It would be understandable if you were surprised by what Seattle Mariners rookie Cole Young did on Thursday night.
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Entering the game against the Texas Rangers, Young only had two career MLB home runs to his name, the first of which just cleared the wall in right field at Yankee Stadium – though to be fair, his next one went 402 feet at Detroit’s Comerica Park.
Still, when Young came up to the plate in the fifth inning against Texas right-hander Kumar Rocker, it’s safe to assume not many were expecting what was to happen.
That would be a soaring, majestic shot that cleared the seats on the lower level beyond right field and found its way into the second deck at T-Mobile Park.
The homer itself was surprising. Then, as Young rounded the bases, we saw the estimated distance – a whopping 470 feet, which tied a Mike Zunino blast from 2018 for the longest homer in T-Mobile Park history.
4️⃣7️⃣0️⃣ ft dinger from Cole Young‼️ pic.twitter.com/oFsduBUxZO
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) August 1, 2025
It immediately brought to mind Shaquille O’Neal’s infamous quote from NBA on TNT: “I owe you an apology. I wasn’t really familiar with your game.” In this case, we just weren’t really familiar with this kind of power that Young apparently has.
The record didn’t last, however. Statcast removed the 470-feet estimation during Thursday’s game (which the Mariners won 6-0, by the way), and replaced it by Friday morning with a new number: 456 feet.
Alright, still not bad. I mean, anything over 400 feet is a tank shot, so if you’re drilling a ball over 450 feet, clearly you’ve got some serious pop. And it’s pretty impressive considering Young is all of 21 years old, checks in at 5 foot 11 and 180 pounds, and had just 27 career homers in the minors over 321 games.
If you watched Young closely as a prospect, though, maybe it’s a little less surprising.
Just before being called up by the Mariners in late May, Young had a 20-game stretch that month where he hit five homers for Triple-A Tacoma, one of which was a 458-foot blast on May 17 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
It’s worth mentioning that the homer wasn’t the only highlight Young provided Thursday. He also had an RBI triple in the sixth inning, after which he scored on a passed ball, to cap the scoring on the night for Seattle.
J.P. and Cole adding ✌️ #TridentsUp pic.twitter.com/qvMk4fPEc1
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) August 1, 2025
Young had a slow start to begin his time with the Mariners, but he’s been on a roll for a while now. The lefty-hitting second baseman went 1 for 20 in his first six big league games, but in 39 games since, he has a .276/.340/.402 slash line for a .742 OPS with three homers, five doubles, a triple, and 11 walks to 23 strikeouts.
Young and the Mariners play the second game of a four-game series against the Rangers at 7:10 p.m. Friday, with radio coverage on Seattle Sports beginning at 6 with the pregame show.
The M’s are 58-52 on the season, which is a game ahead of Texas for the American League’s third and final wild card, a game behind Boston for the second wild card, and 4 1/2 games back of Houston for the lead in the AL West.
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