Tyler Evan Locklear (born November 24, 2000) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

for the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. The franchise was established ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB). Locklear played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

for the

VCU Rams The VCU Rams are the college athletics, athletic teams of Virginia Commonwealth University of Richmond, Virginia, United States. The Rams compete in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association as members of the Atl ...

. He was selected by the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

in the second round of the 2022 MLB draft and made his MLB debut in 2024.

Early life

Locklear grew up in

Abingdon, Maryland Abingdon is a census-designated place in Harford County, Maryland, United States. It lies northeast of Baltimore on Maryland Route 7, near the Bush River, between Exits 77 ( MD 24) and 80 ( MD 543) of Interstate 95. The region is known for i ...

, northeast of

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

. He played high school baseball for

Archbishop Curley High School Archbishop Curley High School is a Roman Catholic boys' high school in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore in the United States, within the Baltimore, City of Baltimore. It is affiliated with the Conventual Franciscan religious order. It i ...

in Baltimore. At Archbishop Curley, Locklear was named a 2018

Under Armour All-American The Under Armour High School All-America Game is a high school football all-star game typically held in early January in the U.S. state of Florida created to spotlight the nation’s top high school seniors. The game was first played on January 5 ...

and earned All-State honors after hitting .500 in his senior year. Locklear was ranked by Perfect Game as the ninth best prospect in Maryland in 2019.

College

Locklear started for VCU ahead of his freshman season. He appeared in all 15 Rams games in 2020, driving in eight runs and scoring 15 runs. The season prematurely ended in mid-March 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. As a result, Locklear was

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

and retained four years of collegiate eligibility. During his redshirt freshman season, Locklear helped the Rams to a 38–16 record, their best since 2015, an Atlantic 10 regular season and a conference tournament championship, as well as the second seed in the Starkville Regional of the NCAA baseball tournament, their highest seeding in the tournament since 2001. Locklear led 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, a VCU freshman record, the second-most in a season in VCU history, and tied for the conference lead in 2021. Locklear earned three A-10 Rookie of the Week honors. After his

2021 season 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, Locklear received many conference and national accolades. He 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 ''Collegiate Baseball Newspaper'' (also known as ''Collegiate Baseball Magazine'' and ''Collegiate Baseball'') was an American publication based in Arizona that considered itself the "voice of amateur baseball" and was published for over 40 yea ...

'',

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' (BA) is a sports publication company that covers baseball at every level, including Major League Baseball (MLB), with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in Minor League Baseball (MiLB) college, high school, and inte ...

, and the

National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) is an association of baseball writers, broadcasters, and publicists in the United States. It was founded in 1962. The NCBWA compiles a preseason ranking of the top 30 teams in the n ...

(NWCBA). Locklear earned national All-American honors from ''Collegiate Baseball'' (third-team), NCBWA (second-team), Baseball America (second-team), and the

American Baseball Coaches Association The American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) is the world's largest Amateur baseball in the United States, amateur baseball Manager (baseball), coaching organization. It was founded in 1945 as the American Association of College Baseball Coach ...

(first-team). He was also named the 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 Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the

Orleans Firebirds The Orleans Firebirds, formerly the Orleans Cardinals, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Orleans, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Firebirds play ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over 1,000 forme ...

. He tied for the league lead in home runs and received the league's 10th Player Award, recognizing his work as a teammate and community member. Ahead of his redshirt sophomore year, Locklear was included on the 55-player preseason watchlist for the

Golden Spikes Award The Golden Spikes Award is bestowed annually to the best amateur baseball player in the United States. The award, created by USA Baseball and sponsored by the Major League Baseball Players Association, was first presented in 1978. It is given to ...

. He was also named a preseason All-American by ''Collegiate Baseball'', D1Baseball, and Perfect Game. In 2022, he

slashed Ash are a Northern Irish rock band formed in Downpatrick, County Down in 1992 by vocalist and guitarist Tim Wheeler, bassist Mark Hamilton and drummer Rick McMurray. As a three-piece, they released mini-album '' Trailer'' in 1994 and full-lengt ...

.402/.542/.799 with 20 home runs and 78 RBIs, while also being hit by 23 pitches. The Rams repeated as Atlantic 10 champs. Locklear was named the best college baseball player in Virginia and named to the All-American second team and Atlantic All-Region first team by ABCA, the All-American third team by Baseball America, and first team all-conference.

Professional career

Seattle Mariners

The

selected Locklear with the 58th overall selection in the

2022 Major League Baseball draft The 2022 Major League Baseball draft took place on July 17–19, 2022, in Los Angeles. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to Major League Baseball (MLB) teams. The draft order was based on the reverse order of the 2021 MLB season standin ...

