Where are Mariners first-round draft picks now? We catch up with a decade of top prospects

The Seattle Mariners have had their share of hits and misses with first-round draft picks over the years.

But, in 2020, they have four of their first-round selections from the last decade in major league camp in Arizona, and last year’s first-round pick competing in minor league mini-camp.

Here’s a detailed look at where Seattle’s top picks from the last decade have landed:

2019: RHP George Kirby, Elon

Overall pick: 20th

Age: 22

Highest level: Short-A Everett

Mariners scouts tabbed Kirby as one of the top five arms available in the draft last year, pointing to his impressive four-pitch mix — a fastball that can reach 98 mph, and a slider, curveball and changeup that blend in well. Kirby’s ability to control the strike zone — he struck out 107 batters while walking just six in his final season at Elon — made him a perfect fit for Mariners organization that hammers home that message. “He fits everything we value here,” director of amateur scouting Scott Hunter said last June. Kirby, who is 6-foot-4, 215 pounds, added important pitching depth to Seattle’s farm system a year after it drafted a similar pitcher in Logan Gilbert in the first round. Kirby pitched in nine games (eight starts) in short-season ball with the AquaSox last season, posting a 2.35 ERA across 23 innings, didn’t issue a walk, and struck out 25. He could begin 2020 as advanced as High-A Modesto.

2018: RHP Logan Gilbert, Stetson

Overall pick: 14th

Age: 22

Highest level: Double-A Arkansas

Like most pitchers freshly through a college baseball season at the time their drafted, Gilbert wasn’t expected to pitch much anyway in 2018, after throwing 112 1/3 innings across 16 starts that spring at Stetson. But, as it turned out, he didn’t pitch at all. He was diagnosed with mono shortly after he reported to Everett, meaning the Mariners had to wait several more months before seeing the imposing, 6-6, 225-pounder in action. When Gilbert did return to the mound for his professional debut last spring, it was clear he was worth the wait. He flew through Seattle’s minor league ranks last season, starting as Low-A West Virginia’s Opening Day starter, earning a promotion to High-A Modesto by May, and ending the year in the Texas League with Double-A Arkansas, where he went 4-2 with a 2.88 ERA across 50 innings, striking out 56 and walking 15. Gilbert will start 2020 in the minors, but as a core piece of the club’s future starting rotation, it’s possible the Mariners bring him up to Seattle as early as this summer.

2017: 1B Evan White, Kentucky

Overall pick: 17th

Age: 23

Highest level: Triple-A

Considered one of the top defensive prospects in baseball since he was drafted, White has impressed at the plate his past three seasons in the minors, too, slashing at .296/.361/.471 with 43 doubles, 10 triples, 32 homers and 133 RBI. His remarkable production in 92 games with Double-A Arkansas last season — he hit .293/.350/.488 and was a Texas League All-Star — proved enough for Seattle to sign him to an unprecedented six-year deal in November, without having ever seen him in a big-league game. White’s contract runs through the 2025 seasons, with club options the following three years. The 6-3, 220-pound former Ohio state player of the year in high school is inked in as the Mariners’ Opening Day first baseman.

2016: OF Kyle Lewis, Mercer

Overall pick: 11th

Age: 24

Highest level: MLB

The Mariners got a glimpse of Lewis’ powerful, exciting bat in September, when the 6-4, 205-pounder became the first player in major league history to homer in six of his first 10 games. In a spectacular 18 games with the Mariners at the end of the season, he slugged at .592 with five doubles, the six homers — including taking Trevor Bauer deep for his first major league hit — and 13 RBI. Lewis, an important piece of Seattle’s youth movement, was already penciled in as an Opening Day outfielder for the Mariners this season, which was further solidified when Mitch Haniger was indefinitely shut down again following more surgeries. Seattle will find out this spring if the former college All-American can build off his stunning debut.

2014: C/OF Alex Jackson, Rancho Bernardo H.S. (Calif.)

Overall pick: 6th

Age: 24

Highest level: MLB

Jackson, considered the top hitter available in his draft class, spent just three seasons in the Mariners’ minor league system before he was shipped to the Braves in 2016, in the trade that brought pitchers Max Povse and Rob Whalen — neither of whom are still with the Mariners — to Seattle. Jackson was an outfielder in Seattle’s eyes, with Mike Zunino already working his way through the ranks as a catcher, but was converted back to a catcher when he joined Atlanta, debuted for the Braves last April, appeared in four total games during 2019, and is back in big-league camp this spring.

