AUBURN, Ala. — Former Auburn All-American Ryan Bliss has been called up to the Seattle Mariners to become the 59th big leaguer in program history, the organization announced Monday.
Bliss becomes the eighth former Tiger to be called up to Major League Baseball since the beginning of the 2020 season, joining Casey Mize (Aug. 19, 2020), Ben Braymer (Aug. 28, 2020), Josh Palacios (Apr. 9, 2021), Keegan Thompson (May 2, 2021), Gabe Klobosits (July 30, 2021), Davis Daniel (June 11, 2022) and Edouard Julien (April 12, 2023).
A three-year starter for Auburn from 2019-21 and one of four two-time All-Americans in program history, Bliss played and started in all but two games during his career and turned in a .328 average with 176 hits in 134 contests. He added 121 runs, 32 doubles, four triples, 20 homers and 99 RBI while turning in a .972 career fielding percentage in the middle infield. He led the team in hits and runs in two of his three seasons on The Plains and was a two-time All-SEC honoree.
The LaGrange, Georgia, native was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks with the 42nd overall pick in the 2021 MLB Draft, becoming the fifth highest position player drafted in program history.
In parts of four MiLB seasons and 327 games in the Arizona and Seattle organizations, Bliss is a .262 career minor league hitter with 239 runs, 72 doubles, 15 triples, 46 homers 182 RBI and 127 stolen bases. A year ago, he became the fifth MiLB player in the last 40 years with 20 or more home runs and 50 or more stolen bases in a single season.
Bliss, who is currently rated the No. 11 prospect in Seattle’s organization, earned a plethora of MiLB honors a season ago, highlighted by being named to the All-Star Futures Game while also earning Texas League All-Star and Pacific Coast League Player of the Month honors.
Seattle starts a four-game series against Houston tonight at 8:40 p.m. CT. Bliss is in the lineup playing second base and batting eighth.