. He signed with the Mariners on July 23 and received a $1.28 million signing bonus. He made his professional debut with rookie–level

Arizona Complex League Mariners The Arizona Complex League Mariners are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Seattle Mariners, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Peoria Sports Complex in Peoria, Arizona. The team is comp ...

in 2022. After two games in Arizona, he moved up to the Single-A

Modesto Nuts The Modesto Nuts are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. They are located in Modesto, California, and are named for the several types of nuts grown in the Central Valley. They ...

, where he hit .282/.353/.504 in 29 games. Locklear began 2023 campaign with the High-A

Everett AquaSox The Everett AquaSox are a Minor League Baseball team in Everett, Washington. The team is a member of the Northwest League and is the High-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. The AquaSox play their home games at Funko Field, which has a seatin ...

but was hit by a fastball on June 1, breaking a bone in his right hand. He returned to Everett in August after playing two games with the ACL Mariners and was promoted to the Double-A

Arkansas Travelers The Arkansas Travelers, known informally as The Travs, are a Minor League Baseball team based in North Little Rock, Arkansas. The Travelers are the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners and play in the Texas League. Hi ...

on August 24. In 85 games for all three teams, he hit .288/.405/.502 with 13 home runs, 52 RBI, and 12 stolen bases. After the regular season, Locklear played for the

Peoria Javelinas The Peoria Javelinas are a baseball team based in Peoria, Arizona, that competes in the West Division of the Arizona Fall League. The team plays its home games at Peoria Sports Complex. The ballpark is also the spring training facility for the S ...

in the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season baseball league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are filled ...

, also playing in the 2023 Fall Stars Game. Locklear played first base full time in 2023, after playing third base in college and in part of his first professional season. He began the 2024 season with Arkansas and was promoted to the Triple-A

Tacoma Rainiers The Tacoma Rainiers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. They are located in Tacoma, Washington, and play their home games at Cheney Stadium, ...

in late May. In 51 games to start 2024, Locklear hit .293/.404/.520 with nine home runs and 33 RBI. On June 9, 2024, Locklear was selected to the Mariners'

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, an ...

and promoted to the major leagues. In his major-league debut that day against the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

, Locklear recorded his first major league hit, a double that batted in a run. His double left his bat at 100.1 mph and flew 380 feet. Locklear became the first Mariner making his MLB debut to have a go-ahead hit in the seventh inning or later since Mike Wilson on May 10, 2011. Locklear scored his first MLB run on the next play, a single by Josh Rojas. On June 13, Locklear hit his first major league home run off

Garrett Crochet Garrett Nolan Crochet (; born June 21, 1999) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Chicago White Sox. Crochet played college baseball for the ...

of the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

. Locklear was

optioned In the film industry, an option agreement is a contract that "rents" the rights to a source material to a potential film producer. It grants the film producer the exclusive option to purchase rights to the source material if they live up to the te ...

back to Tacoma on June 24, as Jorge Polanco came off the

injured list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

. Locklear spent another week with the Mariners, being recalled on July 23 as Ty France was

designated for assignment Designated for assignment (DFA) is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball (MLB). A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team's 40-man roster, after which the team must, within seven days, return the pla ...

before returning to Tacoma on July 30 after the Mariners traded for fellow right-handed first baseman

Justin Turner Justin Matthew Turner (born November 23, 1984), nicknamed "Red," is an American professional baseball infielder and designated hitter for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Baltimore Orioles ...

. In 16 games with the Mariners in 2023, Locklear hit .156 with one double and two home runs while striking out in 40 percent of his plate appearances. He was more productive in the minors, batting .272/.382/.468 with 16 home runs and 9 stolen bases in 112 games with Tacoma and Arkansas. Locklear was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma to begin the 2025 season.

Arizona Diamondbacks

On July 31, 2025, Locklear, along with Juan Burgos and Hunter Cranton, were traded from the

to the

in exchange for

Eugenio Suárez Eugenio Alejandro Suárez (born July 18, 1991) is a Venezuelan professional baseball infielder for the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Detroit Tigers, Cincinnati Reds, and Seattle Mari ...

Personal life

Locklear's father Todd Locklear played college baseball at St. Andrews College. Locklear's uncle Jeff Locklear pitched in the

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

in the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

and

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. Th ...

systems from 1991 to 1995. His cousin Gavin Locklear played wide receiver for the

NC State Wolfpack The NC State Wolfpack is the nickname of the athletic teams representing North Carolina State University. The Wolfpack competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I (NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subd ...

, where he is currently a coach. Locklear has a Native American background.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Locklear, Tyler 2000 births Living people All-American college baseball players Arizona Complex League Mariners players Arkansas Travelers players Baseball players from Baltimore Baseball players from Harford County, Maryland Everett AquaSox players Major League Baseball first basemen Modesto Nuts players Orleans Firebirds players People from Abingdon, Maryland Peoria Javelinas players Seattle Mariners players Tacoma Rainiers players VCU Rams baseball players