Tyler Locklear

Tyler Evan Locklear (born November 24, 2000) is an American professional baseball first baseman for the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball (MLB). Locklear played college baseball for the VCU Rams. He was selected by the Mariners in the second round of the 2022 MLB draft, and made his MLB debut in 2024.

Early life
Locklear grew up in Abingdon, Maryland, northeast of the Baltimore metropolitan area, where he played high school baseball for Archbishop Curley High School. At Archbishop Curley, Locklear was named a 2018 Under Armour All-American, and earned All-Conference, State, and Metro honors, earning a .500 batting average during his senior year. Upon graduation, Locklear was ranked as the fifth best player to come out of Maryland.

College
Locklear became an immediate starter for VCU ahead of his freshman season. During the 2020 NCAA Division I baseball season, Locklear appeared in all 15 games for the Rams, earning himself eight runs batted in, and scoring 15 total runs. The season prematurely ended in mid-March 2020 due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, Locklear was redshirted and retained four more years of collegiate eligibility.

During his redshirt freshman season, Locklear helped the Rams earn a 38–16 record, their best since 2015, an Atlantic 10 regular season and a conference tournament championship, as well as a two-seed berth in the Starkville Regional of the 2021 NCAA Division I baseball tournament, their highest seeding in the tournament since 2001. Locklear the Atlantic 10 in runs (69), RBIs (66), on-base percentage (.515), and walks (46), all marks that rank in the top 10 in VCU history for a single season. Additionally, Locklear hit 16 home runs, which was a VCU freshman record, the second-most in a single season in program history, and tied for the most in the Atlantic 10 during the 2021 season. Locklear earned three A-10 Rookie of the Week honors for the season.

Upon the conclusion of the 2021 NCAA Division I baseball season, Locklear achieved numerous conference and national recognition. Locklear was named to the Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team, All-Atlantic 10 team, All-State team, ABCA Atlantic All-Region First Team, and was named a freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball, Baseball America, and the NCBWA. Locklear earned national All-American honors by Collegiate Baseball (third-team), NCBWA (second-team), Baseball America (second-team), and the American Baseball Coaches Association (first-team).

He collected three individual honors including the VaSID Rookie of the Year (best college baseball freshman in Virginia), the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year, and the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year.

After the 2021 season, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Orleans Firebirds of the Cape Cod Baseball League, and received the league's 10th player award.

Ahead of his redshirt sophomore year, Locklear was included on the 55-player preseason watchlist for the Golden Spikes Award. He was also named a preseason All-American by Collegiate Baseball, D1Baseball, and Perfect Game.

Professional career
The Seattle Mariners selected Locklear with the 58th overall selection in the 2022 Major League Baseball draft. He signed with the Mariners on July 23, 2022, and made his professional debut with the Single-A Modesto Nuts that same year. He played two games for the rookie–level Arizona Complex League Mariners and later returned to Modesto.

Locklear split the 2023 campaign between the ACL Mariners, High–A Everett AquaSox, and Double–A Arkansas Travelers, accumulating a .288/.405/.502 batting line with 13 home runs, 52 RBI, and 12 stolen bases across 85 total contests. He began the 2024 season with Arkansas, and later progressed to the Triple–A Tacoma Rainiers. In 51 combined appearances, Locklear hit .293/.404/.520 with nine home runs and 33 RBI.

On June 9, 2024, Locklear was selected to the 40-man roster and promoted to the major leagues for the first time. In his major-league debut against the Kansas City Royals, Locklear recorded his first major league hit — a double that, per Statcast, left the bat at 100.1 mph and traveled 380 feet. In the same at-bat, Locklear logged his first career RBI and subsequently scored his first run. Locklear became the first Mariners' player making a major league debut to have a go-ahead hit in the seventh inning or later since Mike Wilson in May 2011 at Baltimore. On June 13, Locklear hit his first major league home run.