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Proceed at your own risk, Mets fans. Jarred Kelenic, the one-time Mets prospect dealt away in the Robinson Cano/Edwin Diaz trade, may be in the big leagues faster than you think. Kelenic, the Mets’ first-round pick (sixth overall) in the 2018 draft, blasted a pair of home runs in a Mariners intrasquad game on Monday, …
Proceed at your own risk, Mets fans. Jarred Kelenic, the one-time Mets prospect dealt away in the Robinson Cano/Edwin Diaz trade, may be in the big leagues faster than you think.
Kelenic, the Mets’ first-round pick (sixth overall) in the 2018 draft, blasted a pair of home runs in a Mariners intrasquad game on Monday, opening eyes out in Seattle. Part of the team’s 60-player pool, Kelenic was supposed to be competing for a roster spot in 2021 at the earliest. But he could be pushing the Mariners to act sooner.
According to the Seattle Times, Kelenic put on a show during batting practice on Monday before going deep twice in the intrasquad game.
“There’s nothing better than feeling that loud crack of the bat,” he said. “Anytime you can put the ball over to help your team out, it is awesome. Not even just for me, though. Everyone knows what K-Lew (Kyle Lewis) is doing. Granted, he didn’t hit a home run today, but he’s got five other ones in the bag that he’s hit in intrasquad and in live pitching. But there’s nothing that beats that sound.”
He took lefty Nestor Cortes deep in his second at-bat and Carl Edwards Jr. out of the park in his next trip to the dish.
“I’m comfortable at the plate right now,” the 20-year-old told ESPN Seattle. “During quarantine I got super, super strong so I wasn’t going to have to do a lot to get the ball out of the yard. But right now it’s feeling real, real good. I feel like I am on the ball and seeing it really good but baseball is a funny thing, there are days when you can’t hit a beach ball and days where the ball looks as big as a beach ball.”
It remains uncertain what the Mariners plan to do. Kelenic played in last year’s Futures Game, and slashed .291/.364/.540 with 23 home runs, 68 RBIs, and twenty stolen bases in Single-A and Double-A last year. General manager Jerry Dipoto has been patient with prospects. Kelenic, though, could prove to be unique.
