The second baseman has put up an excellent first month of the season.
On Sunday afternoon, with the Seattle Mariners trailing 2-1 in the top of the seventh inning against the St. Louis Cardinals, rookie second baseman Cole Young tied the game with a two-out single to center field that scored Connor Joe.
Young has been excellent through the first month of the season, hitting .267 with three home runs, 14 RBIs and a .351 on-base percentage. The former first-round pick is also hitting .323 against left-handers while playing outstanding defense at second base.
The two-out hit that Young had on Sunday was clutch and helped the Mariners to an eventual 3-2 win, but it's also something that has become relatively normal for him thus far in 2026.
According to Mike Lefko of Seattle Sports 710, Young now has nine RBIs with two outs.
As noted by Thomas Nestico, Young is also leading all American League second baseman in WAR (0.7) through the first month. For what it's worth, he's also ranked well ahead of Ketel Marte (0.2), who the Mariners were reportedly connected to this offseason in trade rumors. The M's believed in Young, and so far, they are being rewarded.
The Pennsylvania native made his major league debut in May of last season and struggled to a .211 average. Left of the playoff roster entirely in 2025, he put in work this offseason that has really shown in the first month.
We caught up with Young during spring training in Peoria, Ariz., and asked him about his growth heading into his sophomore campaign.
I'd say the biggest thing I learned about the grind is just the importance of having a solid routine each day. Whether it's getting in the training room each day, going in the weight room to lift, whatever it is. But just having a consistent routine, it just helps you play 162 games, and it'll help you with the mental side of it too.
And while being left off the roster in the playoffs was assuredly hard for him, we asked him what he learned and took away from watching that deep October run that Seattle took to the American League Championship Series.
Yeah, I learned a lot. The biggest thing I learned is that this is where you want to be. You want to be playing in the playoffs at the end of the year. You don't want to go home after September. So, the playoffs is, that's where all the fun's at. And that's the biggest thing I learned from watching it. And, obviously, there's other little things that I learned too, but that's the biggest thing: you want to be playing in the playoffs in October and that's where all the fun's at.
The Mariners will take on the Minnesota Twins on Monday afternoon at 4:40 p.m. PT. The M's are 14-15 and looking to get back to .500.
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