It wasn't supposed to go this way for Jarred Kelenic.
The prized Seattle Mariners prospect's MLB debut is now a thing of the past, and was officially a flop. Kelenic was demoted to Triple-A Tacoma on Monday, on the heels of a deep funk that saw him go hitless in 39 consecutive at-bats.
Kelenic, 22 next month, hit a paltry .096/.185/.193 with two home runs and three stolen bases in 92 plate appearances since his callup in early May. He was benched for his team's series finale against the Angels on Sunday, prompting whispers about whether a demotion could be in the offing in order to let him figure it out away from the bright lights of the big leagues.
The Wisconsin native mashed at virtually every stop on his first tour through the minor leagues, beginning in the Mets' farm system after they drafted him sixth overall in 2018. He was shipped to the Mariners the following offseason, in the infamous blockbuster deal that brought Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz to New York.
The Mariners have apparently been keen to keep their budding star under team control as long as possible, with a team executive touching off a controversy in the offseason when he was heard admitting that the team would seek to manipulate Kelenic's service time. The exec later resigned, but the damage was apparently done as far as Kelenic was concerned, who griped about having to "deal with" the underhanded but widespread tactic, which is meant to delay a player's eligibility for salary arbitration.
In any event, Kelenic's first stint in the Majors certainly didn't go the way he or the Mariners had hoped. But with the M's going nowhere, Kelenic, who was hitting .370 in Triple-A when he was called up in May, could be back sooner than later if he works out whatever hampered him in his debut.