug. 22, Sloan matched his career-high in strikeouts with a 1-run, 11 punchout performance to become 1-of-4 Double-A pitchers with multiple starts with 11+ strikeouts this season. Bolstering his strikeout totals, Sloan also struck out 9 batters, tied for his 3rd-most recorded in a single game, in his August 15 appearance, allowing 1 run (1 ER) on 5 hits (1 HR) and 1 walk over 5.2 innings in the start. He closed out a dominant month leading minor league pitchers with at least 25.0 IP in August with a 17.00 K/BB while ranking 6th in WHIP (0.91) and 6th in strikeouts. His 2.84 ERA also ranked 9th-lowest among Double-A pitchers (min 25.0 IP).
The No. 3 Mariners prospect (MLB Pipeline) was drafted 55th overall in 2024 by the Seattle Mariners out of York Community High School in Elmhurst, Illinois. Sloan debuted in 2025 and logged a 3.73 ERA (34 ER, 82.0), 90 strikeouts, 15 walks, and a 1.16 WHIP over 21 starts between Low-A Modesto and High-A-Everett in his first season in the minor leagues before being promoted to Double-A Arkansas for the 2026 season. This season, Sloan has posted a 3.50 ERA (35 ER, 92.2 IP) with 117 strikeouts, 14 walks, and a 1.08 WHIP over 20 starts with Double-A Arkansas. He was named to the 2026 All-Star Futures Game after a dominant first half of the season.
Smith, 23, posted an impressive 1.089 OPS while slugging .675 across 24 Double-A games in August. He finished the month batting .275 (22x80) with 20 runs, 3 doubles, 9 home runs, 22 RBI, 18 walks and a stolen base while reaching base in 21 of 24 games for a .410 on-base percentage. Smith, who was acquired via trade on Aug. 3, slugged 5 home runs across his first 6 games in the Mariners organization, including a 2-homer game on Aug. 7. It marked his 3rd multi-homer game this year. Over the course of August, Smith also recorded 8 multi-hit efforts and had 2 games with multiple extra-base hits.
August marked his third consecutive month posting an OPS over 1.000, finishing with a 1.084 OPS across 17 games in June and a 1.146 OPS across 22 games in July. His 1.111 OPS from June 1-August 31 ranked 7th-best among all minor league hitters (min. 200 PA) while his 1.089 OPS in August alone ranked 5th-best among qualified hitters in the Texas League. His 31 total home runs this season currently rank T-12th among all minor league hitters.
The left-handed hitting catcher was originally selected by the Washington Nationals in the 6th round of the 2025 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of Wright State University (OH). He was traded from the Nationals to the White Sox in exchange for INF Curtis Mead on March 28, 2026. He was then acquired by Seattle alongside RHP Seranthony Domínguez and minor league OF Nolan Jones with cash considerations from the White Sox in exchange for RHP Luis Castillo. The Dayton, Ohio native made his professional debut in 2026 in the White Sox organization and has since played in three different levels this season, including Class-A Kansas (8 G), High-A Washington (48 G), and splitting time in Double-A between Birmingham (23 G) and Arkansas (24 G).
Reese, 21, hit .421 (24x57) with 17 runs, 6 doubles, 2 home runs, 13 RBI, 18 walks and 1 stolen base, reaching base at a .544 clip while slugging .632 (1.176 OPS) across 17 games with Class-A Inland Empire. He made his professional debut on Aug. 6 and reached base in each of his first 11 games while slugging .757 for a 1.317 OPS to start his career.
The 6-foot-4 third baseman tallied multiple hits in 8 games, including 3 hits on 3 occasions in August. He also logged 5 games with multiple extra-base hits, including a career-high 3 extra-base hits with 2 doubles and a home run on Aug. 18. Among all minor league hitters in the month of August (min. 70 PA), he ranked 2nd in on-base percentage (.544), 3rd in batting average (.421), 7th in walk-to-strikeout ratio (1.64), 11th in OPS (1.176) and 12th in walk rate (22.8%).
