Mariners' Michael Arroyo, a Top 100 prospect, leads Colombia to '26 World Baseball Classic

TUCSON, Ariz. -- On a team filled with experienced ballplayers and Major Leaguers both past and present, it's not a veteran that Colombia manager Jose Mosquera penciled in at the top of his lineup. While sweeping its way through the World Baseball Classic Qualifiers this week to advance to the 2026 main tournament, Mosquera made MLB Pipeline's No. 97 overall prospect, Michael Arroyo, his leadoff hitter.

"I had the opportunity to coach Michael from when he was really young, starting from when he was 15," Mosquera said, having managed the Mariners prospect on Colombia's U-15 roster. "He's really strong. Even with the older guys in the lineup, like [Gio] Urshela and [Harold] Ram¨ªrez, he is still stepping up."

Mosquera's belief has paid off: Arroyo went 3-for-10 with three walks, two stolen bases and two RBIs over the three-game round-robin. You can't ask for much more from your tablesetter.

"When I received the call to be the manager, right away I started thinking of my lineup," Mosquera said. "Obviously, we had a couple players missing from this roster, like Donovan Solano, Nabil Crismatt, Jorge Alfaro, that could be on this team. Even with that, I always thought of Michael as a leadoff hitter, because he can hit the fastball, he [has a good] approach, he can hit everywhere around the field."

That Arroyo has an advanced approach at the plate as a 20-year-old shouldn't be too surprising given his family heritage. His father, Carlos, played in the Mariners system, while his brother -- also Carlos -- plays 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 through Colombian first base coach Jaime Del Valle, who translated. "Just to have his experience, thoughts, conversations, prepared me for this stage."

Arroyo is able to lean on them when trouble strikes, too.

"My brother knows my swing, knows how my body moves and performs," he said. "Those conversations help me throughout the slumps and the tough times. It helps keep the family name moving up."

Born in Cartagena, a port city on Colombia's Caribbean coast, it means something to the young ballplayer to have his country's name on his chest, to follow in the footsteps of his family's legacy.

"I'm happy to be here," Arroyo said. "This is a dream I've had since I was a kid, representing my country on a big stage. I'm here now."

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Arroyo's spot on the roster came as he is flying up prospect rankings. Signed by the Mariners for $1.5 million in 2022, Arroyo took a big leap forward last year, slashing .285/.400/.509 with 23 home runs and 18 stolen bases while splitting time at shortstop and second base. Though many talent evaluators expect Arroyo to slot in at the keystone in the big leagues, that combination of patience, power and speed would look nice no matter what position he plays.

As nice as a 20/20 season would look, that's not his goal coming into the 2025 season.

"I just want to continue doing what's [working] and not change it," Arroyo said. "I just want to keep moving up level to level and performing. I want to stay true to my strengths and do the little things that I need to adjust moving forward."

Arroyo had two goals on his mind when he arrived in Tucson. The first was to help Colombia confirm its spot in the 2026 World Baseball Classic. He can check that one off.

The other is one which would make millions of people in Seattle very, very happy.

"I want to help the Seattle Mariners win a World Series at some point," Arroyo said.