Mariners takeaways: Seattle’s top prospects named to Futures Game; Kikuchi selected for All-Star Game
When baseball’s premier prospects take the field for the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game this weekend in Colorado, the Mariners will be represented well.
After spending the past several seasons acquiring and developing young talent, the club’s farm system is now considered one of baseball’s best.
The Mariners have five prospects ranked among the top 100 this season by MLB Pipeline. Two of them — outfielders Jarred Kelenic and Julio Rodriguez — are set to participate in the Futures Game, which will be played Sunday at Coors Field.
“I think it’s great,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said last week. “It’s a great experience for those players. ... Great opportunity to get to be a part of the All-Star festivities and go into Coors Field and play on the big stage.”
This is the second Futures Game selection for Kelenic, considered the club’s top prospect and No. 4 prospect in baseball, who also played in the most recent edition of the game in Cleveland in 2019.
Kelenic, who is currently with Triple-A Tacoma, reflected on that first appearance in the Futures Game following batting practice Saturday evening at Cheney Stadium.
The young outfielder — who was 19 years old at the time and playing for what was then High-A Modesto in his first season in Seattle’s system after being drafted in the first round by the Mets in 2018 — remembers walking out to a crowd of nearly 35,000 at Progressive Field.
“That feeling was pretty special,” he said.
It was the biggest crowd Kelenic believed he had played in front of to that point. He started in left field for the American League Futures team, and made solid contact in each at-bat, but finished 0-for-3.
“To go to it for a second time now, I know what to expect, so looking to enjoy this one a little bit more than I did the last time,” Kelenic said.
Kelenic debuted for the Mariners earlier this spring, spent a month with the big league club, and was 8-for-83 at the plate across 23 games before he was optioned back to Tacoma last month.
Kelenic crushed Triple-A pitching in six games with the Rainiers to open the season before he was promoted to Seattle, and has continued to consistently produce at the plate since he returned to Tacoma’s lineup on June 8.
Through 22 games with the Rainiers in the four weeks since, Kelenic has hit 25-for-90 (.278) with five doubles, a triple, seven home runs, 21 RBI, 12 walks to 15 strikeouts and four stolen bases.
“I feel really great,” he said. “My swing has felt the best it has all year right now. I feel really comfortable and confident at the plate. I’m just trying to get back to the big leagues, and I really hope that it’s not much longer.”
This stint with the Triple-A club gave Kelenic an opportunity to reset, and he believes he’s ready to return to Seattle and contribute at the big league level.
“It gave me a chance to find the type of player that I know that I am,” he said. “And with such a great group of guys here, that really made the transition easy, because we have, up and down the lineup, a lot of great human beings. Not just baseball players, but human beings as well. They definitely have helped me get back on track.”
While Kelenic will be making his second appearance at the Futures Game, Rodriguez and Hancock are first-time selections.
“It’s going to be really fun,” Rodriguez said on a video call with reporters Saturday. “There will be a lot of talent out there, and I’m really looking forward to it, to face everybody out there, to just compete.”
Rodriguez, considered the second-ranked prospect in the Mariners system and No. 5 in all of baseball, is already rising through Seattle’s ranks after opening the season with High-A Everett.
In his 28 games with the AquaSox, the 20-year-old outfielder hit .325/.410/.581 with eight doubles, two triples, six home runs, 21 RBI, 14 walks to 29 strikeouts and five stolen bases.
He was promoted to Double-A Arkansas at the end of June, and has already impressed at that level, hitting 7-for-21 with two extra-base hits and four RBI, including launching his first homer at the level.
Rodriguez is also on the roster for the Dominican Republic team that has qualified for the Olympics for the first time since 1992, and will head to Tokyo later this month to compete.
“There’s a lot of dreams coming true back-to-back-to-back. … I’m really enjoying every single moment of it,” Rodriguez said.
Emerson Hancock, the 22-year-old right-hander the Mariners selected in the first round from Georgia last summer who is currently with Everett, was also initially selected to the Futures Game for Seattle, but was replaced on the roster Monday due to injury concerns.
He has made seven starts for the AquaSox in his first professional season, posting a 2-0 record and 2.42 ERA while striking out 25 and walking 11 across 26 innings.
KIKUCHI NAMED TO ALL-STAR TEAM
Mariners starter Yusei Kikuchi has been selected to the American League All-Star team, Major League Baseball announced Sunday.
This is the first selection for the left-hander, who is in his third season with Seattle and has posted a 6-3 record with a 3.18 ERA that leads the Mariners rotation through his first 15 starts this season. He has struck out 93 while walking 15.
Kikuchi’s 11 quality starts also lead the AL among left-handed pitchers, and are tied with Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw for the big league lead.
“I just feel really thankful for my teammates, coaches, just everyone being there for me, my family always supporting me through the ups and downs, especially my first two years here,” Kikuchi told reporters in Seattle on Sunday through interpreter Kevin Ando. “Just really, really thankful for everyone supporting me.”
The All-Star Game will be played July 13 at Coors Field in Denver.
ON DECK
The Mariners resume their final homestand before the All-Star break Tuesday with a three-game series against the Yankees.
Justus Sheffield, who Seattle acquired in 2018 as part of the James Paxton trade with New York, is scheduled to start the series opener against his former team. Yusei Kikuchi and Logan Gilbert are set to start the final two games of the series for Seattle.
The Angels then arrive for a final three-game series before the midsummer break beginning Friday. Gonzales, Chris Flexen and Sheffield are the scheduled starters.
This story was originally published July 5, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Mariners takeaways: Seattle’s top prospects named to Futures Game; Kikuchi selected for All-Star Game."
