Mariners MiLB Preview 2025: The Tacoma Rainiers
How the next-man-up Mariners project for 2025
As the regular season approaches, so too is it time for the minor league season to start up. The Mariners have one of the best farm systems in baseball, and following the minor-league games is both exciting and often a welcome balm when the big-league club is frustrating. Check in on Mondays, the MiLB off-day, for our weekly minor-league roundup to track all your favorite prospects. To get you ready for the MiLB season, as we do every year, we’ll be previewing each affiliate, going over the schedule, coaching staff, and projected rosters. We’ll be starting at the top, with the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers, who also get an earlier start than the rest of the minor leagues; the lid-lifter for the league is this Friday, March 28.
2025 Schedule:
The Rainiers begin their season March 28th at Cheney Stadium with a three-game set against Round Rock, the Texas Rangers Triple-A affiliate. They’ll then go on the road for a week before returning home for a week, keeping that home-then-away weekly schedule for the season. Like other minor-league teams, the Rainiers will take Mondays off. Find the full schedule here, and the promo schedule here.
Coaching Staff:
The Tacoma coaching staff will look much as it did last year, with manager John Russell returning for a third season. Russell, 64, brings decades of experience in MLB as both a player and a coach, managing the Pirates from 2008-2010 and acting as the Orioles’ bench coach from 2011-2018. Eric Farris returns as Bench Coach for his third year with Tacoma and his eighth in the organization. Former Mariner and Kennewick-born Shawn O’Malley returns as Hitting Coach, and Jairo Cuevas returns for his third straight year as Pitching Coach.
Broadcast information:
Longtime broadcaster Mike Curto retired this off-season, and the Rainiers have hired Nevada-born Rylee Pay to take his place. Pay was the former play-by-play voice of the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs, a Red Sox affiliate; she’ll become the first woman to serve as a play-by-play announcer at the Triple-A level. You can hear more from Rylee when she was a guest on our Meet at the Mitt podcast, and you can listen to the Rainiers broadcasts on KIXI 880, the KIXI app, the MiLB First Pitch app, or watch the Rainiers live on MiLB TV.
2025 Projected Roster:
Note that we are currently just projecting the Tacoma roster; this is subject to change as the team makes final cuts and assignments this week.
Catchers:
Harry Ford, Blake Hunt, Jacob Nottingham
Despite Blake Hunt and Jacob Nottingham having been acquired by the Mariners a combined total of six times, the name to know here is Harry Ford. We’re projecting the young catcher to get the promotion up to the PCL and potentially show the power we’ve been looking for for years. Whether he does or not is one thing, but there’s not much likelihood he’ll start showing it starting the year in Arkansas. Ford has been a top Seattle prospect for years and finds his watchful eye at the plate just one step away from the big leagues. Ford had a standout spring, making the most of his playing time with a strong showing at the plate; he even showcased his speed on the bases, swiping three bags. He has more work to do in improving his ability to control the running game, but he’s taken a demonstrable step forward this past year, and things look bright for the young backstop.
Infielders:
Nick Dunn, Jack López, Tyler Locklear, Leo Rivas, Austin Shenton, Cole Young
Most fans probably recognize the names Locklear and Rivas from their stints with the big league club last season, each filling in for injured players down the stretch last season. Rivas is a spark plug player known for his glove and Locklear a slugging first baseman with barrel control and keen discipline. The other names on this list are newcomers to the organization this season (Shenton was reacquired after previously being traded). Shenton made his big league debut last season and showed well, with a Three True Outcome approach at the plate and iffy defense on the dirt. Dunn was a standout this spring and has a game similar to Ty France, albeit with less natural contact ability. López is a journeyman guy who can play up the middle and has big league experience.
Outfielders:
Dominic Canzone, Cade Marlowe, Spencer Packard, Rhylan Thomas
This group of guys has some very strong AAAA energy. We could realistically see any of these players get time in the majors this season, with each bringing something a bit different than the other. Canzone is the most “established”, though we’re using this phrase somewhat liberally. Marlowe, the only other one with big league time, had some fantastic moments early, but wasn’t able to keep it going after a down season, striking out too often to balance the rest of his skillset. He’s more defense and raw power, but less impact than the feel-to-hit Canzone. Packard/Thomas are very similar to that of Canzone/Marlowe, simply with no big league experience. Packard is a bat-first corner outfielder that hits lefty while Thomas is a glove-first guy that can play all three outfield positions.
Starting Pitching:
Jhonathan Díaz, Casey Lawrence, Blas Castano
We had the (dis)pleasure of watching Jhonathan Díaz pitch to Rafael Devers in extra innings last season, but he was actually very solid for Tacoma last season. He’s back in the org for more, currently acting as the next man up until George Kirby can get back on the mound. Casey Lawrence, another former Mariner, was also with Tacoma last season and logged the most innings for the team. His stuff is incredibly mild, but he throws the kitchen sink at you. The last option for the rotation is Blas Castano, who was able to find his way to the 40 man roster this offseason and was a successful innings eater for Arkansas last season. He’s probably the most interesting option of the bunch and could realistically find his way into a swingman, tweener-reliever type of role.
Relievers:
Cody Bolton, Luis F. Castillo, Hagen Danner, Josh Fleming, Shintaro Fujinami, Austin Kitchen, Will Klein, Sauryn Lao, Casey Legumina, Adonis Medina
The Pile features some incredibly interesting options this season. Fujinami, Klein, and Lao can all clump together as fireballers with spotty control. Perhaps the most promising is Klein, who was a part of Oakland’s Lucas Erceg trade last season before being flipped for IFA money, but all of them have their own traits that could make them legitimate big leaguer if things develop correctly. Kitchen, Bolton, and Legumina all come at you with a little big of funk and provide more safe options than the previous group of arms, albeit with less upside. Legumina in particular is surprising to see in Tacoma, with many people seeing him as an option in Seattle from the jump after a successful spring training. He’s certainly the first one to be promoted when the time comes. If Medina threw harder he’d be in the group with Fujinami, Klein, and Lao, but he’s a sinkerballer that is a former top prospect. Kitchen is a side arming lefty that’s got some deception to his game, and Cody Bolton somehow survived the entire winter on the 40 man roster. Obviously there’s something there the team likes, but what that is right now is unclear. The others, Danner and Fleming, don’t fit perfectly into a category. Fleming, a lefty, is a former big leaguer who’s had success in the past, but struggled this spring and looked very hittable. Danner, a converted catcher, can hit the upper 90’s and features a long, over the top arm angle. The team added him to the 40-man this off-season but seemed to cool on him this spring, as he was one of the earliest cuts to minor league camp.
Prospects to watch: Harry Ford, Tyler Locklear, Cole Young
The only one of these names we haven’t covered yet is Cole Young, who hasn’t officially been announced anywhere but we’re comfortable projecting him here. At 21, he’s young even for Double-A, so a promotion to Triple-A would be slightly aggressive, but after spending a whole year in Arkansas, one wonders what he’d gain from another trip through the level. He’s a strong candidate to take over the second base spot in the big leagues if he can demonstrate his talents well in Tacoma. We actually just did a writeup for him on the site today. If you haven’t already, check it out!