Seattle Mariners: 4 Potential Breakout Candidates to Watch in Spring Training

The Seattle Mariners begin spring training Friday with a fresh sense of optimism ahead of a season loaded with expectations.

With some key additions at positions of weakness, general manager Jack Zduriencik improved a team that missed the postseason by one game a year ago. The Mariners are poised to contend behind stars Robinson Cano, Felix Hernandez, Kyle Seager and new addition Nelson Cruz.

What those stars do in spring training won't have any impact on the regular season. Instead, the Mariners will use the spring to get further evaluations on some intriguing prospects and non-roster invitees.

Seattle won't have many position battles to keep tabs on before Opening Day, but a few breakout candidates will be worth watching.

Patrick Kivlehan, 1B

Alex Jackson and D.J. Peterson are widely regarded as Seattle's top two prospects. This spring could be when Kivlehan starts to move into that company.

After playing football for the first three years of his college career at Rutgers, Kivlehan was a bit slow to develop but exploded onto the scene in 2014. Kivlehan hit .300/.374/.485 with 11 home runs in 104 games of Double-A before following that up with a 138 wRC+ performance in the Arizona Fall League.

Chris Chambers/Getty Images

Mariners fans know who Kivlehan is due to that performance, but this spring is when he could start to enter the national conversation. Baseball America editor-in-chief John Manuel told Matt Ehalt of The Record (Woodland Park, New Jersey) that all the tools are there for Kivlehan to be a productive big leaguer, albeit with some uncertainty surrounding his position. 

"The trends are good," Manuel said. "He’s physical, he has right-handed power and some athleticism, and has a feel for hitting. Now it’s a matter of where does he play and what kind of impact does he have. We think he can be a big-league regular; it’s just a matter of what position."

While Peterson has the highest ceiling of any prospect on Seattle's spring training roster, Kivelhan could be worth monitoring due to his ability to help the team this season. The Mariners will need another first baseman if Logan Morrison is ineffective or injured, and Kivlehan appears to be one of the options most ready for the major leagues.

Kivlehan will likely get at least a September call-up in 2015. If he performs well in the spring and continues his hot hitting in Triple-A, it could come even sooner.

Shawn O'Malley, UTIL

At 27 years old with only 11 games of big league experience, O'Malley isn't much of a prospect. However, he is an intriguing athlete with the potential to contribute in the majors this season.

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O'Malley has the versatility to play several positions. He has spent time at second base, shortstop and the corner outfield in his minor league career. The bat has always been behind the glove, but O'Malley experienced a bit of a breakout in 2014 by posting a .330/.411/.475 line in 89 games with Triple-A Salt Lake of the Los Angeles Angels organization.

That's the kind of player who could be useful on a roster with little depth, particularly with Willie Bloomquist's knee concerns. If O'Malley hits well in spring training and showcases his versatility, he could establish himself as one of Seattle's primary backups should someone go down with an injury.

Mike Kickham, SP

Kickham's numbers in the upper minors and 30.1 innings of big league ball with the San Francisco Giants have been far from impressive. Still, the stuff has always been there for Kickham—he ranked as San Francisco's No. 5 prospect following the 2012 season, according to Baseball America. 

Kickham's skill set should allow him to be better than the 10.98 ERA and 6.02 FIP he's posted in the majors so far. Jason Parks (via an article by Harry Pavlidis of Baseball Prospectus) wrote about Kickham back in 2013, when he appeared to heading for success: 

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The 24-year-old has good stuff from the left-side—including a plus fastball—with feel and utility for a deep secondary arsenal. Some scouts think Kickham would be a better fit in the bullpen, where his velocity could play up and his command issues could play down, but he has the body and the arsenal to develop into a back of the rotation workhorse. Either way, Kickham is a major-league arm and should see action in 2013

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The Mariners must have seen something that led them to believe they could unlock Kickham's potential. They acquired him from the Chicago Cubs for Lars Huijer in January. Huijer isn't really a piece of long-term significance, but he had some amount of value as a 21-year-old with a strong 2013 season in Low-A and was ranked Seattle's No. 17 prospect in 2014 by MLB.com.

If Kickham is going to earn a 40-man spot by performing more towards his talent level, it will happen in spring training. Seattle's top six starters are pretty locked in, but Kickham could rise as high as seventh on the depth chart or be in the mix for a swing bullpen role.

Ketel Marte, SS

The Mariners are fortunate to have two young shortstops who have shown at least brief flashes of being able to play in the major leagues. Brad Miller and Chris Taylor will battle for the starting shortstop job, which will be the most significant decision the club has to make this spring.

However, another young shortstop prospect could be even more exciting to watch. Marte has risen to Triple-A at just 21 years old and is ready to establish himself as perhaps Seattle's top prospect other than Jackson and Peterson while getting more attention nationally.

In 109 games of Double-A last season, Marte hit .302/.309/.404 while striking out in only 13.8 percent of his plate appearances. That (plus excellent defense and 23 stolen bases) was enough to get Marte promoted to Tacoma for the final 19 games of the year, where he posted a solid 112 wRC+.

Marte is likely blocked at the major league level for at least this year but has big potential for 2016 and beyond or could be used as a trade asset. He has a good chance to break out this spring training as a strong prospect on the cusp of the big leagues.

All stats via FanGraphs.com unless otherwise noted.