Why Mariners’ Cole Young could be ready to break out in his second season

PEORIA, Ariz. – In a far corner of a solemn locker room following the Mariners’ Game 7 loss in Toronto, Julio Rodríguez was packing up his things when he set his sights on a teammate doing the same a few stalls away.

Seattle’s star center fielder approached Cole Young and voiced a sharp directive.

You need to get after it this offseason. You have to come back bigger and stronger, Rodríguez told him, in essence, during the brief, one-sided conversation.

He punctuated his words with a gentle finger wave toward Young’s chest.

Young mostly nodded.

A 22-year-old second baseman, Young probably knew all that already. Knew what he needed to do coming out of an underwhelming rookie season.

But hearing that from a teammate of Rodríguez’s stature? It resonated.

Asked recently about that October interaction, Young said he interpreted Rodríguez’s message as positive encouragement. If Rodríguez didn’t care – if he didn’t see potential in Young – maybe he wouldn’t have said anything at all.

“I think that just showed his leadership. For me, it did,” Young said. “I remember him saying like, ‘I want more. This is not enough. I want to make it farther next year.’

“As soon as it ended, he was already saying that. Like, he’s gonna work hard to win a World Series and he’s gonna push other people to help. I thought that was awesome.”

Young, at first blush, appears to have heeded Rodríguez’s advice.

In the early days of spring training, Young is one player club president Jerry Dipoto singled out as someone who immediately caught his eye.

“Cole Young looks unbelievable right now,” Dipoto said, enunciating the adjective. “He took his offseason very seriously.”

In December, when rumors circulated about the Arizona Diamondbacks shopping Ketel Marte, the Mariners explored the market for a potential reunion with the All-Star second baseman. Those talks never advanced, sources said, in part because of the Mariners’ resistance to include Young in a deal.

The Mariners have long viewed Young as their second baseman of the future, and they’d like that future to start now.

Young is penciled as the opening day starter at second, and he believes a dedicated winter in the weight room has him prepared to withstand the rigors of a 162-game season.

“He looks incredibly athletic right now; he looks kind of chiseled,” Dipoto said.

Listed at 5-feet-11 and 180 pounds, Young said he committed to a cleaner diet this offseason – less fast food, basically.

“My goal was to just put enough work to be in a good spot coming into spring, and I did that,” Young said. “… Just cleaning up my diet, cleaning up my body. I lost a few pounds but I gained some strength, too. I feel strong. I feel quick.”

Young had a promising MLB debut last May, delivering a walk-off victory for the Mariners on an infield chopper against the Twins. He was 21 at the time, the third-youngest player on an active MLB roster.

There were other productive signs during his rookie season. He hit .318 with a .352 on-base percentage over the final three weeks of June while playing solid defense at second.

On July 31, his first home run at T-Mobile Park was as unexpected as any swing on the team last season – a 456-foot blast off Texas’ Kumar Rocker into the second deck. It wound up as the longest home run hit by any Mariners slugger last season.

Young, though, was mired in a deep slump in August, and his plate appearances were sporadic through September. He was left off the Mariners’ playoff rosters in October (though he was part of the traveling taxi squad).

In 257 plate appearances, he finished his rookie season with a .211/.302/.305 slash line (.607 OPS) with four homers, seven doubles, one triple, 47 strikeouts and 28 walks.

“The only way to approach (it) is to take it all as a positive,” he said. “I was able to take those lessons learned and just try to put it into the work I did in the offseason. Just learn from those mistakes and try to get better.”

In his third big league camp, Young said he knows he still has something to prove, but he has a better understanding of who he is as a player.

“I’m definitely more comfortable now,” he said. “I feel good and I’m just ready to get going.”

In his first two plate appearances of the Cactus League season this weekend, he worked an eight-pitch walk and then a seven-pitch walk, encouraging first steps in what the Mariners hope will be his breakthrough season.