Let’s get some injury updates from the American League…
- Jarred Kelenic is progressing well as he tries to get his left knee back to full strength, per the Athletic’s Corey Brock (via Twitter). The young outfielder plans to meet with the training staff today and set a course to return to action. Kelenic himself was bullish about his ability to make a quick return. Assuming no setbacks, there’s no reason that Kelenic shouldn’t be ready for the season opener. Whether or not he makes the Mariners’ opening day roster will be one of the more closely watched roster decisions around the game. The 21-year-old certainly expects to make the roster, despite only 21 games of experience at Double-A.
- Shed Long Jr. lost his starting second base job to Dylan Moore last season, and he looked to make a strong impression this spring. Instead, inflammation in his surgically-repaired right shin has kept him out of action entirely, writes the Athletic’s Corey Brock. It now seems unlikely that Long will even be ready in time to make the team. The Mariners had high hopes for Long’s role in 2021, even if he wasn’t the starter at second. After making a bid for a number of utility types in free agency, the Mariners came up empty, presumably leaving room for Long to take on that role – even after slashing .171/.242/.291 in 128 plate appearances in 2020.
- Ji-Man Choi had his knee examined by the team doctor yesterday after experiencing some tightness, per Adam Berry of MLB.com (via Twitter). The issue hasn’t kept Choi from participating in drills, so the team is not overly concerned at the moment. While Choi’s splits and defensive limitations somewhat minimize his potential role on the team, he brings much-needed thump when he is in the lineup. He also adds to the club as a recognizable and likeable personality. The sometimes-switch-hitting slugger adds the most value against right-handed pitching. He has a career 125 wRC+ against righties. Were he to miss significant time, Yoshi Tsutsugo could step in, while Brandon Lowe could slide over from second or Francisco Mejia could fill the lineup spot as well. The Rays would have a number of potential ways to re-shape their roster. Hopefully, however, no changes will be necessary. That said, Choi is likely to be shut down for a week to ten days, adds Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter).
I don’t see either Kelenic or Long making this team out of spring training. Shortly after that though, yes.
I agree Terry. Watch them bring up Kelenic right after the team secures the extra year of control.
Trammell probably makes it up before Kelenic. Fraley will probably get first crack at it. Then trammell then kelenic. With Lewis and a healthy Haniger I dont see them calling up Kelenic any time soon. Outside the box thinking to get kelenic to the show earlier is that Haniger could dh if they put France at 1 and White back down to AAA
As usual the M’s have potentially ruined Evan White’s career by rushing him like always. This organization will never understand how to develop. He needs to be optioned to Triple A to get more seasoning.
You really think they would do that after all the commotion from Mather’s comments?
The call was and is Jerry’s to make. He’s been clear that more time in the minors was going to happen even if he had accepted the extension offer.
He probably needed another 200 PAs (roughly). No reason to think that has changed, and the fact that he’s missing most of spring doesn’t help his cause.
A June or July promotion is far more likely than late April or May.
@stevil after the bad press this off-season you really think Jerry is going to say anything different? We know for a fact if kelenic signed the extension he’d get Evan white treatment, the former team president made this quite clear. So of course Jerry would say “our plan all along was to have him in the minors”. Kelenic, his agent and the team president confirmed the offer they made him, anything the Mariners say now is to cover there butts.
We don’t know that for a fact and Kelenic’s camp haven’t denied that there was a minor league assignment with that extension. Worth noting, nobody was talking about him breaking camp with the team before the shutdown. None of the beat writers suggested he looked ready, either. So why would a minor league assignment, especially considering his lack of minor league PAs (a whopping 92 in AA) seem like a stretch?
It’s possible, if not likely, that they might have believed MLB PAs last season would have been more useful development-wise than the player pool, but that doesn’t mean that they wouldn’t have preferred AA or AAA PAs which obviously wasn’t possible.
The fact is, minor league PAs are possible now and he’s missing most of spring. Calling him up in late April would discredit everything Jerry has said. What good would that do Jarred, Jerry, or the Mariners organization?
We can revisit this at the end of April. Never say never, but it seems highly unlikely he’ll get promoted immediately after that extra year is secured.
NOT JI-MAN. Cole Killer, man hits dingers off of him
All hail lord Ji-Man father of Gerrit Cole
Unfair to use Kelenic’s lack of Double A appearances as a reason for why he wouldn’t make the roster. The whole minor league season was cancelled last year and he likely would’ve been at that level most of the year.
Not to mention Evan white skipping AAA all together
Why unfair..the reality is he didn’t get to play last year and has missed big chunk of spring training due to injury. Best thing might be to get some time and at bats in minors.
How can a fact be unfair? It doesn’t really matter the circumstances, he didn’t get a chance to play competitive baseball last year… his 92 plate appearances in AA aren’t a knock on him as a player, it’s just a reality that should definitely affect whether or not he makes a Major League Baseball team worth over a billion dollars. This isn’t little league.
The Kelnic situation doesn’t necessarily strike me as service time manipulation. It seems more likely they were trying to entice him to sign a contract with the promise of immediate MLB playing time when it wasn’t clear if he was ready for the majors yet. In some ways it’s the opposite of what we view as the usual service time manipulation.
If Kelenic had hit with an 1.000 ish OPS in his limited AA appearances then I could see him on the OD roster. He still has to make the team, and it’s looking less likely as ST goes along.