How Colt Emerson has already impressed many Seattle Mariners teammates

When Bryan Woo walked into the media room following six innings of shutout pitching against the White Sox on Monday night, he was ready to talk about, well, Colt Emerson and his first major-league home run.

Yeah, I just watched it like 10 times before I walked in here," Woo said.

Emerson's three-run homer - a low liner over the right-field wall on a changeup from right-hander Trevor Richards in the eighth inning of a 6-1 win - left an immediate impression on teammates.

"It was a great pitch," Woo said. "He's put together a lot of good at-bats already. Everybody's already obviously seen just the raw talent in spring training and watching him in the minor leagues coming up, but I think the discipline to be 20 years old and not just come out swinging right away says a lot about who he is, and you know the caliber of player that he is already to grind out some of the at-bats after falling behind."

With two outs and a pair of runners on, Emerson fell behind 0-2 on a pair of changeups from Richards. Thinking the rookie might chase in a big moment, Richards tried a fastball up and away that Emerson didn't even consider swinging at. Richards came back with a changeup well below the zone, similar to the pitch he got Emerson to chase for strike two. But it didn't get the same result, going for a ball. Richards doubled up on the changeup, throwing it again on a 2-2 count. The pitch was well executed - on the lower outside corner of the strike zone. Emerson spoiled it, fouling it off. Richards came back with a 93-mph fastball that was also fouled off.

On the seventh pitch of the at-bat, Richards threw the changeup for the fifth time. It was a good pitch as Woo analyzed, dropping below the zone. But having seen it enough, Emerson was able to put the barrel on the ball with a lunging swing.

"Seeing Dom (Canzone) and (Josh Naylor) get on ahead of me, they are both lefties, it gave me a good idea of what he was going to throw," Emerson said. "He's only a two-pitch guy, but he's got a really good fastball and really good changeup, so I was just looking for something down the middle or over the plate that I can just hit a base hit right up the middle. I got the two strikes early and just fought back, and then put a good swing on a good pitch."

"He doesn't chase out of the zone much," manager Dan Wilson said. "The game is not speeding up on him. That's what you look for. It seems like he's just taking it all in stride. That last at-bat I think was a key component to letting you know that. He just stayed in the at-bat, stayed in the at-bat and finally got a pitch he could handle. He saw pitches, adjusted to off-speed and made a good swing on a pitch down."

When Emerson touched home and headed to the dugout where his teammates like Naylor, Julio Rodriguez and Randy Arozarena were waiting to celebrate, J.P. Crawford, who will presumably be replaced by Emerson next season, handed him the celebratory home run trident.

"Seeing their faces, and seeing Julio, Randy, J.P. out on the front step, waiting for me," Emerson said. "Gosh, it means a lot. It really does."

And the trident?

"It's way heavier than you think, that's for sure," he said. "My shoulder was tired from carrying it down and back."

While the result was memorable, it was the approach for that homer and in the at-bats prior that have left teammates impressed.

"To grind out some of the at-bats after falling behind, getting into 0-2 counts it feels like in a lot of the at-bats, and then he's grinding the at-bat," Woo said. "Obviously, the last at-bat was the first time it really paid off, but a lot of good at-bats and lot of good stuff coming from him."

Normally the advice for any player in the first MLB at-bat is to swing early, swing often and swing as hard as you can.

Facing Lucas Giolito of the Padres, Emerson checked his first swing for a strike and then swung through a fastball. But he wouldn't go down on three pitches, took two pitches designed to get him to chase, before lining out to right field.

In his second plate appearance, Emerson led off the inning and took a walk on five pitches - not exactly the swing first mentality.

"His at-bats have been really good," said Luke Raley. "He's very mature and he's shown already he's capable of playing at this level."

In his first seven plate appearances, Emerson saw 39 pitches, for an average 5.5 pitches per appearance. Among qualified hitters, Taylor Ward of the Orioles leads MLB with 4.52 pitches per plate appearance. Emerson has started 0-2 in five of those trips to the plate and didn't strike out in any of them.

"For a guy who's seen two days in the big leagues, you wouldn't have known it unless you knew of it," Wilson said. "He's come up here, he's been very mature and his approach has been outstanding. That's the player we thought he was."

Watching him in two MLB games, you wonder how he could have struck out in 27% of his plate appearances with Triple-A Tacoma to start the season. Emerson was dealing with a wrist injury early on and he'd never posted a strikeout rate of more than 20% in his previous minor-league seasons. The Mariners believe it was an outlier more than a trend.

"This team, they preach, 'don't be an easy out,'" Emerson said. "So me being in the eight hole or nine hole in the lineup and seeing that (mindset) ahead of me, you do what you see. Nobody is an easy out. I'm a competitor and I'm never going to give an at-bat away.

Also

Gabe Speier will start a rehab assignment with the Everett AquaSox on Wednesday at Funko Field.

Speier is scheduled to throw one inning and then be reevaluated to see if he will need another outing before being reinstated from the injured list.

First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

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