Lazaro Montes has arrived in the major leagues for the Seattle Mariners wearing the imposing jersey number 99.
The American League’s most imposing slugger, Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees, also wears those digits. And while no one is suggesting that Montes will put up a career like Judge, the young star is also off to quite the start.
Montes debuted in MLB on Tuesday night for Seattle, and he went deep in his major league debut, putting him on a short list in Mariners history.
The lefty actually delivered an RBI hit earlier in the game before launching this home run out of Fenway Park:
LAZARO MONTES, HAVE A DEBUT!
He destroys this ball 407 FT for his first MLB home run 💣 pic.twitter.com/qLJhBohf4Q https://t.co/Ta57TcKobs
— Just Baseball (@JustBB_Media) September 2, 2026
That’s not a cheapie, either. Montes is known for his raw power, and he showed it there.
MLB Debut Home Runs in Mariners History
Montes is the seventh player in Mariners history to hit a home run in his MLB debut, according to a graphic shared by the team.
Jamie Nelson did it first, in 1983. Alvin Davis followed the very next year.
Then in 2004, Greg Dobbs joined the club.
The catcher Kenji Johjima added his name to the list in 2006.
The promising Kyle Lewis did it in 2019. And now Montes is a part of a group of players that didn’t all reach their potential but all got off to a great start. He’ll be hoping to do the next part better.
Laz is a whole vibe 🔱 pic.twitter.com/Vt8nmAW5Sl
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) September 2, 2026
More History for Lazaro Montes
The wonderful MLB stats guru Sarah Langs shared a couple of gems on X on Tuesday night after Montes’ successful debut.
The first was this: Montes is the first Mariners player with a multi-hit MLB debut since 2001 — when Ichiro Suzuki did it in his first MLB regular season game after arriving from Japan.
Montes is also the third player in Seattle franchise history, per Langs, with multiple hits and multiple RBI in his debut. The others were Shane Monahan in 1998 and Al Chambers in 1983.
That’s a lot of cool lists joined all at once by Montes.
What To Know About Lazaro Montes
Montes was ranked the No. 81 prospect in MLB by Fangraphs prior to his call-up.
His calling card is his power. Fangraphs listed his raw power potential as a 70-grade out of 80, with it already playing as a 65-grade at this very moment.
Montes hasn’t always translated that to games, listed with a game power grade of just 40, with the potential for 60.
At least in his MLB debut, though, Montes showed he can access that raw power in a big league game. If he keeps doing that, the Mariners will be very happy to have the 21-year old Cuban up in the major leagues with a bright future ahead.
Mariners’ Lazaro Montes Makes History in MLB Debut