Mariners calling up slugging OF prospect Lazaro Montes per several reports

Longtime baseball reporter Francys Romero reported Sunday evening that Cuban OF Lazaro Montes will be called up to the Seattle Mariners, with Daniel Kramer of MLB.com reporting that the move is expected ahead of Tuesday's game in Boston, coinciding with the expansion of rosters to 28 for September call-ups. Montes is in transit to Boston but is not necessarily expected to be activated for Monday's series opener at the Red Sox.

Montes has been one of the most powerful sluggers in the minor leagues since arriving in pro ball after training in the Dominican Republic as a teenager. Progressing through the same program that produced Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez, the comparisons for the titanic lefty have been common. They're not quite accurate, however. Montes is a huge kid, a 21 year old listed at 6'5, 210 whose frame is as massive as his smile. Like Alvarez, while he moves well for his size, his gait and foot speed are never going to reflect as plus defensively, though Montes has good baseline athleticism that helps him make many 50/50 plays despite middling range. Moreover, his arm is absolutely massive, a profile similar to an early-career Nelson Cruz. Not just that, but Montes is a high-effort player in all phases, occasionally stunning opponents with his pace and hustle.

But that's not the main thing Lazaro Montes is all about. The reason he's been a top-100 prospect and one of the most anticipated hitting prospects in years for Seattle is gargantuan power that's seen him club 21 homers in 2024 across 542 PA at a teenager, then 32 a season ago between High-A and Double-A, and now 38 big flies in 537 PA across Arkansas and Triple-A Tacoma. At every level, Montes has been a variation of highly consistent, slugging massively, walking prominently, and whiffing most of the time he's not doing one of those two options.

It's made for a fascinating profile, with a .247/.365/.556 line this season that features a 14.3% walk rate and a 30.7% strikeout rate. The in-zone contact rate on Montes' swings (and contact rate overall) is poor enough that there are plenty of folks who simply don't think he can be a big leaguer in an effective long-term capacity, despite doing devastating damage most of the time he makes contact. Montes has a 71.1% in-zone contact rate and 64.4% contact overall on swings in his ~200 plate appearances with the Rainiers, where Statcast data is tracked throughout the Pacific Coast League publicly. The only qualified hitter worse than that at the big league level is 1B Munetaka Murakami of the Chicago White Sox, who is at 70.5% and 60.7% respectively. Nobody else is below 77% for in-zone contact, and even if you drop the big league split to minimum of 200 PAs, it's only Murakami lower.

The key for Montes is what he does on contact. His hard hit rate in Tacoma is 56.8% per Statcast, which is again a number in company with only Murakami, James Wood, Oneil Cruz, Nick Kurtz, Pete Alonso, and Aaron Judge. His hardest hit ball in Triple-A this year is 116.3 MPH, which ties Wood, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Elly De La Cruz for 8th-hardest in MLB all year. His average exit velocity would be third-highest in MLB behind just Cruz and Wood, right ahead of Yordan. The more likely outcome than instant stardom is something closer to what we've seen from Jordan Walker, Coby Mayo, or Jac Caglianone, all of whom share similar offensive profiles, explosive strength, and risk of whiff in their swing.

The choice of Montes makes sense in terms of production, he's crushed every level at every age he's been assigned. His profile, however, is an intriguing one to see, and may be indicative of Seattle's willingness to hope for a hail mary, looking to Lazaro to bring their season back from the dead with a deluge of big flies. Being called up in September will not impact Montes' ability to be a rookie in 2027, nor disrupt his eligibility for the Prospect Promotion Incentive picks the have ample value to clubs. Whether Montes posts daily or in a part-time role may depend on what the M's are valuing in their final month of play.