Reese was selected by the Seattle Mariners in the 1st round (24th overall) of the 2026 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of Mississippi State University (Mississippi State, MS). As a junior at Mississippi State University last season, he hit .336 (83x247) with 73 runs, 23 doubles, 24 home runs, 74 RBI, 1 stolen base and 41 walks, getting on base at a .432 clip and slugging .721 for a 1.152 OPS in 62 games. His 24 home runs were tied for 2nd-most in the Southeastern Conference in 2026 and are 5th-most in a single season in school history, surpassing Brent Rooker's 23 home runs in 2017. He also became the third player in program history to hit 20+ home runs in back-to-back seasons. The Houston, Texas native is currently ranked as the Mariners No. 8 prospect (MLB Pipeline) and was previously ranked as the 12th overall draft prospect by Baseball America entering the 2026 Draft.
Rouse, 24, posted a 0.48 ERA (1 ER, 18.2 IP) with 17 strikeouts, 3 walks and a 0.80 WHIP over 4 appearances with Class-A Inland Empire in August. The right-hander did not allow an earned run over 3.0+ IP in 3 of his 4 appearances over the month, allowing his first earned run of August over his 5.2 innings of work in his final start of the month.
On Aug. 12, the 6-foot righty put together his second 6.0+ inning outing of his career, going 6.0 scoreless innings with 4 hits and 5 strikeouts. Rouse earned his first career save in his first appearance of the month after recording a scoreless 4.0 innings to close out the 66ers August 5 victory. To wrap up the month, the bulk reliever recorded 6 strikeouts, the 2nd-most he has recorded in a single appearance in his career, over 5.2 innings of 1-run ball (1 ER) in his final start of August. Among minor league pitchers with at least 15.0 innings pitched in August, Rouse ranked 7th in ERA (0.48) and T-17th in WHIP (0.80) while he owned the 2nd -lowest ERA, 3rd-lowest WHIP and 7th-highest K/BB (6.33) among Class-A pitchers (min. 15.0 IP).
Rouse signed a minor league contract with the Mariners on May 8, 2026 after becoming an undrafted free agent following his final collegiate season at the University of Kentucky. The Parma, Ohio native made his professional debut with the Class-A Inland Empire 66ers on May 9, tossing a perfect inning. Over 18 appearances this season, he owns a 0.88 ERA (7 ER, 72.0 IP) with 65 strikeouts, 21 walks, and a 0.96 WHIP while holding batters to a .194 average.
Becker, 19, went 12-for-12 in stolen base attempts over 21 games with Class-A Inland Empire in August. His 12 stolen bases were tied for 2nd-most in the California League in August, while he finished as 1 of just 2 players in the league with 10+ stolen bases and a 1.000% stolen base percentage during the month. He recorded multiple stolen bases once this month on Aug. 16, doing so for the 8th time this season. Becker finished the month hitting .200 (13x61) with 16 runs, 4 doubles, 10 RBI and 17 walks for a .379 on-base percentage.
The 6-foot-4 shortstop has recorded 10+ stolen bases in three different months this season (May, July and August) and was also named Baserunner of the Month in May after going 15-for-15 in stolen base attempts in the Arizona Complex League. His 46 stolen bases between the Arizona Complex League and Class-A Inland Empire lead the Mariners minor league system and are tied for 8th-most among all minor league hitters age 19-or-younger.
Becker, who is currently ranked as the Mariners No. 10 prospect, was drafted by the Mariners in the 2nd round (57th overall) of the 2025 First-Year Player Draft. He played in 6 games with the Mariners former Class-A affiliate, the Modesto Nuts, last season before finishing the year on the 7-day IL.
Raposo, 28, recorded 1 caught stealing over 15 games at catcher with Triple-A Tacoma in August and owned a .985 fielding percentage over 130 total chances in his 131.0 innings spent behind the plate during the month. His 131.0 innings of work as the backstop in August were the 7th most among Triple-A catchers. This is the 2nd time this season Raposo has been named Defensive Player of the Month, also earning the award in April.
Raposo was claimed off waivers from the Toronto Blue Jays on Dec. 19, 2024. He spent the full 2025 season with Double-A Arkansas before being promoted to Triple-A Tacoma on July 21 of this season. He participated in 2026 Spring Training with the Mariners as a non-roster invitee at the beginning of the season. The right-handed catcher has recorded 95 caught stealings in 325 games (306 starts) at catcher since 2021, including a career-high 31 caught stealings last season with Double-A Arkansas. He owns a .992 fielding percentage with 29 caught stealings this season, 2 short of his career-high.
