SEATTLE — Jarred Kelenic walked into the Mariners dugout of T-Mobile Park with his head, eyes, already red from tears, fixed on the walking boot on his left foot.
In a season where so much had gone right for him and he was starting to move closer to being the player that he and everyone else believed he could be, the player he used to be, the one he had been working so hard to move away from, reappeared in the final moments of Wednesday’s 6-3 loss to the Twins.
After losing a difficult nine-pitch at-bat with Twins closer Jhoan Duran, who was firing fastballs at 104 mph and then dropped a 90-mph slider on the outside corner for a called strike three, Kelenic’s anger and frustration of being unable to deliver with runners on first and second and nobody out couldn’t be contained.
Furious at himself and his failure, he kicked a square Gatorade water cooler on the ground in the dugout and felt instant pain his left foot. Postgame X-rays and a bone scan on Thursday morning revealed a fracture.
He was placed on the 10-day injured list and outfielder Cade Marlowe was recalled from Triple-A Tacoma to start in his place in the series finale vs. Minnesota.
“Nobody feels worse about it than Jarred does,” manager Scott Servais said. “I think it’s a learning lesson for him and for all players. Players get frustrated when they’re not getting the results they’re looking for. But you’ve got to be able to control your emotions, it’s part of being a professional. Last night, he let it get the best of him and it affects all of us.”
Kelenic sat down to address the media, but was overcome with emotion that he had to pause a few minutes as he tried to hide the tears streaming down his face.
“I just, I just made a mistake,” he said, choking up again. “I let the emotions get the best of me there. I just feel terrible, especially for the guys. I let the emotions get the best of me and I let them down. I take full responsibility for it. It’s on me. It just can’t happen.”
The Mariners had chastised Kelenic in the past few seasons about his temper and his reaction to failure. He was notorious for breaking helmets and bats following failures at the plate. But this offseason, he made a conscious effort to make significant changes to his swing and his mental approach at the plate. While he didn’t want to accept failure, he worked to understand that it was part of the game.
But the rigors of the season where the Mariners have underachieved and his own personal desire to help stop it allowed for recent relapses of rage.
“I came up last night with the game on the line, two guys on against arguably the best closer in baseball and I put together good at-bat and was just grinding,” he said. ‘Unfortunately, I couldn’t come through. Like I said, I made a mistake.”
Kelenic wasn’t certain which bone was fractured and wasn’t certain about a timetable for his return. His absence comes at a time when the Mariners are trying to remain relevant in the wild card race and inspire the front office to acquire some help at the trade deadline.
“That’s the biggest thing is that I love to win and I’m a huge competitor,” he said. “That’s the hardest part is that now like I can’t be out there to help the guys and that’s my fault.”
Marlowe, 26, will start Thursday’s game in left field, making his major league debut. He was batting .255 (72 for 282) with 13 doubles, six triples, 11 home runs, 47 RBIs, 25 stolen bases and 32 walks, reaching base at a .332 clip and slugging .461 with a .793 OPS in 63 games with Triple-A Tacoma this season. He has hit safely in 22 of his past 24 games.
