This year, young Cuban slugger Lázaro Montes made his Major League Baseball debut and quickly showed that his biggest offensive calling card is his raw power. Some have already begun comparing him to fellow Cuban and current Astros star Yordan Alvarez, particularly because of their similar combination of size, strength and left-handed power.

Through 14 games and 35 plate appearances with the Seattle Mariners this season, Montes has collected eight hits, four home runs, 10 RBIs and a .970 OPS. His .250 batting average and 15 strikeouts tell part of the story, but his extra-base impact has been far more eye-catching. Most notably, the distance and exit velocity on his home runs have provided an early glimpse of just how much power he possesses.

In his debut against Boston, Montes launched a 407-foot home run. A few days later, against Texas, he absolutely demolished a Cal Quantrill pitch, sending it a Statcast-recorded 474 feet. It was the longest home run ever recorded at T-Mobile Park and the longest in MLB this season. The ball left his bat at 116.1 mph, showcasing the rare combination of strength and bat speed that makes Montes such an intriguing young hitter.

Then, on Sept. 11, he added a 430-foot blast that came off the bat at 110.8 mph. Last Saturday, he followed with another home run that traveled 426 feet at 107.6 mph.

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Lázaro Montes is already sending a clear signal about his power

The sample size is still extremely small, but Montes has already made one thing abundantly clear: when he squares up a pitch, he has the ability to produce 400-plus-foot home runs with unusual regularity.

The next challenge will be turning that raw power into more consistent production. That means cutting down on the strikeouts while continuing to make quality contact against Major League pitching.

According to his Statcast profile, Montes currently owns a 23.1% Barrel% and a 90.1 mph average exit velocity, two numbers that help explain why his power has been so noticeable since arriving in the majors. It is still far too early to draw firm conclusions from such a small sample, but those underlying traits help explain why some already envision the young Cuban as a potential 30-homer hitter at the Major League level.

What could Lázaro Montes' 2027 season look like?

For 2027, Montes should no longer be viewed simply as a long-term bet or developmental project. The bigger question will be how much he can establish himself during his first full Major League season.

The foundation is obvious: power.

Montes hit 38 home runs in 123 games in the minor leagues this year. At Triple-A, he also posted a 94.9 mph average exit velocity and a 57.5% hard-hit rate, extraordinary figures that reinforce the idea that his power is not simply a product of a small Major League sample.

There is, however, an important counterpoint: contact.

The Seattle rookie struck out in 30.6% of his plate appearances in 2026, and his struggles against certain pitch types have been noticeable in the majors, particularly against low breaking balls and fastballs up and away.

Four home runs in 35 plate appearances is obviously too small a sample to use as the basis for a full-season projection. But when his minor-league production, underlying power metrics and imposing swing are considered together, it is reasonable to take a swing at projecting what Montes could do in 2027.

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My projection has Montes appearing in 120 to 150 games, with 25 to 35 home runs, 75 to 100 RBIs and a slash line somewhere in the neighborhood of .230-.260/.320-.360/.450-.520, with an OPS in the .920-.960 range.

The biggest variable within those ranges will be his ability to reduce the strikeouts without sacrificing too much of the power that makes him so dangerous.

Perhaps the most intriguing part of the equation is his age. Montes is only 21 years old. Seattle already viewed him as one of its top prospects before promoting him, and MLB had him ranked among its Top 100 prospects.

There is also another element that should not be overlooked: personality.

Recently, Ryan Divish, the Seattle Mariners beat writer for The Seattle Times, shared an exchange on X involving Montes. When asked whether he knew about Coors Field's reputation as a hitter-friendly ballpark, the Cuban rookie replied:

"I've already played here on my PlayStation."

Yes, Montes has the enormous raw power, but he also appears to have the charisma and sense of humor to go with it.