Seattle Mariners takes for Week 7: M’s hit the skids, call up the kids
No More Prospect Watch
It’s here! It’s finally here. The day that non-box score watching fans were waiting for. Thursday, Jarred Kelenic made his major league debut. He batted leadoff in his first game and went hitless. Was Kelenic ready for MLB pitching after just 29 Triple-A at-bats?
That question was answered the next night, Kelenic was 3-for-4, and all his hits were extra bases, including a third-inning home run. His wasn’t the only big debut.
Accompanying Kelenic to Seattle was former Stetson stud Logan Gilbert. He pitched pretty well on Thursday night against Cleveland. Gilbert went four innings, striking out five and allowing four runs. Outside of a hanging-breaking ball that went beyond the outfield seats, he had a promising debut.
There are a few things Gilbert needs to work on as a big-league pitcher. For instance, his command as well as pitching from the stretch. The command needed to succeed at Triple-A is different than the command needed to succeed in the Majors. This issue will get corrected as he gains more experience.
The coaches have must work with Gilbert to go more with a slide step when pitching from the stretch. Currently, his form has a “high” leg kick. If he plans on controlling the opponents running game, he’ll need to shorten or remove this.
I don’t know about you, but I was so excited when the news broke of Kelenic’s call-up. Then the next day, we learned Gilbert was joining him. I got even more excited! So, much so that I can’t recall the last time I ever got this excited about a prospect getting their first crack in the majors.