Seattle Mariners Call Slugger Lazaro Montes For September Playoff Run

PEORIA, AZ: Lazaro Montes of the Seattle Mariners runs the bases during a outpouring training crippled against the Chicago White Sox astatine Peoria Stadium connected Feb. 24, 2026. (Photo by Mike Christy/Getty Images)

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The Seattle Mariners are astir to spot their flagging chance astatine a playoff spot connected the bat of 21-year-old Lazaro Montes. The slugger is being called up aft hitting 38 location runs in the minors successful 2026, including 10 successful August.

The Mariners request him to proceed the powerfulness show successful September successful a Seattle uniform. The 6-foot-5 Cuban is expected to subordinate the squad Tuesday successful the mediate of a three-game bid successful Boston.

Whether the left-hander plays instantly astatine Fenway Park, which traditionally favors right-handed hitters, is for head Dan Wilson to decide. Boston started left-hander Peyton Tolle successful the opener, and is expected to usage ace right-hander Sonny Gray connected Wednesday and lefty Pablo Sandoval connected Thursday.

Montes has struggled against left-handed pitchers successful 2026, batting conscionable .201 pinch six homers. He has raked right-handers for 32 homers and a .274 average.

He opened the twelvemonth astatine Double-A Arkansas and was moved up to Triple-A Tacoma connected July 7. His batting mean moved up 40 points, too, from .234 to .274 astatine the higher level.

“He loves the game. He loves being astir the game,” Wilson told Jay Cohen of The Associated Press astatine the Mariners’ outpouring training campy successful Peoria, AZ. “And that’s the type of cognition that’s beautiful contagious. His energy’s contagious, and you conscionable emotion being astir it.”

That upbeat value could beryllium the spark successful the clubhouse that yet puts the Mariners’ talent-laden seasoned lineup successful cogwheel aft a summertime of struggles.

Montes’ March To Mariners

The Mariners put down $2.5 cardinal to motion the large Cuban astatine property 17 successful January of 2022. He was drafted retired of the Dominican Republic, wherever he and his family moved successful 2018 truthful the 13-year-old could train pinch Aldo Marrero.

The noted hitting coach had helped create Yordan Alvarez, the Houston Astros’ slugger presently connected target for winning a Triple Crown successful 2026. He leads the AL successful batting (.317), homers (37) and RBI (93).

Montes has akin bat velocity and motorboat perspective to his swing. He was classed the No. 8 world imaginable astatine the clip by MLB Pipeline and is the first subordinate promoted to MLB from the 2022 world signing class.

He had a batch of big moments successful 2025, including a travel to the All-Star Futures Game. Overall successful the minors, Montes has collapsed 114 homers successful 497 games – and has besides struck retired an alarming 613 times.

Montes has a beardown limb that plays good successful correct field, though his wide defense is not stellar. Yet earlier this year, he went all-out to make a spectacular play.

The Mariners’ champion defender successful correct is Victor Robles. He platoons pinch lefty Dominic Canzone, who has been utilized much astatine DH since Luke Raley was injured successful precocious July. Raley is retired for the play aft having elbow surgery.

Right-handed DH-outfielder Taylor Ward, acquired astatine the waste and acquisition deadline from the Baltimore Orioles, has deed conscionable .113 for Seattle successful 18 games.

Montes astatine DH is an option, though young players mostly request clip to set to the domiciled and the Mariners’ business calls for contiguous production.

Why Mariners Need Montes

Seattle is 5 games retired of a imaginable playoff berth pinch 25 to play. Compounding their outlook, the Mariners are 1 of 8 teams wrong 5 1/2 games of the existent leaders (Houston and Cleveland) successful the scramble for 2 wild-card spots.

An moreover bigger dilemma is really do the Mariners abruptly retrieve really to score. Seattle is simply a dead-last 30th successful MLB pinch 530 runs. That’s an mean of 3.87 a game. A twelvemonth ago, the Mariners were 10th successful scoring, averaging 4.73 a crippled arsenic AL West champions pinch a 90-72 record. An unreasonable dream decorativeness of 25-0 this twelvemonth would put them astatine 89-73.

The Mariners came wrong 2 runs of making their first World Series a twelvemonth ago, losing Game 7 of the AL Championship Series to the Toronto Blue Jays, 4-3, aft leading, 3-1, into the bottommost of the seventh.

On Sunday, the Mariners sewage only 1 deed successful a 7-0 nonaccomplishment successful Toronto, extending their losing streak to four. It dropped their batting mean to an MLB-worst .227.

Seattle’s “Terrific Trio” successful the mediate of the 2025 lineup person scuffled successful 2026. Catcher Cal Raleigh, outfielder Julio Rodriguez and first baseman Josh Naylor are each having unexpectedly mediocre seasons astatine the plate.

Only Randy Arozarena (20 homers, 20 steals, 56 RBI, .268) is connected way to lucifer his 2025 output (27 homers, 31 steals, 76 RBI, .238).

Montes told AP successful February he has a typical enslaved pinch chap Cuban Arozarena.

“One of the things for us, you know, arsenic Cubans, thing that we transportation is really competitory we are. And to spot him bring that and, you know, bring it to the awesome leagues is thing that I’ve really admired because bringing thing from our civilization into this league, it’s special.”

Seattle Mariners’ Future

The Mariners are among MLB’s biggest disappointments successful 2026. Nothing has clicked arsenic expected and injuries person been portion of the blame.

Key off-season summation Brendan Donovan, expected to beryllium an on-base instrumentality atop the bid while playing 3rd base, has been constricted to 39 games by various injuries. Raley, young shortstop Cole Emerson and starter Emerson Hancock are each sidelined, too.

Still, the Mariners are successful striking distance. Rookie Cole Young has helped astatine 2nd base. Top imaginable Kade Anderson was called up 2 weeks agone to bolster the starting rotation. Now it is Montes’ turn.

The nine has the expertise to get basking capable to make an historical playoff tally – and specified a spurt could transportation into post-season glory.

Realistically however, the likelihood are agelong connected it happening for the Seattle Mariners successful 2026.