Locklear

Locklear

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Tyler Locklear, a member of the Lumbee Tribe from Baltimore, Maryland, made his MLB debut Sunday with the Seattle Mariners.

Locklear was 1-for-4 at the plate with a go-ahead RBI double in the seventh inning in the Mariners’ 6-5, 10-inning win.

“You just try to relax, have fun and play baseball,” Locklear said. “I thought [the go-ahead double] was going to hang up a little bit, just the way the yard was playing. I was just glad it got down.”

The 23-year-old began the season at Double-A Arkansas, and was promoted to Triple-A Tacoma on May 28. He hit .293 with nine home runs, 25 extra-base hits, 33 RBIs and 35 runs in 51 minor-league games this season before getting the call to the big leagues.

Locklear was called up to the MLB club when All-Star infielder Ty France was placed on the 10-day injured list with a heel injury. Locklear started in France’s place at first base on Sunday, and manager Scott Servais said he expects Locklear to get most of the playing time at the position until France returns.

“The makeup and work ethic are off the charts,” Servais said. “We all believe in his bat, that he’s going to hit at the big league level. He’s a big, burly guy who has really improved defensively. He has power and uses the whole field to hit.

MLB Pipeline ranks Locklear as the Mariners’ No. 8 prospect, while Baseball America ranks him as the No. 83 prospect in baseball.

Locklear was a second-round draft pick by the Mariners in the 2022 MLB Draft after playing collegiately at VCU.

The Mariners, division leaders in the American League West, began a series against the Chicago White Sox Monday back home in Seattle. Locklear was 1-for-3 in his second start; Seattle won 8-4 on a Cal Raleigh walkoff grand slam.