Cole Young

Organization Prospect Rankings

• 
  Ranked Seattle Mariners #1 prospect in 2024
  BA Grade: 55/High
  
  Track Record: Young first emerged on the baseball scene as a 10-year-old when he won MLB’s Pitch, Hit and Run competition for his age bracket at Minnesota’s Target Field during 2014 All-Star Weekend. He parlayed that into continued success as a teenager and blossomed into one of the top hitters in the 2022 draft at North Allegheny High just outside Pittsburgh. He hit .428 in a decorated three-year career and showed he could compete with warm-weather players with repeated standout performances on the summer showcase circuit. The Mariners drafted him 21st overall in 2022 and signed him for $3.3 million to forgo a Duke commitment. Young hit .367 in his pro debut and continued to assert himself as a premium hitter in his first full season in 2023. He hit .277/.399/.449 with 34 doubles, a system-high nine triples, 11 home runs and 22 stolen bases across the Class A levels and recorded nearly as many walks (88) as strikeouts (90).
  
  Scouting Report: Young is a natural hitter with a sweet lefthanded swing. He has a fast, direct stroke with natural loft and consistently finds the barrel. He has exceptional hand-eye coordination and natural timing and is rarely fooled or caught off-balance. He uses the whole field and is particularly adept at driving the ball the other way. Young doesn’t have overwhelming bat speed or strength, but he finds the barrel so frequently he’s able to make consistent quality contact. He pulls balls in the air for home runs to right field or laces them on a line for doubles into the left-center gap. He expertly manages the strike zone, rarely swings and misses and projects to be a plus hitter who averages around 15 home runs per season. He should post high on-base percentages and rack up doubles. Young is an average runner with a quick first step and good instincts on the basepaths. He is faster underway than out of the box and has a good feel for knowing when to take an extra base. Young is more steady than flashy defensively in the middle infield. He positions himself well with good instincts, plays low to the ground and has soft, reliable hands at shortstop. His lateral range is a tick short and he loses accuracy on longer throws, so he is likely to move to second base in the long term. He has average arm strength and projects to be an above-average defender at the keystone. Young lacks explosive tools and rarely stands out on a first look, but he is the type of player whom observers gain increased appreciation for over time. He is a calm, composed individual with a slow heartbeat and is rarely rattled in pressure situations.
  
  The Future: Young projects to be a productive No. 2 hitter who hits for a high average, draws walks and does occasional damage while playing steady defense in the middle infield. He will open 2024 at Double-A Arkansas and is the Mariners’ second baseman of the future. n
  
  Scouting Grades Hit: 60 | Power: 45 | Run: 50 | Field: 55 | Arm: 50
• 
  Ranked Seattle Mariners #2 prospect in 2023
  BA Grade/Risk: 55/Extreme
  
  Track Record: Young starred on the high school showcase circuit as one of the top hitters in the 2022 draft class and batted .433 during his senior spring at North Allegheny High outside of Pittsburgh. The Mariners drafted him 21st overall and signed him for $3.3 million to forgo a Duke commitment. Young immediately lived up to his reputation as a premium hitter after signing. He hit .367 with as many walks as strikeouts in his pro debut while rising to Low-A Modesto.
  
  Scouting Report: Young has few peers his age when it comes to pure hitting ability. He has a fast, direct swing from the left side and a preternatural ability to square up almost any pitch. He catches up to high velocity, stays back on secondary pitches and consistently puts himself in a good position to find the barrel. He controls the strike zone and doesn't miss pitches to hit, making him a universally plus hitter and potentially a plus-plus one. Young primarily hits hard line drives from line to line, but he showed surprising power by hitting balls 20 rows deep at T-Mobile Park during a post-draft batting practice. He has an advanced feel for identifying pitches he can drive and could grow into 15-20 home run power as he gets stronger. Young is a smooth, reliable defender at shortstop who plays low to the ground and makes all the routine plays with easy actions. He may lose range as he gets bigger and move off the position, but his above-average speed and first-step quickness will allow him to be at least an average second baseman. He moves fluidly around the bag on double plays and makes every throw with above-average arm strength.
  
  The Future: The Mariners internally compare Young to Daniel Murphy as a hitter and believe he could similarly hit around .300 annually. He'll open his first full season back at Modesto in 2023.
  
  Scouting Grades: Hitting: 60. Power: 45. Speed: 55. Fielding: 50. Arm: 55

Draft Prospects

• Ranked #14 prospect in 2022 draft
  School: North Allegheny HS, Wexford, Pa. Committed/Drafted: Duke
  Age At Draft: 19
  BA Grade: 60/Extreme
  Scouting Grades: Hit: 60 | Power: 45 | Run: 55 | Field: 55 | Arm: 55
  Young separated himself over the showcase circuit as one of the best shortstops in the 2022 class with arguably the best hit tool of anyone not named Termarr Johnson. A 5-foot-11, 179-pound lefthanded hitter, Young doesn’t jump off the page in terms of tools and might not have a single plus tool outside of his bat. That said, he does everything on the field well and could have average to above-average tools across the board, with no obvious weakness in his game beyond power. Young has a sound offensive approach with a good understanding of the strike zone and an ability to track velocity and offspeed offerings consistently. He has a slightly crouched setup, with a lower handset and good rhythm in the box before firing a fast and direct swing to the ball. He has a flat bat path and keeps the barrel in the zone for a long time and uses the opposite field naturally. Those skills give him future plus hit tool projections, but he will need to add more strength to project for anything more than fringy power and there’s not much physical projection remaining. Young has a chance to stick at shortstop, as a capable and fluid defender, albeit not an explosive one. He plays low to the ground and has a solid first step, with above-average speed once he’s underway. His above-average arm will give him a chance to stick on the left side of the infield, as will his baseball instincts. In terms of size and tools, Young is reminiscent of Yankees 2019 first-rounder Anthony Volpe at the same time, though Young has the advantage of hitting from the left side. While there are players with more upside in this class, Young’s swing is ready made and the overall polish of his game should give teams confidence in a high floor. He is committed to Duke and will be a draft-eligible sophomore in 2024 if he makes it to campus but has been scouted throughout the first round and should come off the board before the first 30 picks are up.

