Seattle Mariners News

Home

Quizzes

Watch

Newsletter

Seattle Mariners second baseman Cole Young runs after hitting a double against the Cleveland Guardians on June 13 at T-Mobile Park. Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

Cole Young's Newfound Consistency Has Been Welcome Addition For Seattle Mariners

Originally posted on Seattle Mariners on SI
By Teren Kowatsch | Last updated Jul 2, 2025 9:45 AM ET

SEATTLE — The bottom third of the lineup has been ever-changing and ever-volatile for the Seattle Mariners this season.

Injuries and inconsistencies have prevented the Mariners from getting consistent contributions from the No. 7-9 hitters in the order, which has made what Cole Young's been doing recently that much more impressive.

As of Wednesday, the rookie second baseman has recorded a base hit in eight of his last 10 games. He's reached base safely in nine of those contests. Young has hit .323 (11-for-34) with four runs, a double and an RBI in that stretch. Young had his first three-hit game against the Kansas City Royals on Monday. He went 3-for-4 with a run in that contest, a 6-2 win for Seattle.

For the season, Young has scored eight runs in 26 games and has hit four doubles with seven RBIs. He's slashed .261/.298/.307 with a .605 OPS. He's also provided solid defense for the team at second base.

Cole Young made it happen on both sides of the ball for the @Mariners.

In addition to his first three-hit MLB game, the club's No. 3 prospect showed off his glove: pic.twitter.com/euVzyPwq8K
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) July 1, 2025

After Young's major league debut on May 31, where he went 1-for-4 and hit the walk-off RBI fielder's choice against the Minnesota Twins in extra innings, he had a five-game hitless streak.

Young has bounced back since his dry spell. If those 15 at-bats during that stretch were removed, Young would have a .315 batting average (23-for-73).

"You can just kind of see that confidence growing as he plays and plays more," Mariners manager Dan Wilson said before the team's game against the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday. "Defensively, he's handled himself so well. And then offensively, when you see what he did at Texas (against the Rangers) and being able to drive the ball the other way like he did in that last game — his at-bats over time have gotten really, really good. His approach has been much more consistent and it's great to see. I think it takes a little while, especially for a young player, to adapt. And we're really seeing that happen and he's taking everything in stride."

And it seems like there's still another level Young could reach.

The 21-year-old infielder was several feet way from multiple home runs on Seattle's recent road trip, which would have been the first homers of his major league career. He's been using the entire field more, which can also lead to him getting more extra-base hits.

His chase rate (27.8%), whiff rate (24.7%) and strikeout rate (21.1%) are also all arouaround the leagued league average according to Baseball Savant. Many of those stats were exacerbated by his early struggles and have only improved the more playing time he's notched under his belt.

Young, like Wilson said, has gotten better the more playing time he's received. The more he's in the lineup, the closer he'll get to reaching that next level he seems right on the cusp of progressing to.

This article first appeared on Seattle Mariners on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: