If Seattle Mariners fans tried to predict ahead of the season which member of the team would lead MLB in a statistic at the end of April, you’d likely hear Cal Raleigh in home runs, Bryan Woo in ERA or WHIP, or Andrés Muñoz in saves.
But the Mariners player who is leading baseball in a stat right now couldn’t be more surprising.
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Second-year second baseman Cole Young enters play Tuesday with a 1.1 defensive WAR, meaning his been the most valuable player on defense of anyone in the majors through the first month of the season.
The 22-year-old Young has made a few spectacular plays, but what has really stood out is his range. He ranks in the 84th percentile in MLB with two outs above average this season, as he’s regularly cutting off grounders most players wouldn’t get to, then completing off-balance throws to get the out.
“He’s so much looser defensively. He’s getting that extra step,” Mariners analyst and former MLB pitcher Ryan Rowland-Smith said Monday on Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob. “We didn’t talk about him being one of the best infielders (going into the season), especially when you talk about the metric standpoint at all, and here he is doing it.”
Young isn’t just contributing with his glove, though. He’s eighth in MLB with 1.6 total WAR, owning a .260/.339/.394 slash line with three home runs for a .733 OPS, a significant improvement from 2025 where he slashed .211/.302/.305 for a .607 OPS with the Mariners.
Rowland-Smith thinks Young’s improvement on defense is helping him some with the bat.
“That obviously seeps into what he does at the plate, too. You make that good play to your right or you make a difference on defense and you feel good about it, you come up to hit and you’re not overwhelmed at the plate,” Rowland-Smith said. “Good things happen.”
Young’s offseason is showing up in his offensive output, too, whether it’s his workout routine or focus on being on time against big league fastballs.
“He’s in way better shape than last year. People don’t talk about that,” Rowland-Smith said. “… Everything he did in the winter was based around, I need to be overmatched. When I set up a (pitching) machine, I’m going to set it up belt high, as fast as this machine can go. I’m going to use these softballs that Driveline makes… and they rise on you. And that was his whole emphasis.”
It’s clearly paying off. Against all variations of fastballs in 2025, Young hit .187 with a .237 slugging mark. This season, he’s hitting .317 and slugging .433 against fastballs.
The lefty-swinging Young is also producing much better against left-handed pitchers. This season, he’s slashing .303/.333/.576 for a .909 OPS with two homers, a double and a triple in just 36 plate appearances against southpaws. Last year, he slashed .220/.313/.322 for a .635 OPS with no homers, four doubles and a triple in 67 plate appearances against lefties.
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