Tyler

Locklear

The 24-year-old struggled in his 49-plate-appearance MLB debut in 2024 but has gone 5-for-13 with one home run and four RBI in his first four games in Triple-A. Perhaps more importantly, he has four walks and four strikeouts. The Mariners are currently using Rowdy Tellez and Mitch Garver at designated hitter, so if Locklear can have a good first month or so in Triple-A, he should get another shot.

Locklear struggled last year to a subterranean .156/.224/.311 triple-slash line with two homers and one steal in 49 plate appearances over 16 contests in his first taste of the majors. The 24-year-old first baseman figures to get another shot with Seattle, or somewhere else, down the road, but he’ll open the regular season back in the upper minors.

As a team, the Mariners tallied just five hits in the contest, with Locklear and Harry Ford each accounting for two. Locklear also had his club’s lone extra-base hit, a double off of Walter Pennington in the fourth inning. He’s off to a strong start on the spring, hitting .429 (3-for-7) with a pair of runs scored, two RBI and a stolen base as he attempts to secure a spot on the M’s Opening Day roster.

Locklear got the Mariners on the board in the second inning with a go-ahead two-run double off of Tommy Henry. He then went down on a swinging third strike against Scott McGough in the third inning. The door is wide open at first base for the Mariners, so if Locklear has a strong spring he could thrust himself into at least a platoon role there.

There isn’t a ton of competition for at-bats at the cold corner in Seattle beyond Luke Raley and top prospect Tyler Locklear, so this is actually a pretty decent landing spot for Shenton after he was cut loose earlier this week by the Rays. The 26-year-old first baseman, who was originally a fifth-round pick by the Mariners in the 2019 MLB Draft, batted .214/.340/.405 with one homer in 50 plate appearances last year in the big leagues, but he blasted 20 homers in just 83 games at Triple-A Durham.

Locklear’s time in the majors did not go well the second time around, and the 23-year-old will head to Tacoma with Justin Turner activated for Tuesday’s tilt against the Red Sox. Locklear still has long-term appeal, but he didn’t look close to ready in an admittedly small sample.

Turner brings a .254/.349/.371 line with him to Seattle. Odds are that he’ll fare a little worse while playing half of his games in arguably baseball’s toughest ballpark for hitters, but we’ll see. He’ll serve as a first baseman and DH for the Mariners. Jason Vosler, Tyler Locklear and Mitch Garver might all have to fight it out for time the other spot. That’s bad for Garver, but he will remain the team’s backup catcher.

Locklear didn’t exactly tear the cover off the ball last month in a brief 11-game cameo for the Mariners, batting .200 (6-for-30) with two homers and one steal. However, he’s going to get some extended runway to at least showcase his power and patience profile at the highest level in the wake of Seattle’s decision to designate veteran first baseman Ty France for assignment. The 23-year-old top prospect has displayed strong plate skills in the upper minors over the last few years and can do some serious damage when he decides to get aggressive. Based on his first stint in the big leagues, there’s probably going to be an initial adjustment period here as he acclimates to everyday life in the majors. However, once he gets comfortable, there’s an opportunity for him to emerge as a certifiable middle-of-the-order force for the Mariners, which gives him some appeal for fantasy managers, especially in deeper mixed leagues.

It sounds like if Ty France isn’t claimed on waivers, then he’ll be sent outright to Triple-A Tacoma. Locklear performed decently in his first taste of big-league action, hitting .200/.250/.433 with a pair of homers, three RBI and a stolen base in 32 plate appearances over 11 games. He’s probably worth a look in deeper mixed leagues now that he’ll receive a chance to play every day.

With Jorge Polanco coming off the IL, the Mariners optioned Locklear to Triple-A to make room on the roster. The 23-year-old was hitting just .200/.250/.433 in 11 games with two home runs, three runs, three RBI, and one steal. He was also sporting a 37.5 percent strikeout rate, so he’ll now head back to the minors to try his swing-and-miss in check.