The Seattle Mariners made the decision to send Colt Emerson back to the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers
The Seattle Mariners are coming were unable to take a series off the New York Yankees this weekend in Brooklyn, but the visitors were able to earn a hard-fought win in a 1-0 victory in the series finale Thursday.
The Mariners' playoff hopes are still alive, albeit hanging on by a thread, and they're hoping that this latest win will provide the momentum the team needs to go on a run and secure a playoff spot.
If Seattle does go on a run, one of its most promising young players won't be a part of it.
According to an article from Seattle Times reporter Ryan Divish, the Mariners informed shortstop Colt Emerson that he was being optioned back to the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers following Wednesday's win. In a corresponding move, Seattle will be selecting the contract of utility player Brock Rodden to fill Emerson's spot on the 26-man roster. Rodden's first appearance will be his major league debut.
Emerson entered this season as the Mariners' top prospect and was a near-consensus top 10 prospect in the game by most publications.
Emerson had a solid start to the year in Triple-A and slashed .255/.347/.469 with an .816 OPS in 38 games and hit eight doubles, a triple and seven home runs with 26 RBIs. Before he made his major league debut, Seattle opted to lock down the top prospect long-term with an eight-year, $95 million contract. At the time of signing, it was the largest deal in MLB history for a player yet to record any major league service time.
Seattle ultimately brought Emerson to the major leagues May 17. Upon his major league debut, the Mariners front office reaffirmed that this will not be a tryout option for the 21-year-old, but a runway for him to establish himself as a core member of the team.
Veteran shortstop J.P. Crawford moved from his typical position of shortstop to third base, which allowed Emerson to take over at his natural position.
Emerson has struggled his rookie season. In 69 major league games, He's slashed .190/.246/.335 with a .581 OPS and has hit six doubles, a triple and eight homers with 23 RBIs. His chase rate (38.9%), whiff rate (34.1%) and strikeout rate (34.4%) are among the worst in baseball, per Baseball Savant.
"You do have to strike a balance," Mariners manager Dan Wilson said regarding Emerson's struggles in a question asked by Roundtable Sports Brady Farkas in an interview Thursday. "As a hitter, when you go through tougher times, sometimes you want to swing your way out of it and sometimes that gets you to chance a little bit more. ... I don't think you want to get too selective to when you're getting too passive at the plate, either. You just got to strike that balance."
Emerson didn't start in the team's series finale against Max Fried on Thursday.
This isn't a sequence of events that Seattle is unfamiliar with. Last season, the team called up top 100 prospect Cole Young to be the team's starting second baseman, but he was ultimately benched in the final month-and-a-half of the season due to struggles. This year, he took back over the starting second base job and is one of the team's best hitters, having a slash line of .262/.320/.404 with a .724 OPS in 122 games to go with 15 doubles, three triples and 14 home runs with 52 RBIs.
The Mariners will hope that Emerson will be able to emulate the year-over-year improvement that Young had. In the mean time, with Crawford still on the injured list due to wrist inflammation, Rodden will likely get several opportunities to start for Seattle as it hopes to keep its playoff hopes alive on its current nine-game road trip.
Rodden has spent the entire season to this point in Tacoma and has slashed .262/.342/.499 with an .841 OPS in 92 games and has hit 22 doubles, three triples and 19 homers with 65 RBIs.
