Cole Young Is the Mariners' Most Dangerous Clutch Hitter — and the Books Haven't Caught Up

Cole Young delivered the Mariners a 5-3 win in Minneapolis on Wednesday with two separate clutch hits — a game-tying RBI double in the seventh inning and a bases-loaded single in the ninth that plated the tying and go-ahead runs — capping a 5-1 road trip and pushing Seattle back to .500 at 16-16. The second baseman now owns a six-game RBI streak, the longest active run in the majors, and has accumulated 19 RBIs on the season to lead the club.

What separates Young from a hot streak is the context behind the numbers. Six of his RBIs this season have come in the seventh inning or later in game-tying or go-ahead situations — the most in baseball. He ranks second among 177 qualified hitters in win probability added (1.64, per FanGraphs), trailing only Mike Trout. His 1.019 OPS in high-leverage spots puts him in the top tier of the sport at that split. These aren't fluky, garbage-time counting stats. They're pressure-situation dominance from a player who entered 2025 with legitimate questions about his bat.

The leap against left-handed pitching is the mechanical story worth tracking. Young posted a .591 OPS vs. lefties as a rookie last season. That number is .939 this year — a transformation that Minnesota apparently hadn't fully internalized when they opted to leave righty Eric Orze on the mound in the ninth with lefty Kody Funderburk available. Young punished the decision. George Kirby put it simply: "He doesn't really have a hole right now." When a pitcher says that about a teammate, it's worth taking seriously. Young's WAR of 1.9 already leads all MLB second basemen per Baseball-Reference, and his stolen base and double-play contributions underscore that this isn't a one-dimensional surge.

For prop bettors, the RBI line on Young is where the edge lives. Sportsbooks are still setting his RBI props at levels reflecting his rookie profile, not a hitter who's gone six straight with 19 on the season and leads the majors in late-game impact production. The Mariners' lineup continuity — Raleigh behind him, runners consistently on base — gives Young table-setting RBI opportunities every game. Hammer the over on his single-game RBI prop (typically set at 0.5 or 1.5) when Seattle faces right-handed starters, where his numbers are already strong and the platoon disadvantage has essentially disappeared. His total bases line is similarly underpriced given the power he flashed Wednesday with the 398-foot scare from Raleigh in the same sequence. On nights he's in the two or three-hole, treat the 1.5 total bases over as a near-lock until the market recalibrates.

The one note of caution: Matt Brash exited Wednesday with right-side discomfort, which bears monitoring for Seattle's bullpen depth and late-game leverage situations. But that's a roster story, not a Cole Young story. Young is producing independent of circumstance — and doing it when the game is on the line. That combination is exactly what sharp RBI and total bases props are built to capture.