It looks like Jared Kilink’s long-awaited breakthrough has arrived. The Seattle Mariners quarterback rolled into a Wednesday afternoon win over the Chicago Cubs (SEA 5, CLE 2) with a .333/.405/.636 hitting streak and six extra-base hits in 10 games. He deep in each of the Cubs’ first two games.
Kelenic made a three-game home streak on Wednesday and was an absolute tank. He hit it at 482 feet into the second deck of the center field bleachers at outfield at Wrigley Field. Just look at this:
Wrigley was windy on Wednesday, sure, but you don’t see other players hitting the ball there, do you? Kelenic’s 482-foot homer is the tallest by a Mariners player since Statcast released in 2015. He is the second-tallest by a player at Wrigley Field in the Statcast era after Willson Contreras’ 491-foot strike in Game 4 of the 2017 NLCS.
Kelenic’s home run is the second longest in baseball early in the season. Here are the tallest varieties of 2023:
- Giancarlo Stanton, Yankees: 485 feet against the Giants
- Jared Kilinick, Mariners: 482 feet against the Cubs
- CJ Crone, Rockies: 479 feet against the Cardinals
- Austin Riley, Braves: 473 feet against the Cardinals
- Ryan Mountcastle, Orioles: 456 ft. vs. Athletics
Acquired in the Edwin Diaz trade to the Mets, Kelenic entered the season as a career hitter of .168/.251/.338 in 147 big league games spanning 2021-22. He was demoted to Triple-A several times and changed hands constantly, but it seemed very much like a lost cause. Another round of mods followed this winter and Kelenic seems to have found something that works.
Still only 23 years old, Kelenic was a top 10 prospect in baseball in both 2020 and 2021. Wednesday’s victory improved Seattle’s record to 5-8 early on.
