Seattle Mariners: Top 3 storylines surrounding Jarred Kelenic’s demotion
Mariners star prospect Jarred Kelenic is heading back to the minors and several major storylines surround the move.
The Seattle Mariners have not been to the MLB postseason since 2001. Since then it has been two decades of rebuilding. That is why fans finally felt some hope with the arrival of Jarred Kelenic.
The 21-year-old entered the year as a top prospect in all of baseball and came into the spotlight over the concept of service-time manipulation. Were the Mariners intentionally holding him in the minors to gain extra years of team control? Each side has a fair argument there, even if former team president Kevin Mather spilled the beans a bit in a leaked video.
Overall, it was Kelenic’s struggles at the plate that got him demoted. Let’s look at three top storylines out in Seattle following the decision.
3. No longer about service-time manipulation
Kelenic’s slash line this year is .096/.185/.193. Yes, he is still young and in no way does this hurt his chances of future success. But it shows the Mariners had to make a change if they want to be surprises contenders in 2021. Keeping a player around who is in the middle of an 0-for-39 slump is just not fair for either side.
The service-time argument surrounding Kelenic is interesting because he is so young. While he may believe he belonged in Seattle last year, the front office could have genuinely believed having him debut during the bizarre 2020 season was not a good idea.
This is not to say the Mariners don’t undertake some shady practices. But regardless of what happened in the past, performance now takes over as the dominant reason for why Kelenic needs more time in the minors.
2. Improvements to be made moving forward
The first goal in Seattle was getting Kelenic to the majors. Now the focus shifts to him improving his game so he can indeed come back soon and begin his run with the Mariners on a full-time basis.
One rough stat, which is to be expected, was his walk-to-strikeout ratio. Kelenic only had eight walks compared to 26 strikeouts in 23 games. Once again, this is very limited action for a 21-year-old player making his MLB debut.
He also only had eight hits in his limited time up with the Mariners. So what is the solution there? More reps may be the only thing and that includes at Triple-A. He only briefly appeared in Double-A in 2019 before the minor league season was canceled in 2020. So he skipped the next step entirely except for a brief stint in Triple-A to start 2021.
In fact, he has only played in 179 total minor league games. That makes sense given the fact he is still 21 years old.
Plenty of Mariners fans got their wish by seeing Kelenic get time in Seattle. However, he needs more overall reps and continuing to go hitless was not a great way to build confidence. A little reset is all he needs as this demotion remains about performance.
1. When can the Mariners contend?
Mariners fans may have felt like 2021 was the year to win the moment Kelenic was called up. He and fellow top prospect Logan Gilbert arrived at the same time and fans saw a glimpse of the future.
But Kelenic’s demotion does not change much about the team’s chances right now. It was clear he was not ready and he ended up being a problem in the lineup away. That will change in the near future, but for now he was not doing much to help.
The Mariners enter Tuesday with a 30-31 record, good enough to be five games back of the Oakland Athletics in the American League West division. The minus-54 run differential is alarming, but fans still have hope.
The goal was not to win in 2021. Yet players like Mitch Haniger, Kyle Seager, and J.P. Crawford are all producing at solid levels. Kyle Lewis was doing the same before his injury. Fans are now hoping the team continues to push for victories and avoids the alternative of trading away every productive player who is no longer a prospect.
Kelenic not being ready just yet is a bummer, but the Mariners did not enter 2021 with World Series aspirations. Well, the players might have, but not the front office.
dark. Next. Is Jarred Kelenic next failed prospect?
That just means the young prospect can continue to adjust to the MLB game and prepare himself for when the team is indeed ready, because he is going to play a big part in the team’s future success. And if he can’t turn it around, well, Mariners fans don’t want to deal with that thought just yet.