Tom Verducci on how JK is primed for a breakout

[Donn Beach]

The AL West is a deep, fascinating division. Only Oakland is not a legit playoff contender. How it plays out may come down to one difference maker who realizes a huge upside. Last year it was Justin Verlander of Houston, the first pitcher to win the Cy Young Award after not throwing a pitch the previous season. This season it could be Kelenic, a career .168 hitter, who could become a star, or at least a key contributor.

The Mariners recently invited their players to a bat-fitting session. They hired a private company to run players through motion-capture technology to find what size, shape and weight of bats best fit their swing movements. The star of the show was the second-worst hitter ever with at least 550 plate appearances.

Mariners outfielder Jarred Kelenic is a career .168 hitter. Only John Vukovich (.161) was worse with that many times at bat in the big leagues. Vukovich was a journeyman utility infielder who played 277 games over 10 seasons. Kelenic is 23 years old and only two years ago was ranked ahead of Julio Rodríguez as the fourth-best prospect in baseball. Mariners hitting coach Jarret DeHart said the motion-capture results graded Kelenic’s swing “off the charts” in terms of efficiency

“Kelenic made some significant swing adjustments,” DeHart says. “As we did our bat fitting, we were checking on some of the adjustments we made with him last season and some things we were hoping to address with him. He addressed everything we asked of him, just in terms of his body working more efficiently.”

https://www.si.com/mlb/2023/02/20/jarre ... gn=2703993

[Vogelbomb]

This is outstanding! Now that we've optimized the tools of the trade to each hitter, this team will hit a collective .280 and dominate. Can't wait to watch it.

[Donn Beach]

Well we use to complain about Z being behind the times, Dipoto does seem more cutting edge

[GL_Storm]

Really good article. It's refreshing to read something that detailed from a writer that actually makes an effort to understand something as complex as hitting a baseball. Thanks for posting Donn!

[D-train]

Very encouraging. I can't believe Jerry didn't take the opportunity to go into such detail when he mentioned it.

[bhofferb]

Translation: JK has a really pretty swing. Now he just needs to make the bat and the ball make contact...

[Cascade Kid]

Shaq was a pretty good free throw shooter during practice.

[Donn Beach]

Think the key could be him relaxing, not coming unglued
again 18 games into the season. Putting up Seth brown type numbers would be quite acceptable 224 /.294/ .457 but maybe not for him. What's it's going to take for him to just trust his swing?

[Bil522]

Show him the curve!!

Does JK possess talent beyond what he is shown? Of course. It almost has never been about his physical talent, but it is almost entirely about what goes on between his ears. Sometimes there are players that just can not get out of their own way. For examples, I put forth Dustin Ackley, Justin Smoak, and Mike Zunino. All players that possessed better than average talent that just could not get out of their own heads long enough to let their ability just play the game.

I hope that I am wrong, but JK has had the look of one of those kinds of players, where he is so tied up in mental knots he just can't play to his potential.

[Donn Beach]

Ackley and JK are pretty much opposites aren't they? Dustin was criticized for a lack of emotion, JK is criticized for being too emotional. Zunino didn't strike me as a head case, seemed like a tough SOB. Smoak is too much of a good ol' boy to be a head case