Colt Emerson

Colt Walker Emerson

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 195 lb.
• High School John Glenn High School (New Concord)
• Debut May 17, 2026

• Born July 20, 2005 in Zanesville, OH USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Infielder Colt Emerson was drafted by the Seattle Mariners with the 22nd pick of the first round of the 2023 amateur draft. He was coming out of a high school in Ohio and had played in the 2022 U-18 Baseball World Cup as part of the USA junior national team. He hit .360/.515/.520 with 7 walks and 11 runs in 9 games, fielding .950 as a 3B/SS for the champs. He tied for 3rd in walks and was one run behind leader Aidan Miller, but Dae-seon Jeong beat him out for the All-Star honors at third base. With his 18th birthday coming only a few days after the draft, he was one of the youngest players taken in that first round. He gave up a commitment to attend Auburn University in order to sign with Seattle.

He began his professional career in 2023, playing 24 games between the ACL Mariners and the Modesto Nuts of the California League, batting .374. In 2024, an injury limited him to 70 games, and he had to make a rehabilitation assignment back in the Arizona Complex League, but he also reached High-A with the Everett AquaSox in early August, shortly after his 19th birthday. His combined slash line was .263/.393/.376 with 4 homers and 37 RBIs. Following the season, he played in the Arizona Fall League.

He continued to impress in 2025, as he made it all the way to AAA, finishing his season with 6 games with the Tacoma Rainiers of the Pacific Coast League. Before that, he played 90 games for Everett, where he was named the top prospect in the Northwest League and a post-season All-Star, and 34 with the Arkansas Travelers of the Texas League. His batting line was .285/.383/.458 in 130 games, with 16 homers, 82 runs and 78 RBIs. Needless to say, he was one of the youngest players to appear in AAA that year, being a full 7.8 years younger than the average player in that circuit. Over his first three pro seasons, he played mainly shortstop, although many scouts saw him as a future third baseman, which had been his position with Team USA.

He started the 2026 season with Tacoma where he hit .255 with 7 homers and 26 RBIs in 38 games while playing mainly shortstop. He was called up to Seattle on May 17th in a last-minute move necessitated by an injury to Brendan Donovan (he was in fact in uniform in Tacoma getting ready to play an afternoon game when the call arrived). He was immediately inserted into the starting line-up at third base for that evening's game against the San Diego Padres and he went 0 for 2 with a walk and scoring a run. The Mariners were held to just one hit in that 8-3 loss, but Emerson's walk to lead off the bottom of the 6th was the first of four consecutive free passes, a sequence that resulted in all three runs the team scored in the game. The Mariners made it clear that Emerson would start at third base as long as Donovan was injured. The call-up had come so quickly that Colt's parents had been unable to make it to the game, but they were there the next day to witness his first career hit, which also happened to be his first career home run, a three-run blast off Trevor Richards of the Chicago White Sox in a 6-1 win.

Further Reading

• Daniel Kramer: "Mariners call up top prospect Emerson for debut -- and he's here to stay", mlb.com, May 17, 2026. [1]
• Daniel Kramer: "Emerson's family missed his MLB debut. They didn't miss his 1st MLB HR", mlb.com, May 19, 2026. [2]
• Daniel Kramer and Nathan Han: "Mariners select hard-hitting high-schooler Emerson with No. 22 pick", mlb.com, July 10, 2023. [3]

Related Sites

• Colt Emerson on mlb.com
• BR Minors page