Mariners notes: Kelenic sent to Tacoma for ‘reset,’ Seattle grabs series in New York
Jarred Kelenic was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma as one of eight moves made by the club Friday, in hopes that the 22-year-old outfielder and former top prospect can “reset” after a sluggish start to his sophomore season.
Seattle made the move hours before the team’s first game at Citi Field with the New York Mets, and after Kelenic had traveled there with the club. “Several conversations” among manager Scott Servais, Hollander, and president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto led to the decision, one Kelenic is said to have understood after a sit-down meeting.
“He said, ‘I just needed to do better,’” Kelenic said in Hollander’s words. “There wasn’t a sense that this was the wrong decision. … I think he felt like he wanted to go down and play, and get confident again.”
Kelenic posted a .140/.219/.291 slash line in 30 games with the club, a step back from a strong finish in 2021 some hoped was an upward trend in production. Before Friday’s demotion, Seattle had excluded Kelenic from select lineups with opposing lefty starters, hoping a stretch against right-handed pitching could jump-start his slump.
Servais praised Kelenic’s plate approach earlier this year, despite the lack of results. That changed across Seattle’s recent 2-5 homestand, which included series losses to Tampa Bay and Philadelphia. Kelenic, in the latter series, went 0-for-8.
“He was getting out of his approach a little bit… not sure what he wanted to do at each individual plate appearance, and sort of searching,” Hollander said. “And when he was losing (the) feel of what his approach needed to be, that’s when we felt like, ‘okay, it’s probably time.’”
Kelenic’s lack of early production may have manifested into a higher chase rate, Hollander suggested. Per Baseball Savant, Kelenic ranks in the second percentile in strikeout rate and sixth percentile in whiff rate across the majors.
That doesn’t mean the Mariners are hoping for an overhaul of Kelenic’s swing mechanics. Hollander wants to “give him a chance to breathe.” Servais wants Kelenic to relax and “go out and have fun again.”
“He’s 22 years old,” Hollander emphasized. “He’s got a lot of baseball in front of him.”
Added Servais: “He’s got a really good swing. He’s super strong. When he squares it up, he hits the ball as hard as anybody we have.”
Instead, his swing “wasn’t free and easy,” a stark contrast to Kelenic’s minor league career where he dominated at each level and quickly reached the majors. His elite bat-to-ball skills led the Mets to draft him with the sixth overall pick in the 2018 draft, and New York’s blockbuster deal with the Mariners sent Kelenic and four others to Seattle for Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz later that year.
Seattle opted not to place a timetable on the outfielder’s eventual return, a decision said to be preferred by Kelenic himself.
“He didn’t want (a timeline) either,” Hollander said. “He said, ‘I need to go down, and I need to play, and I need to rediscover that I’m good again. And I’ll be back, and I’m really confident that I can go do that.’”
SEATTLE WINS FIRST ROAD SERIES IN THE BIG APPLE
Seattle dropped two of three in an interleague matchup with the Philadelphia Phillies last week and flew to New York for last weekend’s three-game set with the Mets.
Marco Gonzales twirled 6 ⅔ innings of one-run ball to propel Seattle over Max Scherzer and the Mets in the series opener, 2-1.
Gonzales struck out five and walked three, holding a contending Mets lineup to five hits at Citi Field. He threw 48 pitches in the first two innings, but worked clean fourth and sixth innings to extend his outing into the seventh.
“I was just like, alright, one pitch at a time,” Gonzales told reporters after his start. “And they fought. It was a good battle, I thought, all night.”
Paul Sewald struck out Starling Marte to strand a pair of runners in scoring position and keep the contest tied. Ty France delivered a run-scoring single in the eighth, and Drew Steckenrider earned Friday’s save with a scoreless ninth inning in relief.
Seattle dropped Saturday’s contest in New York, 5-4. Jesse Winker crushed a game-tying three-run homer in the seventh inning before Mets catcher Patrick Mazeika hit the eventual game-winning home run off Andres Munoz’s first pitch in the eighth.
George Kirby made his second career start Saturday with more than 100 friends and family members in attendance. The 24-year-old pitching prospect grew up only 21 miles from Citi Field, providing a more-convenient commute than for those who traveled to Seattle to watch Kirby’s major league debut on May 8.
Kirby’s stuff – a five-pitch mix that mainly features a fastball and slider – “felt good” across Saturday’s four-inning appearance where he allowed three runs on three hits, though only one was earned. Kirby twirled six shutout innings against the Rays in his debut last weekend.
“It was good to see all of my family and friends there again,” Kirby said. “The support that continues to happen is pretty awesome.”
Former Mariner and Mets closer Edwin Diaz struck out the side in a perfect ninth inning for the save.
Reliever Drew Steckenrider entered the ninth inning with a three-run cushion, but quickly yielded a pair of runs on four hits. Then up one, Servais turned to Diego Castillo, who threw nine pitches -- all sliders -- to strike out Starling Marte and Pete Alonso to end the game.
The win secured Seattle’s first road series win and was New York’s first series loss this season.
“You have to realize, this guy has closed out World Series games,” Servais said, referencing Castillo’s appearances for Tampa Bay in the 2020 World Series. “He has been in that moment in the past.”
SHORT HOPS
- A “couple players” won’t travel to Toronto for Seattle’s three-game series with the Blue Jays due to Canadian vaccine requirements, Servais announced Sunday. The Mariners will activate LHP Roenis Elias ahead of the Monday-through-Wednesday series to replace one of the club’s scheduled starting pitchers.
- 3B Eugenio Suarez “is fine” after sliding into Mets second baseman Jeff McNeil’s knee during a pickoff move in Saturday’s game, Servais told reporters. Suarez didn’t play in Sunday’s game, though his absence from the lineup was considered a planned off-day.
- Ty France co-leads the American League with 46 hits (Rafael Devers, BOS) after a five-hit weekend at Citi Field vs. the Mets.
- Julio Rodriguez co-leads the American League with 10 stolen bases (Jorge Mateo, BAL). His four-hit Sunday ballooned his average to .264, now 13-for-37 (.351) in his last nine games. “The more you’re around, the more you see stuff, the more you adjust,” Rodriguez said Sunday.
ON DECK
Seattle (16-19) continues their ten-game road trip with stops in Toronto and Boston to come. They’ll play three with the Blue Jays before a four-game series at Fenway Park with the Red Sox.
Sunday’s 8-7 win kept the Mariners seven games behind the AL West-leading Houston Astros.
“I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, winning two out of three here,” Servais said. “And it wasn’t, but (we’re) glad to win the series against these guys.”
The Mariners return to T-Mobile Park on May 23 to kick off a three-game set with the Oakland Athletics.
