Prospect Lázaro Montes was invited by the Seattle Mariners for Spring Training 2025 as reported by colleague Francys Romero on his personal social network profiles. This news, despite being expected is a big step forward in his career since many project his possible debut in the Major Leagues this year.
Montes hit .288 in 448 visits to the batter’s box last season between A and A+ ball. In total he played 116 games where he hit 21 home runs and knocked in 105 runs. This year he could start the season either in Double A or Triple-A. In addition, he exhibited a remarkable slash line of .288/.397/.484/ .881. These numbers confirm Montes as a rising talent with great potential to make an impact in the near future.
Montes was chosen as the best player in the Mariners Minor Leagues due to his outstanding performance last season. Scouts project him in the near future as an immovable player within his team’s lineup. The native of Havana is the 42nd ranked prospect in MLB’s top 100 making him the top Cuban on that list. The slugger is the also the sixth ranked prospect in the team’s farm system.
How excited are you to be part of the Major League Spring Training camp?
It’s a great opportunity, the truth is that I’ve wanted it a lot and I can’t explain how excited I am to be here.
What were you doing when you found out you were coming to camp?
I was at home, I was in Miami. They called me and told me that they are inviting me to Spring Training.
Would you like to be there?
That is a question that should not really asked, of course I like to being here.
What would you like to accomplish in the spring?
Basically learn from the big leaguers, from the hitters, from the pitchers and outfielders, learn about that level of play at this level. Definitely their preparation is more consistent. They already know what they have to do, their morning routine, they never fail in their mechanics, they arrive early, and the truth is, there are different routines. But that makes me want to find a way to be like them and to achieve my goals that’s what I have to do.
Tell us about your connection to Julio Rodríguez?
We have talked about what we like and about what we have in common. He likes anime, so do I. We’ve seen Naruto and all that, and we’ve talked about it. And also play PlayStation, we already want to play Call of Duty and all that together.
What do you think you need to work more on?
As a player you always need to work on your mental approach at the plate. It is very easy now for me to talk about mentality, how to behave mentally, thoughts, and also physically how I behave when it comes to failing. Because this is a game that you are going to fail a lot. But that’s where I have to continue growing in my mental approach, continue learning about myself and my process.
It seems that you interact a lot with fans, is it part of your personality?
Some guys don’t like that, but I feel very comfortable interacting with the fans. I love talking to people, getting to know them. I don’t speak much anymore, because my level of English is not at its maximum yet, but when I manage to reach the maximum level of English, well, all of Seattle will know me then.