Mariners promote OF Dillon Thomas for big league debut, C Jacob Nottingham DFA’d

Per reports from national baseball reporter Robert Murray, the Seattle Mariners are calling up OF Dillon Thomas to help deepen their lineup and add some outfield depth in the wake of Jarred Kelenic’s demotion. The club has since announced the full move, designating C/1B Jacob Nottingham for assignment. Again.

Nottingham’s designation is perhaps a shade surprising over demoting UTIL Jack Mayfield, given the recent promotion of 2B Shed Long Jr., but the club has been pleased with José Godoy and scarcely willing to let Nottingham take a crouch. More importantly, with the 40-man roster full, someone had to be moved one way or another. Perhaps Nottingham hitches another ride on the Selig Express back to Milwaukee, else he may slip through to Tacoma.

For Thomas, this is undoubtedly a day in the sun he thought might never shine upon him. The 28 year old was drafted out of high school in the 4th round, 138th overall in the 2011 draft by the Colorado Rockies. 2021 represented his 10th year of playing in the minors, and his 11th in affiliated baseball without cracking the majors, yet he’s continued plugging away. Despite an athletic, well-built frame, Thomas has a fairly short, compact swing, and he’s had significant success thus far this season after seemingly stagnating in Double-A with the Rockies (and, later, the Brewers and Athletics).

He’s run a .338/.459/.625 line in Triple-A West née the Pacific Coast League, which has always been offense-friendly and is also not currently using the de-juiced 2021 MLB baseball, making any offensive projections even more challenging. To the credit of Thomas, he is legitimately a three-position outfielder with decent speed, albeit better served in a corner spot, but his profile extends the bench a bit further than José Marmolejos if he can put his offense into play in the bigs.

Best of luck to Dillon!