Kelenic adjusting to bigs, 'learning a lot'

OAKLAND -- Jarred Kelenic’s first two weeks in the Majors haven’t exactly been storybook. In his words, parts of his debut have been “frustrating.” Amidst the growing pains, however, Kelenic has kept the right mindset.

“I’m learning a lot,” Kelenic said. “The last couple days, I’m trying to just be a sponge and learn from my teammates, learn from my opponents and just learn this game of baseball because it’s a different level. This is the big leagues.”

Kelenic received an off-day in Sunday's 9-2 loss to the Padres, though he made an appearance as a pinch-hitter. For the rookie, it was the first opportunity to get a breather since being called up. Given how his career has begun, it was a good moment to take a step back and reflect.

Since going 3-for-4 with a homer in his second career game, Kelenic had two hits in his past 29 at-bats coming into Monday's series opener against Oakland. His slash line currently sits at .135/.200/.270. Still, neither Kelenic nor the Mariners are ringing the alarm bell.

“An off-day for a young player like he had yesterday is valuable,” said manager Scott Servais. “Just to [take a] deep breath and not just to watch the game, but think [about] the game as you’re watching it. That’s something I talked about with him before the game yesterday, and hopefully it helped, [to] kind of sit back.”

“I think I have learned so much in the first six, seven days that I’ve been in the big leagues that I felt yesterday was a day where I could almost hit pause, and take all that information and start to dissect everything that I had learned,” Kelenic said.

Part of Kelenic’s struggles have been due to bad luck. Kelenic certainly believes that’s the case, and the numbers back it up. Coming into Monday, Kelenic had a .143 batting average on balls in play (BABIP), and considering the league-average BABIP in any given year hovers around .300, that low figure might indicate some misfortune.

Even without the early production, there are encouraging signs. For one, Kelenic isn’t striking out too often, an issue that often afflicts young hitters. Coming into Monday, Kelenic had a strikeout rate of 20 percent -- by comparison, the league average is 24.1, and the rookie average 29.

There’s also the matter of Kelenic’s pure bat-to-ball skills. Coming into Monday, Kelenic had a swinging strike percentage of 6.8, which would rank in the top 20 of qualified hitters. Digging deeper, Kelenic had a contact percentage of 85.9, which would rank in the top 15 of qualified hitters. In sum, whenever Kelenic swings the bat, there’s a good chance he’s making contact.

"He’s swinging at the right pitches,” Servais said. “He always has a good idea of the strike zone and what he can handle and what not, so that’s a big positive. He doesn’t swing and miss often, which is another very big positive to have in our game today.

“So, you’re swinging at the right pitches, you put the ball in play, don’t swing and miss that much -- eventually, things will start to go in your favor."

Return of France

Infielder Ty France made his much-anticipated return to the starting lineup on Monday. He hit sixth and started at first base against the A's.

While France made his return, outfielder Sam Haggerty was placed on the 10-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation.

France hasn’t played since May 15, and before being hit by a 98.4 mph fastball from Dustin May on April 19, he had been the team’s best hitter.

Servais said the infielder won’t have any innings limitations and will hopefully be in the lineup for all three games against Oakland. Servais noted that France hasn’t seen live pitching in 10 days, so there may be an adjustment period.

Seattle adds an infielder

The Mariners claimed infielder Travis Blankenhorn off waivers from the Dodgers, the team announced. Blankenhorn was subsequently assigned to Triple-A Tacoma.

Blankenhorn, 24, has spent the bulk of his professional career in the Minors, save two brief cups of coffee in '20 and '21.

Across 468 career games in the Minors, Blankenhorn has hit .256/.324/.429 with 56 home runs. Blankenhorn spent the bulk of his Minor League career in the infield, logging 1,807 innings at second base and 1,209 at third base, and also 262 2/3 innings in left field.