The Tacoma Rainiers kicked off their 2021 season in the newly formed “Triple-A West” Thursday night at 6,500-seat-capacity Cheney Stadium, about an hour drive from their parent club, the Seattle Mariners. Though Tacoma would ultimately fall to El Paso (top minor-league affiliate of the San Diego Padres) in extra innings, top prospect Jarred Kelenic still shined bright, acing his Triple-A debut with a pair of towering home runs. The left-handed-hitting outfielder homered in consecutive at-bats for the Rainiers, launching solo bombs off Nick Ramirez (who has appeared in 56 games at the major-league level) and Mason Thompson in the fifth and seventh innings.
Rated as the No. 4 prospect in all of baseball, the former Mets farmhand was a source of controversy earlier this year when then-team president Kevin Mather admitted the Mariners were stashing Kelenic in the minors to manipulate his service time. Though few have been as blatant in this practice as Mather, who resigned shortly after his comments went public, service-time manipulation has been an issue in baseball for quite some time, especially in smaller markets.
Most would agree Kelenic, who the Mets traded to Seattle in exchange for closer Edwin Diaz and All-Star second baseman Robinson Cano two years ago (the Mariners also received Jay Bruce and Anthony Swarzak along with pitchers Gerson Bautista and Justin Dunn), has outgrown the minor leagues. However, in an effort to delay his free agency (aka paying him his actual worth) as long as possible, the penny-pinching Mariners have yet to promote the talented 21-year-old. Kelenic’s extended stay in the minors is especially puzzling after the former first-round pick cruised to an electric .300/.440/.700 batting line with two homers and only one strikeout in 20 at-bats at major-league camp this spring.
Thursday marked Kelenic’s first regular-season action since 2019 after spending all of last year at the Mariners’ alternate site (due to COVID, no minor-league games were played in 2020). Even with Seattle resistant to calling him up, Kelenic shouldn’t be long for Tacoma, especially if the 6’1” slugger continues to rake like he did in his Rainiers debut Thursday night.
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