Lázaro Montes

Lázaro Yosmel Montes (born October 22, 2004) is a Cuban professional baseball outfielder for the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2026.

Career Montes signed with the Seattle Mariners as an international free agent on January 15, 2022 for $2.5 million. He was viewed as a high-risk, high-reward prospect by evaluators. He made his professional debut that year with the Dominican Summer League Mariners.

Montes started 2023 with the Arizona Complex League Mariners before being promoted in early August to the Modesto Nuts. He hit .303 with 13 home runs in 70 games for the two clubs, but struck out in 25 percent of his plate appearances. Before the 2024 season, Baseball America ranked Montes as the 100th best prospect in the MLB. Returning to Modesto to begin the season, he batted .309 with 13 home runs over 65 games while reducing his strikeout rate to 19 percent of plate appearances. Following a promotion to the Everett Aquasox in June, his offensive production declined. In 51 games with Everett, he hit .260 with 8 home runs, while his strikeout rate increased to 29 percent.

Montes was named the 42nd best prospect in baseball by MLB.com before the 2025 season. He participated in his first spring training with the Mariners in 2025, and started the season returning to High-A Everett. In June, Montes was promoted to the Double-A Arkansas Travelers. He won the 2025 Northwest League Most Valuable Player Award.

Montes began the 2026 campaign with Arkansas, hitting .234/.369/.550 with 25 home runs and 66 RBIs in 79 games. before being promoted to the Triple–A Tacoma Rainiers. In 44 games for Tacoma, he slashed .274/.369/.571 with 13 home runs and 30 RBIs.

On September 1, Montes was selected to the 40–man roster and promoted to the major leagues for the first time. He made his MLB debut on the same day against the Boston Red Sox as a designated hitter. He went 2-for-4 with a walk, a solo home run, and 2 RBIs, helping the Mariners to a 9–6 victory. Montes became the first Mariners player to hit a home run in their MLB debut since Kyle Lewis in 2019 and to get two or more hits in their debut since Ichiro Suzuki in 2001.