2013: 3B D.J. Peterson, New Mexico

Overall pick: 12th

Age: 28

Highest level: Triple-A

Peterson was such an intriguing prospect for the Mariners they drafted him twice — first out of Arizona’s Gilbert High School in the 33rd round in 2010, and then again after he played three seasons at New Mexico, where he became a three-time All-American, two-time Mountain West player of the year, and the university’s highest-ever draft pick. But, his career with Seattle’s organization never panned out. He reached Triple-A Tacoma by his third season, but didn’t make the jump to the big leagues, and was designated for assignment midway through the 2017 season. Both the White Sox and Reds took chances on Peterson in Triple-A after that, but both later released him. He plans to play in the Mexican League in 2020.

2012: C Mike Zunino, Florida

Overall pick: 3rd

Age: 28

Highest level: MLB

How Zunino’s development was handled by the previous Mariners regime will forever be an example. After playing in less than 100 games in the minors his first two seasons with the organization, he was prematurely called up to Seattle in 2013. Though he grew into a fantastic defensive catcher for the Mariners over the course of six seasons — he was named the Wilson Defensive Player of the Year for catchers in 2018 — and logged nearly 5,000 innings behind the plate, his bat never really caught up. Swing frustrations had him moving up and down between Seattle and Triple-A Tacoma during his tenure, and though he posted a career-best .251/.331/.509 slash with 25 doubles, 25 homers and 64 RBI across 124 games in 2017, his numbers dipped again the following year. Zunino was dealt to Tampa Bay in the Mallex Smith trade following his troubling 2018 showing, leaving Mariners fans to forever wonder what the beloved catcher could have been had he been given more time to mature in the minor league ranks at the beginning of his professional career.

2011: LHP Danny Hultzen, Virginia

Overall pick: 2nd

Age: 30

Highest level: MLB

Hultzen is one of three No. 2 overall picks the Mariners have ever made, joining Dustin Ackley (2009) and Bill Swift (1984). Only Alex Rodriguez (1993), Hall of Famed Ken Griffey Jr. (1987), Mike Moore (1981) and Al Chambers (1979) have ever been drafted higher in the organization, each going No. 1 overall. But, as excited as the Mariners were to pick up Hultzen, a former high school All-American and ACC Pitcher of the Year with the Cavaliers, he never pitched an inning in Seattle. He had a promising start to his professional career in 2012, starting 25 games with a 9-7 record and 3.05 ERA across 124 innings with Double-A Jackson and Triple-A Tacoma, and was named to the All-Star Futures Game. But, then everything unraveled. Shoulder injuries hampered his final three seasons with the Mariners organization. Hultzen pitched in just 12 games during that span, had two shoulder surgeries, and was granted free agency following the 2016 season. He sat out 2017 to rehab and finish his college degree before signing a minor league deal with the Cubs ahead of the 2018 season, returning to the game as a reliever. At long last, he ultimately made his MLB debut with Chicago last September, pitched in six games and didn’t allow a run while striking out five. He’s in camp with the Cubs again this year as a non-roster invite.

2010: RHP Taijuan Walker, Yucaipa H.S. (Calif.)

Overall pick: 43rd (supplemental pick)

Age: 27

Highest level: MLB

Guess who’s back for a second stint with the Mariners? It’s the starting pitcher who was once projected as the heir apparent to longtime ace Felix Hernandez. Walker strolled into the Mariners’ spring training complex in Peoria the morning pitchers and catchers reported, and had a one-year, $2 million contract with his former club locked up by the end of the day. Walker was initially drafted by the Mariners as a 17-year-old, scouts having seen clear potential in him despite him playing less than two full seasons of high school baseball, having focused mostly on basketball. He worked his way through the minors as one of Seattle’s top prospects and broke into the big leagues in 2013. He opened the 2105 season as part of the Mariners rotation, and posted career-highs in starts (29) and innings (169 2/3) that year. Through parts of four seasons, Walker posted a middling 22-22 record and 4.18 ERA in 65 games (62 starts) with Seattle across his 357 innings. Many have suggested the Mariners gave up on Walker’s development too soon when they traded him to the Diamondbacks following the 2016 season as part of a five-player deal. Walker left with shortstop Ketel Marte, and the Mariners received shortstop Jean Segura, outfielder Mitch Haniger and left-handed reliever Zac Curtis in the deal. Haniger is the only player still with the organization from that trade. The Mariners are monitoring Walker’s progression as he ramps up his workload — he spent his final season in Arizona recovering from Tommy John surgery, and pitched just one inning in September — but he is expected to open the season in their starting rotation.

This story was originally published February 23, 2020 at 10:17 AM.

Lauren Smith

The News Tribune

360-754-5473

Lauren Smith is a sports reporter at The News Tribune. She has covered high school sports for TNT and The Olympian, as well as the Seattle Mariners and Washington Huskies. She is a graduate of UW and Emerald Ridge High School.