SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — If the stubborn tenacity of Colt Emerson somehow forced irritation to disrupt the execution of Rockies starting pitcher German Marquez, it would’ve been easily understandable.
The veteran right-hander who missed essentially all of the 2024 season as he recovered from Tommy John surgery, was working on a limited pitch count in his second spring training start. And he certainly didn’t want to waste all of them on a pugnacious prospect that refused to accept striking out as an outcome to his plate appearance.
The Mariners’ consensus No. 1 prospect has shown incredible maturity in his first full MLB spring training, but has yet to have the big hit or stellar play in the field in-game to offer a glimpse of why he earned his ranking and feed the prospect-loving beast on social media.
But can a protracted plate appearance in Sunday’s Cactus League game where he didn’t put a ball in play be a defining moment for Emerson this spring? It certainly was for the Mariners and manager Dan Wilson.
“Outstanding,” Wilson said.
With Harry Ford on first and two outs in the second inning, Emerson, who got the start at shortstop vs. Colorado, stepped to the plate as the No. 9 hitter.
Emerson swung through a first-pitch fastball from Marquez.
Showing a discerning eye and a refusal to chase pitches out of the strike zone, the count eventually got worked to full after five pitches, including a foul ball to right field for strike two that traveled well over 370 feet.
And that’s when the real battle started. Marquez would fire a pitch, hoping to get a swing and miss or weak contact. Emerson, with his short, violent swing, would foul it off to keep the plate appearance going.
“For me, I want to be a fierce competitor,” Emerson said. “I want to be locked in constantly. I don’t want to give an at-bat away ever. It’s a competitive thing. I don’t ever want to let a pitcher beat me.”
It started with a nasty slider that was breaking toward his back knee that Emerson managed to just get a piece of, sending it straight into the ground.
A 97-mph fastball at his letters? Nope, fouled off behind the screen.
The eighth pitch of the at-bat was an 89-mph slider on the bottom middle part of the zone that was almost turned into that highlight hit. Emerson lashed at the mistake pitch, sending an opposite-field line drive that just kept carrying and slicing, eventually clearing the fence just to the left of the foul pole.
“I thought maybe that one could get down,” Emerson said. “But it just kept carrying.”
The ninth pitch from Marquez was another knuckle curve. Similar to the slider, it caught too much of the plate, but Emerson was just a tick too early, pulling a deep fly ball to right field that also hooked foul.
“He is a really good pitcher, and I knew he was going to work that outer corner,” Emerson said. “I was just trying to get something in my damage zone that I could really hit. I got it a few times but they just unfortunately went foul. But it was still a good at-bat.”
The healthy contingent of Mariners fans in the announced crowd of 9,565 began to recognize and really appreciate the ongoing battle.
Pitch No. 10 was a knuckle curve that spun below the zone that Emerson fouled off into the dirt with a defensive swing.
Marquez went back to the fastball with on pitch No. 11, ripping a 97-mph fastball in the middle of the zone that Emerson fouled off.
On the radio broadcast, Rick Rizzs proclaimed “this is one of the best at-bats of the spring.”
And Gary Hill chuckled at what he was seeing, replying “this is remarkable.”
Perhaps frustrated that Emerson wasn’t going away, Marquez went back to the fastball again, firing a 98-mph heater in the middle of the zone for pitch No. 12 of the at-bat. It was subsequently fouled back out of play as the crowd applauded.
Lucky No. 13 was a 90-mph slider on the outer half of the plate. Emerson fouled it off on the third-base side. Marquez threw up his arms in exasperation.
“I tip my hat to that kid,” Marquez later told Rockies reporters. “He can recognize the strike zone pretty well.”
The 14th and final pitch of the inning was a 97-mph fastball that rode up and in and caught a piece of Emerson’s jersey for a hit by pitch.
Was it out of frustration?
“It was a tough at-bat for him and he had to make a tough pitch to get me out and one of them got away from him,” Emerson said. “I will take a free base any way I can get it.”
The Mariners fans in attendance gave him a standing ovation. Emerson had fouled off eight consecutive pitches on a 3-2 count.
As if that wasn’t enough for Marquez, he would stay in for one more hitter — Julio Rodriguez. The Mariners superstar, who was batting leadoff in the lineup, ambushed Marquez’s first pitch of the game — a 97-mph fastball — turning it into a line drive into the right-field corner for a double.
In his second plate appearance against Marquez, Rodriguez fell behind 0-2, fouling off a pair of fastballs. Like Emerson, he wouldn’t give in. He fouled off two more pitches, watched three pitches for balls and fouled off three more pitches before grounding out to shortstop.
Emerson and Rodriguez had forced Marquez to throw 25 pitches in back-to-back plate appearances. That’s a lot of pitches for one inning.
“We want our hitters to battle,” Wilson said.
While he hasn’t registered a hit this spring, Emerson has worked three walks to go with the hit by pitch and has stolen two bases.
If he maintains his mature approach, he knows the hits will come. He certainly isn’t intimidated by MLB pitching in these games.
“I’ve learned that baseball is the same,” he said. “If you’re on time with the fastball, I mean everyone throws 97 mph now, you are fine. At some point every pitcher is going to leave one over the middle, and that’s the one you’ve got to take advantage of.”
Emerson had his first full minor-league season interrupted when he suffered a fracture in his right foot in a game in mid-May. He fouled a pitch off the top of his foot that somehow struck a spot that wasn’t protected by a protective guard.
He missed the next two months of the season.
“I could have sulked about getting hurt, I could have sulked about not getting the opportunity to keep playing because I broke my foot in a weird way, but I didn’t take it like that,” he said. “I took it as, ‘all right, I’m going to take these two months and rehab and I’m going to come back better than I was.’ There’s nothing worse than getting hurt, and then you come back and you’re just not the same. It wasn’t going to be like that for me.”
When Emerson returned to Modesto in late June, he was better than before he got hurt. In his first 21 games back with the Nuts, he posted a .313/.440/.438 slash line with eight doubles, a triple, 20 RBI, 16 walks and 14 strikeouts. The performance earned him a promotion to High-A Everett on Aug. 6. It was an adjustment. In 29 games with the Aqua Sox to close out the season, Emerson posted a .225/.331/.317 slash line with five doubles, two homers, 12 RBI, 15 walks and 30 strikeouts.
Emerson attacked this offseason, working to get stronger and more athletic while trying to refine his swing and his defensive fundamentals with the hope of playing for a full season. There was minimal time for fun and relaxation. He has goals.
“It’s a huge commitment,” he said. “It takes a lot of sacrifice, and I think for me, at least, like it’s easy to sacrifice when the goal is to become a big leaguer and become a World Series champion and become just what you’ve always dreamed of. So it’s really a no-brainer for me, but it takes a lot of sacrifice and a lot of hard work and a lot of self-discipline.”