- Rating: 3.35
- 2025 Stats: .175/.267/.262, 48 OPS+, -1.1 bWAR
- Date of Birth: 11/24/2000
- 2025 Earnings: $760,000
- 2026 Status: Pre-arbitration, starting the season on the IL
At the deadline, as we all are aware, Hazen was left with the unenviable choice of picking up the pieces of a seemingly lost season and trying to turn them into some sort of return. The sell off saw nearly
everyone who wasn’t locked into a multi-year contract shipped elsewhere, including fan favorite Eugenio Suarez. The return? Reliever Juan Burgos (More on him to come!), starting pitcher Hunter Cranton, and presumed first baseman of the future Tyler Locklear.
2025 Review
Needless to say, emotions were high across the board following the trade. There were some very upset fans that Geno had been moved, and, in response, there were some that were vehemently defending the trade. At least on this site, there was a distinct lack of nuanced analysis amongst us, and frankly, I’m not sure that there was any result to Locklear’s season that would have made everyone happy.
Locklear had spent the entire season in the minors leading up to the trade, and had seen some promising results. There was a reported change in hand positioning that had lead to a seven MPH increase in his exit velocity, a 16% increase in his hard hit%, and his batting average going from .265 to .394 in Tacoma. There were definately reasons for hope.
So when he took the field against the A’s, he was also making his season debut. Despite facing the pitching challenged A’s, he did not cover himself in glory. He went hitless in his first two games/eight at bats, with three strikeouts and a walk. The third game of the series, though, he finally broke through and got on base three times, twice with singles and another walk.
Sadly that was probably the highlight of his season and it was all down hill from there. He only had three multi-hit games from there on out, three home runs in 31 games, and at one point had a seven game hitless streak, stretching across 20 at bats. Those who defended him very quiet. Those that hated the trade were very loud.
So what exactly was the problem? Basically any increase in stats he saw the first half of the year just disappeared. The batting average ended at .171, the exit velocity dropped back to where it started at 87 mph, had the same type of regression, dropping to just 41%.
But why? Well, I’m not a hitting coach, but I did spend some time looking at highlights from his time in the minors, and then his time in in the majors. In these highlights from a four hit game he had for Tacoma, his hands seem to stay much higher, almost at shoulder level the entire time. However, once he comes up to the big leagues (see these clips) his hands are now down around his sternum until it’s time to swing. Then he lifts them up. Again, no expert, but it seems like this would easily screw up someone’s timing, leading to a drastic drop off in production. That being said, it seems so obvious that someone should have corrected it.
When it was all said and done, the terrible season ended on an even lower note. On September 7th, a terrible defensive inning culminated in a throw from Jordan Lawler that pulled Locklear off the bag and into the runner. The runner went straight through Locklear’s outstretched arm, damaging both his UCL and his labrum, ending his season in disastrous fashion.
2026 Outlook
So what happens from here. Well, when he initially reported the extent of the injuries, Nick Piecoro pointed out that there isn’t much precedent for a player going through both this injuries at the same time, and thus there was no concrete timeline for his return next season. However, when Hazen spoke to the media later, he said he was hopeful that Locklear would be a participant in Spring Training, a seemingly aggressive timeline given the extent of the injuries. Only time will tell.
When he does return though, it seems likely that he will be the right handed half of a platoon with our former long term solution at first base, Pavin Smith. I’m sure that Locklear will be given every opportunity to take the job full time, given the years of control he has left, expectations that were had prior to the trade, and Smith’s tendency to be streaky. Long term, though, things are even murkier. It’s far too early to write him off as the future of first base, but early returns have been suboptimal. Again, only time will tell.