Top 100 Rankings

• Ranked Baseball America's #44 prospect in 2024
• Ranked Baseball America's #62 prospect in 2023
• Ranked Baseball America's #99 prospect in 2023

• February, 2023 Scouting Report
  BA Grade/Risk: 55/Extreme
  
  Track Record: Young starred on the high school showcase circuit as one of the top hitters in the 2022 draft class and batted .433 during his senior spring at North Allegheny High outside of Pittsburgh. The Mariners drafted him 21st overall and signed him for $3.3 million to forgo a Duke commitment. Young immediately lived up to his reputation as a premium hitter after signing. He hit .367 with as many walks as strikeouts in his pro debut while rising to Low-A Modesto.
  
  Scouting Report: Young has few peers his age when it comes to pure hitting ability. He has a fast, direct swing from the left side and a preternatural ability to square up almost any pitch. He catches up to high velocity, stays back on secondary pitches and consistently puts himself in a good position to find the barrel. He controls the strike zone and doesn't miss pitches to hit, making him a universally plus hitter and potentially a plus-plus one. Young primarily hits hard line drives from line to line, but he showed surprising power by hitting balls 20 rows deep at T-Mobile Park during a post-draft batting practice. He has an advanced feel for identifying pitches he can drive and could grow into 15-20 home run power as he gets stronger. Young is a smooth, reliable defender at shortstop who plays low to the ground and makes all the routine plays with easy actions. He may lose range as he gets bigger and move off the position, but his above-average speed and first-step quickness will allow him to be at least an average second baseman. He moves fluidly around the bag on double plays and makes every throw with above-average arm strength.
  
  The Future: The Mariners internally compare Young to Daniel Murphy as a hitter and believe he could similarly hit around .300 annually. He'll open his first full season back at Modesto in 2023.
  
  Scouting Grades: Hitting: 60. Power: 45. Speed: 55. Fielding: 50. Arm: 55
• December, 2022 Scouting Report
  BA Grade/Risk: 55/Extreme
  
  Track Record: Young starred on the high school showcase circuit as one of the top hitters in the 2022 draft class and batted .433 during his senior spring at North Allegheny High outside of Pittsburgh. The Mariners drafted him 21st overall and signed him for $3.3 million to forgo a Duke commitment. Young immediately lived up to his reputation as a premium hitter after signing. He hit .367 with as many walks as strikeouts in his pro debut while rising to Low-A Modesto.
  
  Scouting Report: Young has few peers his age when it comes to pure hitting ability. He has a fast, direct swing from the left side and a preternatural ability to square up almost any pitch. He catches up to high velocity, stays back on secondary pitches and consistently puts himself in a good position to find the barrel. He controls the strike zone and doesn't miss pitches to hit, making him a universally plus hitter and potentially a plus-plus one. Young primarily hits hard line drives from line to line, but he showed surprising power by hitting balls 20 rows deep at T-Mobile Park during a post-draft batting practice. He has an advanced feel for identifying pitches he can drive and could grow into 15-20 home run power as he gets stronger. Young is a smooth, reliable defender at shortstop who plays low to the ground and makes all the routine plays with easy actions. He may lose range as he gets bigger and move off the position, but his above-average speed and first-step quickness will allow him to be at least an average second baseman. He moves fluidly around the bag on double plays and makes every throw with above-average arm strength.
  
  The Future: The Mariners internally compare Young to Daniel Murphy as a hitter and believe he could similarly hit around .300 annually. He'll open his first full season back at Modesto in 2023.
  
  Scouting Grades: Hitting: 60. Power: 45. Speed: 55. Fielding: 50. Arm: 55
• April, 2022 Scouting Report
  BA Grade: 55/Extreme
  
  August Update: Seattle's first-round pick in the 2022 draft, Young separated himself over the showcase circuit as one of the best shortstops in the 2022 class with arguably the best hit tool of anyone not named Termarr Johnson. Young doesn&#39t jump off the page in terms of tools and might not have a single plus tool outside of his bat. That said, he does everything on the field well and could have average to above-average tools across the board, with no obvious weakness in his game beyond power. Young has a sound offensive approach with a good understanding of the strike zone and an ability to track velocity and offspeed offerings consistently. He has a slightly crouched setup, with a lower handset and good rhythm in the box before firing a fast and direct swing to the ball. He has a flat bat path and keeps the barrel in the zone for a long time and uses the opposite field naturally. Those skills give him future plus hit tool projections, but he will need to add more strength to project for anything more than fringy power and there&#39s not much physical projection remaining. Young has a chance to stick at shortstop, as a capable and fluid defender, albeit not an explosive one. He plays low to the ground and has a solid first step, with above-average speed once he&#39s underway. His above-average arm will give him a chance to stick on the left side of the infield, as will his baseball instincts. In terms of size and tools, Young is reminiscent of Yankees 2019 first-rounder Anthony Volpe at the same time, though Young has the advantage of hitting from the left side. Young&#39s swing is ready made and the overall polish of his game should give teams confidence in a high floor.
  
  Scouting Grades: Hit: 60. Power: 45. Run: 55. Field: 55. Arm: 55.