Michael Arroyo makes his major league debut Sunday afternoon at T-Mobile Park, batting eighth and playing second base for the Seattle Mariners against the Athletics.
Six months ago he was Colombia's leadoff hitter at the World Baseball Classic.
How to watch
Athletics at Mariners
Sunday, Sept. 6 — 4:10 p.m. ET / 1:10 p.m. PT
T-Mobile Park, Seattle
TV: Mariners.TV, NBC Sports California
Streaming: Fubo, MLB.TV
Radio: Seattle Sports 710 AM and Mariners ES Radio. Talk 650 KSTE and A's Cast for Oakland.
Bryan Woo (10-9, 4.25, 149 K) starts for Seattle. Gage Jump (6-9, 5.15, 99 K) goes for the Athletics.
Seattle is 66-77 and third in the AL West. The Athletics are 57-86 and have won four straight.
The Seattle lineup
Randy Arozarena (R) LF
Dominic Canzone (L) RF
Julio Rodríguez (R) CF
Cal Raleigh (S) DH
J.P. Crawford (L) SS
Josh Naylor (L) 1B
Weston Wilson (R) 3B
Michael Arroyo (R) 2B
José Pereda (R) C
Cartagena
Arroyo is 21, born Nov. 3, 2004 in Cartagena, Colombia. Seattle selected his contract from Triple-A Tacoma on Sunday and optioned Patrick Wisdom to make room.
Colombia manager José Mosquera made him the leadoff hitter at the 2026 World Baseball Classic qualifiers in Tucson, ahead of a lineup that included Gio Urshela and Harold Ramírez. Mosquera had coached him since he was 15, on Colombia's U-15 team.
"He's really strong," Mosquera said. "Even with the older guys in the lineup, like Urshela and Ramírez, he is still stepping up."
Arroyo went 3-for-10 with three walks, two stolen bases and two RBIs as Colombia swept the qualifiers. He then played four games in the main tournament this March, hitting .308 with a .500 on-base percentage.
His father, Carlos, played in the Mariners system. His brother, also Carlos, is in the Braves organization and has represented Colombia in previous tournaments.
"My brother has been part of national teams, so we've had a lot of conversations about things that happen in this kind of short tournament," Arroyo said in March. "Just to have his experience, thoughts, conversations, prepared me for this stage."
The numbers
Arroyo hit .283/.359/.471 with 18 home runs across Double-A Arkansas and Triple-A Tacoma this season — .287 in 65 games at Arkansas, then .277 with eight homers in 49 games at Tacoma. Seventeen stolen bases, 81 RBIs, 84 runs.
He has been young for every level. At Tacoma he was nearly six years below the average Pacific Coast League age.
Baseball Prospectus ranked him the No. 35 prospect in baseball entering 2026, up from 95th a year earlier. MLB Pipeline had him 67th.
He also has two winter seasons with Caimanes de Barranquilla in the Colombian league.
He isn't the first this week
Arroyo's debut comes five days after Lazaro Montes made his own at Fenway Park.
The two came up together in Seattle's system, and when Tacoma manager John Russell told Montes he was headed to the majors, the longest hug in the room was with Arroyo. Montes walked, singled home a run and homered in his first big league game.
Montes is day-to-day with a hip issue.
Context
Seattle is five games under .500 with a month left and a long injury list. Emerson Hancock and Cole Wilcox are on the 15-day. Nick Davila was moved to the 60-day on Sunday. Colt Emerson, Will Wilson, Luke Raley, Matt Brash, Logan Evans and Brennen Davis are all on the 60-day list as well.
Randy Arozarena is hitting .271/.371/.463 with 22 home runs and 21 stolen bases. Josh Naylor has 26 steals in 33 attempts. For the Athletics, Zack Gelof has 17 home runs in 357 plate appearances.
Lineups, transactions and injury information via MLB. Statistics via Baseball Reference. Quotes via MLB.com.