Jarred Kelenic, Seattle Mariners.
The Seattle Mariners registered a decent record after Jarred Kelenic‘s call-up, but Jarred’s contributions on offense were putrid. Baseball is a demanding sport. Hitting 95 miles per hour fastballs that paint the outside part of the plate, followed up by sliders that bite down and in, and change-ups that dive under Kelenic’s bat show how rough hitting can be for a rookie.
Sometimes a young player has to be knocked down a bit before getting back up on the horse. In this case, Kelenic got knocked down nearly every game, especially over his last ten MLB games.
I think I speak for every M’s fan that we are just waiting for Kelenic to bust out and start mashing the ball. His peripherals are around league average in nearly every category. He’s not supposed to be a league-average hitter. Let that sink in, Jarred Kelenic isn’t supposed to be a league-average hitter, and so far, he isn’t.
His average exit velocity is 87.6 MPH (88.3 is league average) with a launch angle is 16.8 degrees (league average is 11.9) add in a sweet spot percentage of 22.8 (vs. 32.8 for the league). That’s the recipe for disaster, which is Kelenic’s MLB offensive output.
Add in a strikeout percentage of 28.3, and it’s easy to see why he wasn’t getting any hits. In the event that the math isn’t adding up for you, read the following summary.
Kelenic was just below league average for exit velocity but has an average launch angle well above league average, which means that he’s just not getting the distance out of his fly balls that he needs. Or he’s getting a little under pitches that he should be hitting square.
An inability to barrel up baseballs and his high swing and miss clip explain why he batted south of .100. Adding to his woes is the high strikeout rate. The total of not making contact, plus the lack of quality when he does, totals up to a player that needs more time in the minors to hone his craft.
Monday, Seattle pulled the plug on Kelenic and activated second baseman Shed Long Jr. from the injured list. While the rookie’s numbers are worse than Dustin Pedroia‘s, there’s the argument for sticking it out with Kelenic instead of sending him to Triple-A Tacoma. Pedroia got his call up in 2006 and struggled to reach .200 as a rookie. Red Sox manager Terry Francona stuck with him. The slump continued into the first month of his first full season as he batted .182.
Through his first 51 games, the former MVP was batting .191 without any home runs. Everyone was calling for him to go back to Pawtucket. Tito stayed with him. Pedroia eventually turned it around. He hit .415 in his third month of baseball. From there, Pedroia stayed at or above .300 for the rest of the 2007 season. The rest is history. I believe the M’s top prospect is capable of the same kind of rise to glory.
Jarred Kelenic is only 21-years-old, he has time. Let’s let him figure this out and get out of this horrible hitless in 10 game slump he’s in. One game at a time, one at-bat at a time, he will get his act together. While keeping Kelenic on the big league club during the final throws of rebuild seemed like an ideal spot to work out his kinks, sending him down to AAA Tacoma to rebuild his swagger might work as well.
This isn’t Dustin Ackley. Any comparisons on social media to the prospect that fell short of expectations are too soon and a bit of revisionist history as well. The only thing in common between the two is that they both hit from the left side.
Ackley played college ball, and the Seattle Mariners drafted him second overall. Kelenic was drafted out of high school sixth overall and came to Seattle as part of the Edwin Diaz, Robinson Cano trade. Jarred was two years younger than Ackley when he debuted. So there’s time to prove that Kelenic isn’t a bust. By the way, Ackley’s career .243 batting average while in Seattle would be fifth on this year’s team.
I will add that the Mariners hitting coach Tim Laker must go. The lifetime .226 hitter, during an era when the league was tearing it up offensively, is absolutely pathetic. PEDs aside, batting .226 during the current era wouldn’t earn anyone a hitting coach job anywhere, let alone for someone who put up poor numbers during an offensive explosion.
It seems to me that the drop-off from Triple-A performance to MLB performance for Kelenic has to connect somewhere. While the results are listed above, the root cause might run even deeper.
Joe Swenson is a lifelong Seattle Sports fan, an award-winning playwright, author, director, and producer. You can find a list of his work at www.brokenartsentertainment.com