Seattle, WA
Seattle Mariners Notebook: 3 things from local minor league teams
The Seattle Mariners made a trade that went under the radar in May, acquiring 27-year-old minor leaguer Jake Slaughter from the Chicago Cubs for relief pitcher Tyson Miller.
Passan: With prospect wealth, Mariners should be bold
Slaughter came to the Mariners’ system with strong power numbers, owning an .879 OPS with five homers in 32 games for Triple-A Iowa. And on Monday night, fans of the Tacoma Rainiers got the chance to see a particularly impressive example of his power at the plate.
If you’ve ever been to Cheney Stadium, home of the Mariners’ Triple-A affiliate, you know about the very tall wall in center field. And that means you know how hard it is for a hitter to homer over that wall.
Well, add Slaughter to the very short list of players who have done it.
HE SLAUGHTERED THIS ONE! Jake clears the center field wall at Cheney Stadium with a two-run home run that went 452 feet. pic.twitter.com/04dw4LggJ8
— Tacoma Rainiers (@RainiersLand) July 2, 2024
That’s a 452-foot home run, an absolutely mammoth blast from Slaughter that needed not just distance to get over the wall (which is 425 feet away from home plate) but also towering height to clear it.
Slaughter’s blast was just one of three on the night in the Rainiers’ 7-3 win over the Salt Lake Bees, with the other two coming from some familiar names for Mariners fans: Tyler Locklear and Jonatan Clase, a pair of rookies who have made their MLB debuts with Seattle this season.
After going 1 for 3 with a walk on Monday, Slaughter has a .278/.363/.413 slash line for a .776 OPS with seven homers, 13 doubles, 36 RBIs and 36 runs scored over 68 Triple-A games combined between Iowa and Tacoma this season. The LSU product was an 18th-round MLB Draft pick by Chicago in 2018.
The Rainiers are in Tacoma for two more games against the Bees on Tuesday (7:05 p.m.) and Wednesday (6:05 p.m.), then will head out on the road for the next two weeks.
Santos set for M’s system debut
Speaking of those Rainiers home games, Tuesday night will be one worth keeping tabs on.
Mariners relief pitcher Gregory Santos was scheduled to join Tacoma for a rehab assignment on Tuesday, where he will throw a pitch as a member of the Mariners organization for the first time in a competitive game.
More: Mariners reliever Santos to begin rehab assignment
Seattle acquired Santos in an offseason trade from the Chicago White Sox, but the high-leverage option has been sidelined since the start of spring training due to a lat injury. He pitched against some Mariners hitters in live batting practice sessions last week, and the reviews were strong.
“He would be a weapon in the bullpen for a team like us, and I’m just excited for him to get back,” said Mariners second baseman Ryan Bliss, who faced Santos in both live BPs. “… (Santos’ sinker) is 98 mph with splitter movement. You really just don’t see that. I mean, the ball drops out of nowhere, you don’t really see it. It’s just something unique and it’s a really good pitch.”
With Santos starting his rehab assignment Tuesday, it remains to be seen if he could debut with the Mariners before or after the MLB All-Star break, which starts in less than two weeks.
Meanwhile in Everett
Finally, let’s take a trip up I-5 to look at the strong start Lazaro Montes is having with the High-A Everett AquaSox.
Called up from Single-A Modesto last week, the 19-year-old outfielder is 9 for 25 (.360) through his first six games for Everett. Montes has two doubles, a homer, and three walks to eight strikeouts so far at High-A, and has reached base safely in each of his six contests.
Montes is the Mariners’ No. 4 prospect and the No. 53 overall prospect in baseball as ranked by MLB.com, and he checks in at No. 49 overall per Baseball America.
#Mariners No. 4 prospect Lazaro Montes has hit safely in each of his first six Northwest League games with a homer, five RBIs and three walks.@USAFRecruiting #AimHigh pic.twitter.com/skOmIxjVfK
— Everett AquaSox (@EverettAquaSox) July 2, 2024
The AquaSox will wrap up a series at Vancouver with a game each Tuesday and Wednesday, then will be back at Funko Field in Everett for three 7:05 p.m. games against the same Canadians on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
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CHICAGO (AP) — The struggling New York Mets placed former Seattle Mariners second baseman/designated hitter Jorge Polanco on the 10-day injured list on Saturday with a right wrist contusion.
Mariners Injury Update: Latest on Robles, Vargas and more
The move was made retroactive to Wednesday, a day after Polanco went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts in a 2-1 loss at the Los Angeles Dodgers. The 32-year-old Polanco is batting .179 (10 for 56) with a homer and two RBIs in his first season with New York, which has lost nine straight.
