Why the rookie making his MLB debut is exactly who the Mariners wanted up in last night’s big spot
Don’t read too much into a slightly dazed Cole Young grasping for words in his first-ever Mariners postgame presser, the first time he ever addressed the media as a member of the big league club.
“That was. . .unreal. I can’t even describe it, the past 24 hours. It has been insane. I never thought I would be in that situation, to hit a walkoff in my debut. It was unreal.”
Walkoffs aren’t unfamiliar territory to Young. Just two days ago, he had hit virtually a carbon copy of his fielder’s choice walkoff to secure a win for the Rainiers.
But walking it off in your MLB debut? That’s rare air. No Mariner had ever done it before last night. The last player to do it was Young’s Tacoma teammate Samad Taylor in 2023. (Fun fact: Taylor was the second Royal to have a walkoff hit in his debut. The first? Current Mariners hitting coach Kevin Seitzer, in 1986.)
Perhaps that’s why Young—always the picture of composure—seemed at a loss for words at times, saying of all the scenarios he had envisioned during a sleepless night prior to making his debut, this wasn’t one of them.
“I’m just glad I put the ball in play,” said Young.
Putting the ball in play is what Young does best, though. In his first two professional seasons in the low minors, he walked almost exactly as often as he struck out: 11.3% the first year, and 14.5% vs. 14.9% in his second season. Moving to the high minors in 2024, Young’s strikeouts crept up ever so slightly to just below 16%, but he continued walking, and more importantly, kept hitting for average, never dazzling with power but making consistent contact.
That ability was on display in his debut. After popping out softly twice against Twins starter Bailey Ober, Young led off the seventh inning with a polished at-bat against reliever Jorge Alcala, who has big stuff but struggles with command, working a five-pitch walk. In the ninth, in a 1-2 hole against setup man Griffin Jax, Young was able to make contact with a back-foot sweeper, flicking it over the second baseman’s head for his first career hit. That one-out hit led to a rally where the Mariners threatened to score, but ultimately could not, setting up the rookie for more heroics in the tenth.
Again, with one out and a runner on third, Young needed to come up with some contact against Cole Sands. It was a tough spot for any player, let alone one making his debut, but Young proved he was the right man for the job. Young was aggressive right away, fouling off the first two pitches he saw, both fastballs up in the zone.
“With a runner on third, I’m trying to drive the ball to the outfield. I was trying to do that the first two pitches, and then I was battling, trying to put the ball in play.”
He declined to chase a splitter away, and then was able to foul off another fastball just off the plate away. Sands came back with another splitter, this one just on the outer edge of the plate, and Young was able to chop over the top of it for a slow enough roller that allowed pinch-runner Miles Mastrobuoni (who deserves credit for an excellent slide) to slide in just under Ryan Jeffers’ tag.
It was a remarkable at-bat for Young, who said the game got easier for him with each inning.
“I would say for the first couple innings, a little nervous, for sure. But after the first at-bat I kind of realized, okay, it’s the same game. It’s the same as Triple-A, there are just a lot more people here. And then after I got my first hit, that’s when I started to feel comfortable. And then the last at-bat I just felt like I was back in Tacoma with my approach.”
That approach is something that’s key to this version of the Mariners, who are emphasizing a more contact-forward approach this year after being near the top of the league in strikeouts last season.
“He was able to go out there and just be Cole Young,” said Dan Wilson postgame. “It’s just an outstanding ballgame for him, and led to a big win for us.”
For as much as Young seemed to be in disbelief, Ben Williamson, who has played with Young extensively in the minors, had no doubt his teammate would get the job done.
“I turned to Emerson [Hancock] and I said, this was written for him. He’s about to walk it off.”
Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images