Where do we stand on Kelenic?

[D-train]

Just to tack on 2000 also playoffs (2 over 1.000)
.316 .420 .606 1.026 163 OPS+ ARod
.324 .423 .579 1.002 158 OPS+ Edgar

Olerud, Buhner came close

1999 .337 .447 .554 1.001 152 OPS+ Edgar
Jr .285 .384 .576 .960 139
ALex .285 .357 .586 .943 134


Doing this just makes me want to build a monster add Paul G. the Cards lost today to go to 6 under .500 but they got Dejong back who is hot at like a 170 OPS+ and like a lot of our guys Nolan Arenado is slow starting for his history at a 109 OPS+ \\

.288 .399 .489 .888 146 OPS+ Goldy bat would really help complete the lineup

I would love it and it isn't happening.

[bpj]

Just to tack on 2000 also playoffs (2 over 1.000)
.316 .420 .606 1.026 163 OPS+ ARod
.324 .423 .579 1.002 158 OPS+ Edgar

Olerud, Buhner came close

1999 .337 .447 .554 1.001 152 OPS+ Edgar
Jr .285 .384 .576 .960 139
ALex .285 .357 .586 .943 134


Doing this just makes me want to build a monster add Paul G. the Cards lost today to go to 6 under .500 but they got Dejong back who is hot at like a 170 OPS+ and like a lot of our guys Nolan Arenado is slow starting for his history at a 109 OPS+ \\

.288 .399 .489 .888 146 OPS+ Goldy bat would really help complete the lineup

I would love it and it isn't happening.

Just in case though, here's what BTV thinks of some names that would likely come up-

[Sexymarinersfan]

Obviously they were right to not trade him but wrong about wasting $7M on a washed up hitter because he had fluky good splits vs. LHPs last season.

So is time to cut or trade pollack.

Trade? We would have to pay 110% of his salary and his airfare to the new team and would get back a 16 yo Venezuelan girl that just signed for a $150 bonus. lol

That's how we got Jose Caballero lol

[Sexymarinersfan]

Who knows if a team wants him for minimum with mariners paying the rest of his salary. Mariners were willing to pay him 7 million, so you never know

I think other teams could be intrigued by Wong and Pollock if you paid their salaries given previous production.

You'd get a bag of balls back, but at least it's a bag of balls.

Mariners got Brash for Taylor Williams, and Berroa for Donnie Walton…

And Jose Caballero for Mike Leake.

[D-train]

Mike Leake was 9-8 with a 4.27 ERA with us when we traded him. Definition of average. Wong and AJ are straight trash.

[Donn Beach]

Who knows if a team wants him for minimum with mariners paying the rest of his salary. Mariners were willing to pay him 7 million, so you never know

I think other teams could be intrigued by Wong and Pollock if you paid their salaries given previous production.

You'd get a bag of balls back, but at least it's a bag of balls.

No chance. And Jerry would be afraid to tell Stanton he flushed almost $7M

You don't think Stanton watches the games?

[bpj]

Kelenic's OPS by month in 2023:

Mar/April: .982 OPS
May: .727 OPS
June: .658 OPS


His career OPS is .661

[Donn Beach]

Latest mailbag of the 15th largely devoted to JK, game of adjustments

How much concern is there that Kelenic is backsliding to the player he was last year? — @KaumansTroy


I don’t know if I’d use the word “concern” from the Mariners about Jarred Kelenic’s recent stretch. Maybe some slight unease about the swing-and-miss issues and lack of consistent production.

I think most people in the organization and around baseball figured there would be a period when the league would adjust to Kelenic’s hot start to the season, and he would need to readjust to the changes opponents made.

Over his past 11 games, he posted a .154/.267/.282 slash line with six hits in 45 plate appearances, including two doubles, a homer, three RBI, six walks, 19 strikeouts and a stolen base. But over that 11-game span, he hit 20 balls in play that had an 89.9-mph average exit velocity, a 40% hard-hit rate and 10% barrel rate. For the 2023 season, he has an average exit velocity of 91.4 mph, a 10.1% barrel rate and 48% hard-hit rate.

During that 11-game stretch, he’s had a 55% ground-ball rate and pulled 60% of the balls in play. Neither is ideal for his swing and approach. Of the 183 pitches he saw, only 54 were a two-seam or four-seam fastballs. The rest were considered off-speed, including 63 sliders.

This isn’t a new development. Against those 54 fastballs, most of them at or above the top of the zone, Kelenic had a .083 batting average with just one single on five balls in play, 10 called strikes, 12 foul balls and six whiffs.

Really, it’s about pitch selection and finding hitter’s counts to do damage. Twice in Wednesday’s loss, Kelenic had a 2-1 count and took pitches that he thought were balls, only to see home-plate umpire Sean Barber incorrectly call them strikes. So instead of having a 3-1 count, Kelenic had a 2-2 count. Big deal?

Well in his career, Kelenic has had 121 plate appearances in which he had a 2-2 count; they’ve resulted in a .149/.284/.280 slash line with 26 hits, including nine doubles, a triple, four homers, 32 walks and 110 strikeouts. In 65 career plate appearances in which he worked a 3-1 count, Kelenic has a .150/.477/.400 slash line — yes, a .477 on-base percentage. He has six hits, including three homers, 25 walks and only 13 strikeouts.

The Mariners and Kelenic believe that the changes he’s made this past offseason allow for him to work back out of these sorts of slumps because he wants to use the entire field and is more capable of doing it.

There has been more open frustration following failed plate appearances from him reminiscent of years past. But he’s still only 23, and it’s not an uncommon reaction.

If this were to continue into the next 10-12 games, and if Kelenic really started to react negatively to the results, it would be a cause for concern.

. Have the Mariners lost their opportunity to trade Kelenic? Batting .189 in the last few weeks after he claims to have fixed himself doesn’t seem like he’s changed much. — @seattle_wayne


I think people who have followed Kelenic’s career closely would say he’s changed a lot. He wasn’t capable of having the hot start to the 2023 season with his old approach and swing. Over his first 52 games, he produced a .283/.340/.524 slash line, with 14 doubles, a triple, 10 homers, 26 RBI, 16 walks, 64 strikeouts and seven stolen bases. He’s never had a stretch of 50-plus games like that in his career. So that’s a change.

Also, Kelenic never proclaimed he was fixed. Nobody with the Mariners said he was fixed. They know too well that baseball doesn’t allow for such things, particularly for younger players. When you think you’ve fixed an issue to find success, MLB teams find a new weakness to exploit.

The adjustments are endless.

I don’t know that the Mariners were looking for opportunities to trade Kelenic once he got off to a hot start. They were open to listening to offers last season and even in the offseason. But multiple MLB sources said they would part with Kelenic in a trade package only if they were getting a position player back in return with multiple years of club control (e.g., Bryan Reynolds).

They wouldn’t sell low.

Realistically, he has more value to them as a player than as a trade chip. If he could produce somewhere near the level of the first two months, it would be more valuable than what he could get from a trade market that is low on sellers and filled with buyers. He has four-plus years of club control and won’t hit arbitration eligibility until 2026

[D-train]

This is almost a 2 month 200 PA sample. I would say this is what he is. Better than his first two horrid seasons but no a productive Outfielder.

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[Sibelius Hindemith]

Whatever "supplements" he was taking in the off-season must have worn off after about 4 weeks.