Evan White looks to take over starting first baseman spot in Seattle

If you are anything like me then the last several weeks have been following along with different storylines coming out of the MLB. Who is opting out of the season, injury reports, and young guys who are making some noise as the inter-squad scrimmages are being played.

One of those young guys is Evan White.

White, the former UK 1B out of Ohio, was drafted in the 2017 draft with the 17th overall pick to the Seattle Mariners, and he’s done nothing but impress since his arrival to the organization.

Impressing scouts and staff of the major league club to offer him an unheard of 6-year, $24-million dollar contract to be the starting first baseman for the Mariners this season.

Now I know what you might be thinking, unheard of in what way? White in his professional career has only played FOUR games above the AA level. (All of which came with the AAA club in the 2018 season)

Coming out of UK in 2017, he was known as a line drive hitter, with great bat-to-ball skills, and an incredible fielder for the position, he is even starting to catch people’s eyes with his growing ability to hit for power. He hit his first home run of summer camp off Yusei Kikuchi in Tuesday’s intrasquad game.

White last season with the Arkansas Travelers, the AA club of the Mariners, hit .293 AVG/ .350 OBP/ .488 SLG, as those totals also included 18 HR’s, and 55 RBI. Up 7 HR’s from the 2018 season speaking to his continued growth in power. All on top of being added to the Futures Game roster.

But it’s not just people around the Mariners noticing how special White could be. Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com wrote an article in late April naming the one player from each AL West team with the Best Hitting Tools.

White was the choice for the Mariners by Sanchez. Along with Mike Trout of the Angels, José Altuve of the Astros, Shin Soo-Choo of the Rangers, and Marcus Semien of the Athletics. Now being named among Superstars Trout, and Altuve is a pretty good spot to be, when you haven’t even logged a single Major League Inning played.

White and the Mariners open up their season on July 24th in Houston against the Astros. If he lives up to the hype he has gained this offseason, it sounds like it’s going to be a heck of a way to start off his Major League career.