After going hitless in his major-league debut Thursday night, Mariners outfield prodigy Jarred Kelenic (pronounced KEL-nick) redeemed himself in a big way Friday, breaking out for three hits—all of them for extra bases—in a tour de force performance at T-Mobile Park. Hitting out of the leadoff spot, the former Mets farmhand pulled out all the stops against Cleveland, quickly erasing the memory of his first-inning strikeout by hammering a towering two-run blast in his second encounter with Tribe hurler Aaron Civale, who had entered Friday’s proceedings with an unblemished 5-0 record.
Kelenic followed his first career homer with doubles in each of his next two at-bats, finishing his night with three RBI in a 7-3 M’s victory. Acquired from the Mets two years ago in a trade that brought Edwin Diaz and Robinson Cano to Queens, the prolific 21-year-old earned his highly anticipated call-up—after an egregiously long wait—earlier this week on the strength of a monster .370/.414/.630 batting line with two homers and five RBI over 27 at-bats for Triple-A Tacoma.
Before the Mariners rectified it by promoting him, the Kelenic situation in Seattle had generated significant controversy, fueling a much-needed discussion on the dubious ethics of service-time manipulation, a common practice among major-league clubs looking to delay paying their homegrown stars for as long as possible. Kevin Mather’s comments on this particular subject, essentially gloating about Kelenic’s continued stay in minor-league purgatory (despite an exceptional spring in Arizona), coupled with obtuse remarks about Julio Rodriguez and Hisashi Iwakuma struggling to learn English, paved the way for his dismissal as team CEO earlier this year.
Two games don’t make a career, but even in that short sample size, Kelenic has proven he belongs. Could Kelenic join the likes of fellow Mets alums Justin Turner and Daniel Murphy as players who enjoyed more success after leaving the organization? We’re about to find out.
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