Much of the baseball world has been fascinated with the Mariners’ High-A affiliate this spring because of switch-pitching sensation Jurrangelo Cijntje, but the Everett AquaSox also hold the unique distinction of having four Top 100 overall prospects among their everyday starting nine.
And no one among that group has light-tower power like Lazaro Montes.
During Everett’s 9-3 win over Hillsboro on Wednesday at Hillsboro Ballpark, the Mariners’ No. 2 prospect slugged his way into rarefied air by homering over the batter’s eye for the second straight game. In doing so, he became the first player to notch the feat in ballpark history, according to the Hops’ broadcast crew.
COMPLETE MARINERS PROSPECT COVERAGE
Homer No. 1
Montes strode to the plate in the fourth inning Tuesday night with Everett trailing 5-0. Hillsboro right-hander Daniel Nunez (D-backs), not wanting to issue a free pass while facing a perpetually dangerous lineup, grooved a 3-1 offering. It was demolished.
Homer No. 2
As will often happen when facing a prospect with a 65-grade power tool, mistakes will get crushed. Hops right-hander Jorge Minyety found that out Wednesday when Montes again unleashed on an offspeed offering in the seventh. The long ball carried well beyond the backdrop.
Hillsboro center fielder Druw Jones has a habit of making scintillating catches at the fence, à la his 10-time Gold Glove father, Andruw. But both times Montes connected, Jones could do nothing but shake his head in dismay as each ball soared over the batter’s eye.
Montes is no one-tool pony, though. MLB’s No. 35 prospect also showed off his improving arm strength by logging his fourth outfield assist in 34 games, cutting down a runner at the dish with some help from a sweeping tag by catcher Freuddy Bautista.
Montes’ second straight night with a dinger helped him claim the Northwest League home run lead (nine), while he also paces the circuit in OPS (.970), extra-base hits (21), total bases (83) and ISO (.297). A veritable RBI machine (105 in 2024, tied for third in the Minors), the 20-year-old also added a two-RBI single later in the contest.
You often hear about batters being selectively aggressive in certain situations, and for Montes, that’s been tapping into his extra-base pop with the bases empty. Of his 19 hits in such situations this year, 13 have gone for at least two bags, including seven of his homers. When he’s gotten ahead in the count in 2025, it’s been catastrophic for opposing pitchers — he sports a .442/.658/.953 slash line.
They say the best place to catch a home run ball as a souvenir is in the bleachers. But if you’re hedging your bets, you might be best served to camp out as far as you can to straightaway center field when Montes digs in, even if there’s a big ol’ batter’s eye blocking the way.
