Emerson 'Having A Great Time' As A Pro Baseball Player

Colt Emerson SS / C / John Glenn, OH / 2023

PEORIA, Ariz. - A year ago Colt Emerson was getting ready for his final year of high school. Today, the John Glenn graduate is a professional baseball player in Arizona and enjoying every minute of it.

“It’s a great feeling, a surreal feeling,” the 22nd selection of the first round by the Seattle Mariners in this year’s Major League Baseball Draft said. “When you’re young you never thought getting drafted would come. It’s been a dream since I was young.”

While his financial status has changed after signing a $3.8 million bonus at the age of 17, the top-rated 2023 in the state finds little difference in the sport he loved growing up in southern Ohio.

“It’s the same game I’ve been playing the last 14 years of my life,” Emerson said of being with the draft picks of the Mariners in Peoria, 20 minutes away from Phoenix. “Nothing really changes when you get to pro ball. It’s the same game, you just go out there and be yourself. You get in a routine and find things that work for you. You’ve really got to get to know yourself, your swing, your work, how you grow.”

As for a typical day?

“We get to the field at 12 and if there’s a game we do defensive work, hit and then some agility work,” Emerson said. “If it’s lifting day we lift. Then there’s a meeting and a game at six. We play every single day. It’s 12-9 every day. I’m enjoying every second of it. I’m soaking in all I can.”

Emerson made quite an impression in his debut five days ago with a home run in his first at-bat.

“I hit it to the opposite field,” Emerson reflected. “I’m thinking there's no way it’s going out. The way it happened was really special.”
The same can be said of draft day where the fourth-ranked 2023 shortstop in the nation was with friends and family for a “draft day party” that culminated in his selection in round one.

“It was very surreal,” Emerson related. “I couldn’t dream of a day like that. I was enjoying every second of it.”

Admittedly, Emerson had no idea how draft day would turn out.

“I didn’t have my hopes up for anything,” noted Emerson, who had met with 28 major league teams at some point in time leading up to the draft. “I knew if God had me lined up, I knew that’s where I’d go. I wasn’t hoping or guessing with anyone. I’m just thankful to move up a level in my career.”

The decision to sign meant going to college at Auburn was off the table.

“There were a lot of factors,” Emerson said of his decision to turn pro. “If it wound up perfectly I’d do it and it wound up perfectly.

“They flew me out to Seattle where I met the players. I hit BP on the field and fielded ground balls. It was a media event. After that was sightseeing in Seattle. I’d never been there and really enjoyed it.”

The 6-0 185-pound left-handed hitter is confident his game will continue to improve since being the first player from Ohio taken in the year’s MLB Draft.

“I just turned 18, I just need to be myself,” explained Emerson, whose birthday was on July 20. “Physical maturity will come with age. I’m working hard and just need to keep doing my thing.”

As for the future, Emerson is taking it one day at a time.

“I don’t really know anything,” Emerson said. “I’m playing in the AZL now and there are 10 games left in the season. After that I have no idea. It’s not up to me when I move up the ranks. I worry about getting my work in, getting my hitting in, my routine in. I’m just doing that.

“It’s a long process to get to the major leagues,” Emerson concluded. “I’m here for the long haul. I’m just sticking to my approach and doing my thing. I’m out there having fun. I’m having a great time.”