“When doctors first took a look at him, it looked like he got hit by a pitch when he didn’t,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “In talking to him, it was just a couple of swings that he took that night. … He didn’t think much of it, but just got worse the following day.
“So you just got to let it calm down a little bit and then we’ll go from there. But we don’t have a timetable for how long this is going to last.”
Polanco, who signed a two-year, $40 million contract with the Mets in December, also has been dealing with an ankle issue.
“He was trending in the right direction,” Mendoza said of the ankle injury. “It’s definitely going to help, obviously now with him being shut down. But the biggest thing now is that we’ve got to take care of that wrist.”
Polanco spent the previous two seasons with the Mariners, who acquired him in a February 2024 trade with the Minnesota Twins.
Polanco struggled during his first season with Seattle in 2024, hitting just .213 with 16 homers in 118 games while playing through a knee injury that didn’t become public knowledge until after the season.
But after the Mariners somewhat surprisingly brought him back for a one-year contract in 2025, Polanco rebounded to hit .265 with 26 homers and an .821 OPS in 138 games last season. He then added three homers during Seattle’s playoff run, along with a 15th-inning walkoff single in Game 5 of the American League Division Series that sent the Mariners to their first ALCS in 24 years.
Seattle Sports staff made additions to this post.
Mariners RHP Bryce Miller to begin rehab assignment
Seattle, WA
Brandon Nimmo hits leadoff homer, Jacob deGrom works 4 scoreless as Rangers beat Seattle Mariners 5-0
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON – APRIL 17: Corey Seager #5 of the Texas Rangers tags out Dominic Canzone #8 of the Seattle Mariners during the fourth inning at T-Mobile Park on April 17, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. (Steph Chambers / Getty Images)
SEATTLE – Brandon Nimmo hit a leadoff home run, Jacob deGrom threw four shutout innings and Gavin Collyer earned his first career win as the Texas Rangers beat the Seattle Mariners 5-0 on Friday night.
Seattle lost its fourth straight game, and was shut out for the fourth time in 21 games, falling to 8-13. The Mariners were shut out six times during the 2025 season. Texas won its third straight game.
Nimmo led off the game with a 372-foot shot to right field off Mariners starter Logan Gilbert (1-3). It was Nimmo’s 16th career leadoff homer and second of the season. He also hit a leadoff home run on April 11 in a 6-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
DeGrom effectively maneuvered through Seattle’s lineup, and worked out of a one out, bases-loaded jam in the first inning. The two-time Cy Young Award winner recorded two of his three strikeouts after walking Josh Naylor to load the bases. Randy Arozarena fanned on a curveball, and Luke Raley swung through a fastball.
Texas added to its lead after Nimmo’s homer. Wyatt Langford’s single to left scored Corey Seager, who led off the third inning with a double. The Rangers stretched the lead to 3-0 on an RBI single from Jake Burger in the seventh.
The Mariners’ best scoring chance came in the sixth after Collyer (1-0), who worked 1 1/3 scoreless innings, left the game.
J.P. Crawford singled to left off Tyler Alexander with two out, and Mariners third base coach Carlos Cardoza sent Naylor from second base, but he was thrown out by Langford.
Texas added two more runs in the ninth on a sacrifice fly by Andrew McCutchen and an RBI double by Josh Jung.
Seattle third baseman Brendan Donovan left the game early due to a left hip issue.
Mariners right-hander Bryce Miller, who started the year on the injured list with a left oblique injury, was at T-Mobile Park for the first time this season. He will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Tacoma on Saturday.
Up next
Mariners RHP George Kirby (2-2, 3.25) will face Rangers righty Nathan Eovaldi (2-2, 5.40) on Saturday afternoon.
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FIFE, Wash. – A portion of southbound I-5 will be closed overnight in Fife Friday and Saturday night, according to WSDOT.
The Washington State Department of Transportation says the purpose of the closure is to install a new electronic sign and will need two nights to do it.
Crews will close southbound I-5 from 54th Avenue to Port of Tacoma Road starting at 11 p.m. Friday night until 7:30 a.m. Saturday morning. Closures will resume Saturday night starting at 11 p.m. as well, and lanes will reopen Sunday morning at 8:30 a.m.
WSDOT says the closure will include the 54th Avenue ramps to southbound I-5.
Detours for weekend I-5 closure in Fife, WA
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The Source: Information in this story comes from the Washington State Department of Transportation.
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