A week ago, it was fair to look at Cole Young and wonder if the Mariners were about to talk themselves into a second-base answer that still needed more time. The at-bats were straight up bad and the swing decisions looked even worse. For a player the organization has clearly wanted to believe in, that was not exactly the soothing start anybody had in mind.
And then Young wrecked that panic when the calendar turned to March.
After that rough February stretch, he flipped the tone, popping three homers while cutting the strikeouts way down. Seattle does not have the luxury of pretending this is all just a fun little exhibition subplot.