Seattle Mariners: Protecting Jarred Kelenic
Something Else All together?
So, here is something of note for everyone. Kelenic performs better in the second half of the season compared to the first half. We saw how Kelenic finished up at the end of 2021. He was one of the Seattle Mariners’ best hitters down the stretch.
The M’s hoped that his end-of-the-year success would carry over to 2022. Especially in the early going. It hasn’t happened yet.
Maybe Kelenic is just like many other MLB hitters by getting off to a slow start. Currently, the MLB batting average is .233. Kelenic’s .141 average is bad, but it’s not like he’s 200 points behind. There is still time for him to turn his hitting around.
Winker is on a hot streak and should be getting his batting average over .200 in the next game or two. Julio Rodriguez just hit his first major league home run on Sunday. A few games before that, he took his batting average over .200 this season. Ther is time for Kelenic to improve.
Jarred Kelenic got Seattle rocking on a Friday night! pic.twitter.com/znb2r2C0DO
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) April 23, 2022
Final Thoughts
It certainly looks like the Seattle Mariners are on the side of protecting Kelenic’s confidence. Let him hit well against right-handed pitching. Once he gets into a rhythm, then start to have him face the lefties. Their fallback plan is platooning him with Haniger, Moore, and Lewis.
For now, M’s fans need to stay patient with Kelenic a little bit longer. At least until Haniger and Lewis return to the team.
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Do you think the Seattle Mariners should protect Jarred Kelenic? Let us know in the comments section below.