Mariners’ Kelenic lands on IL with foot fracture after kicking cooler

The hits just keep coming for the Seattle Mariners, who on Thursday placed one of their more surprising hitters on the injured list.

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Young outfielder Jarred Kelenic is now on the 10-day IL, the team announced. The reason? A left foot fracture from kicking a water cooler after a ninth-inning strikeout, manager Scott Servais told reporters on Thursday, per Seattle Sports Mariners insider Shannon Drayer.

Kelenic suffered the fracture kicking a water cooler after he struck out last night.

He has been much calmer this year, but all it takes is one kick.

According to Servais, Kelenic feels terrible about this. Knows he let people down.

— Shannon Drayer (@shannondrayer) July 20, 2023

According to Drayer, Kelenic will not need surgery and is upset about the situation.

“Nobody feels worse about this than Jarred does. Players get frustrated but you’ve got to be able to control your emotions that’s a part of being a professional. He’s upset. He knows he let a lot of people down,” Servais said, per Drayer.

“I let the emotions get the best of me there,” a tearful Kelenic told reporters on Thursday, per Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. “I just, I feel terrible. Especially for the guys. I let the emotions get the best of me and I just let them down. I take full responsibility for it. It’s on me. It just can’t happen.”

In his place, the Mariners have recalled outfielder Cade Marlowe from Triple-A Tacoma. Marlowe will hit eighth and start in left field on Thursday, the Mariners announced. It will be his MLB debut.

Kelenic, who turned 24 on Sunday, has cooled off after a red-hot April, but he’s still having easily the best season of his MLB career, slashing .252/.320/.439 (.759 OPS) with 11 home runs, 45 RBIs and 12 stolen bases. He’s appeared in 90 of the Mariners’ 95 games this year and has played all three outfield positions as well as DH. Per Baseball Reference, Kelenic has been worth 2.0 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) this year, tied for third-best on the Mariners.

Kelenic’s first two MLB seasons went very poorly for the former top prospect, as he slashed just .168/.251/.338 (.589 OPS) in his first 147 games between 2021 and 2022. But he’s become a regular part of the M’s lineup this season.

As for Marlowe, the 26-year-old lefty-hitting outfielder is the team’s 14th-rated prospect, per MLB Pipeline.

A 20th-round pick in 2019, Marlowe has become one of the better power-speed threats in the minors over the last three years.

In 69 games this year, Marlowe is slashing .255/.332/.461 (.793 OPS) with 11 home runs and 25 stolen bases. In 2021, Marlowe hit 26 home runs, drove in 107 runs and swiped 24 bags between Single-A, High-A and Triple-A (he played just one Triple-A game that year). In 2022, Marlowe posted an .864 OPS with 23 home runs, 102 RBIs and 42 stolen bases between Double-A and Triple-A.

Marlowe was also close to making his MLB debut last year in the postseason, as he was part of the Mariners’ Taxi Squad for their two series against the Toronto Blue Jays and Houston Astros.

Marlowe and the Mariners wrap up a four-game series Thursday afternoon against the Minnesota Twins. First pitch is set for 12:40 p.m. with pregame coverage beginning at 11:30 a.m. The game and pregame show can be heard live on Seattle Sports for those in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Alaska and British Columbia. 

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