Cade Marlowe was never a top prospect, wasn’t drafted high, and never showed up on any top draft rankings. He was drafted in the 20th round of the 2019 draft out of the University of West Georgia by the Seattle Mariners.
Ever since being drafted, all Marlowe has done is perform. He started his professional career in Everett back in 2019 when it was still a short season affiliate and he slashed .301/.372/.438 with three home runs in 251 plate appearances. He has continued to hit at every level he has been at, producing a career .288/.375/.514 slash line in just over 1300 plate appearances in the minor leagues. That slash line is very similar to Jarred Kelenic. Kelenic’s career minor league slash line is .295/.369/.540 in just under 1300 plate appearances.
Marlowe is already almost 26 years old, three years older than Kelenic, which is not an insignificant difference. However, with Marlowe off to a good start to the season again in Triple-A, he might be ready to hit if he gets a call-up to the big leagues this season. He was waiting in the wings to make his big league debut in the playoffs with the Mariners last October, so the organization must think he can contribute to the Mariners soon.
Modesto Nuts (A) – California League
| RANK | PLAYER | POS | STATS |
| 5 | Cole Young | SS | .296/.419/.465, 16.3% BB, 19.8% K |
| 9 | Gabriel Gonzalez | OF | .368/.422/.526, 7.8% BB, 12.5% K |
| 18 | Michael Morales | RHP | 3 GS, 15 IP, 1.80 ERA, 27.4% K, 9.7% BB |
| 28 | Tyler Gough | RHP | 2 GS, 4 IP, 9.00 ERA, 22.2% K, 11.1% BB |
| 35 | Milkar Perez | 3B | .233/.400/.349, 20% BB, 21.8% K |
| 36 | Josh Hood | SS/3B | .304/.333/.494, 2 HR, 4.8% BB, 22.6% K |
| 48 | Tatem Levins | C | .194/.308/.226, 15.4% BB, 12.8% K |
Everett AquaSox (A+) — Northwest League
| RANK | PLAYER | POS | STATS |
| 1 | Harry Ford | C | .271/.443/.492, 3 HR, 22.8% BB, 16.5% K |
| 8 | Axel Sanchez | SS | .156/.260/.188, 8.2% BB, 37% K |
| 13 | Tyler Locklear | 3B | .275/.363/.449, 2 HR, 11.3% BB, 22.5% K |
| 14 | Jonatan Clase | OF | .329/.447/.700, 6 HR, 17.6% BB, 28.2% K |
| 25 | Hogan Windish | 2B | .216/.383/.486, 3 HR, 21.3% BB, 27.7% K |
| 26 | Juan Mercedes | RHP | 4 GS, 21 IP, 3.43 ERA, 33% K, 5.5% BB |
| 29 | Alberto Rodriguez | OF | .344/.474/.541, HR, 18.4% BB, 15.8% K |
| 38 | Walking Cabrera | OF | .294/.368/.706, 4 HR, 10.5% BB, 31.6% K |
Arkansas Travelers (AA) – Texas League
| RANK | PLAYER | POS | STATS |
| 2 | Bryce Miller | RHP | 4 GS, 19.2 IP, 6.41 ERA, 21.2% K, 3.5% BB |
| 6 | Bryan Woo | RHP | 3 GS, 12 IP, 2.25 ERA, 40% K, 8.3% BB |
| 7 | Emerson Hancock | RHP | 4 GS, 17 IP, 5.29 ERA, 34.2% K, 10.5% BB |
| 12 | Prelander Berroa | RHP | 3 GS, 14 IP, 5.79 ERA, 31.3% K, 12.5% BB |
| 19 | Juan Then | RHP | 6 G, 7 IP, 3.86 ERA, 25.8% K, 9.7% BB |
| 21 | Robert Perez Jr. | 1B | .222/.275/.413, 3 HR, 7.2% BB, 36.2% K |
| 22 | Isaiah Campbell | RHP | 2 G, 2 IP, 4.50 ERA, 11.1% K, 0% BB |
| 33 | Travis Kuhn | RHP | 6 G, 6 IP, 3.00 ERA, 20% K, 16% BB |
| 40 | Stephen Kolek | RHP | 5 G, 7.2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 40.7% K, 7.4% BB |
| 45 | Spencer Packard | OF | .441/.512/.618, HR, 12.2% BB, 14.6% K |
Tacoma Rainiers (AAA) – Pacific Coast League
| RANK | PLAYER | POS | STATS |
| 15 | Taylor Dollard | RHP | 3 GS, 8.1 IP, 7.56 ERA, 22.2 K%, 8.3% BB |
| 20 | Cade Marlowe | OF | .359/.435/.718, HR, 13% BB, 26% K |
| 24 | Zach DeLoach | OF | .325/.435/.481, 2 HR, 14.1% BB, 32.6%K |
| UR | Brian O’Keefe | C | .319/.420/.725, 8 HR, 14.8% BB, 18.5% K |
Mariners Draft Spotlight
After looking at a high school shortstop in last week’s Mariners Draft Spotlight, we are going to check in on another one who may be available at the back end of the first round of the draft, Kevin McGonigle.
McGonigle is an 18-year-old left-handed hitting shortstop from Pennsylvania, where 2022 first round selection Cole Young was from. He is committed to Auburn in the SEC, so if he does not get the draft bonus he is looking for, he could be headed south to play in the premier conference in college baseball.
Joe Doyle of Future Stars Series thinks highly of his 23rd ranked prospect, “McGonigle is a smaller, twitchy infielder with lightning for hands and impressive core strength at the plate.” MLB Pipeline says McGonigle, “might be one of the best pure hitters in the class”. Adding another prep shortstop who is known for his hitting ability sounds a lot like what the Mariners did last year in the draft. Doyle rounded out his comments on McGonigle by saying, “Some believe the profile is best suited as an impact second baseman, though proponents point to his athleticism, lateral burst and sparky actions as reasons to let him develop as a SS.”
Mariners Prospects in the News
Triple-A Outfielder Cade Marlowe is catching some attention after his strong start to the season as MLB.com writer Daniel Kramer writes.
Stephanie Sheehan wrote about Harry Ford and his first taste of Everett as he hit his first home run with the AquaSox earlier this week.
Seattle released former top prospect Justus Sheffield from the organization after a rocky start to his season out of the Rainiers bullpen.
Curtis Christianson
Curtis Christianson is the Athletic Director at Concordia Christian Academy. He also works in the Tacoma Rainiers clubhouse during the baseball season.
