Amateur career
Kelenic attended Waukesha West High School in Waukesha, Wisconsin. In 2016, he was named MVP of USA Baseball's U-18 team that won gold at the Pan American Games.[2][3][4] He committed to play college baseball at the University of Louisville.[5]
In July 2017, Kelenic participated in the High School Home Run Derby at Marlins Park.[6] Later that month, he played in the Under Armour All-America Baseball Game.[7] He again played for Team USA in 2017 and won a gold medal for the second consecutive year.
Professional career
New York Mets
Kelenic was considered one of the top prospects for the 2018 Major League Baseball draft.[8][9] He was drafted sixth overall by the New York Mets and signed with the team for $4.5 million.[10] After signing with the Mets, Kelenic was assigned to the Rookie League Gulf Coast League Mets[11] before being promoted to the Rookie League Kingsport Mets of the Rookie-level Appalachian League in July. In 56 games between the two clubs, he slashed .286/.371/.468 with six home runs, 42 RBIs, and 15 stolen bases.[12]
Seattle Mariners
2018–2020
On December 3, 2018, the Mets traded Kelenic, Jay Bruce, Gerson Bautista, Justin Dunn and Anthony Swarzak to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for Robinson Canó, Edwin Díaz, and $20 million.[13] He began 2019 with the West Virginia Power of the Single–A South Atlantic League.[14] Kelenic was promoted to the Modesto Nuts of the High–A California League in May.[15] Kelenic was named to the 2019 All-Star Futures Game.[16] In August, he was promoted to the Arkansas Travelers of the Double–A Texas League.[17] Over 117 games between the three clubs, he slashed .291/.364/.540 with 23 home runs, 68 RBIs, and twenty stolen bases.[18] He was selected to play in the Arizona Fall League for the Peoria Javelinas following the season.[19] Kelenic did not appear in a minor league game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and spent the summer at Seattle's training camp.[20] Throughout his minor league career, Kelenic was ranked highly by prospect evaluators, with both MLB.com and Baseball America ranking him as the eleventh-best prospect in baseball in 2020 and the fourth-best in 2021.[21][22]
2021
In February 2021, Kelenic stated that the Mariners had kept him in the minor leagues during the 2020 season because he had refused to sign an extension. His comments occurred after a video of Mariners CEO Kevin Mather speaking to a rotary club was posted online. Mather indicated that Kelenic and fellow Mariners prospect Logan Gilbert would start the 2021 season in the minor leagues, keeping them under team control for an extra year before free agency.[23] After the comments became public, Kelenic said that the Mariners had offered him a contract extension and had told him multiple times that he would have appeared with the major league team in 2020 had he signed it. Instead, Kelenic spent the 2020 season at the team's alternate training site. In response, Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto said that Kelenic was not yet ready to play on the major league team.[24][25] Despite impressing during spring training, with two home runs and a 1.256 OPS in nine games, Kelenic was assigned to the Tacoma Rainiers of the Triple-A West League to begin the 2021 season.[26][27]
On May 13, 2021, Kelenic was added to the 40-man roster and promoted to the major leagues for the first time.[28] He made his debut that day as the starting left fielder against the Cleveland Indians, going hitless in four at-bats. The next day, on May 14, Kelenic recorded his first MLB hit, a two-run home run in the bottom of the third inning for an estimated distance of 403 feet.[29] On June 7, 2021, amid a 0-39 slump, he was sent down to Triple–A.[30] In June 2021, Kelenic was selected to play in the All-Star Futures Game.[31] Kelenic was called back up to the major leagues after the All-Star break and stayed on the roster for the remainder of the season, contributing to the Mariners' ultimately unsuccessful late-season playoff push.[32][33] Kelenic finished the 2021 season batting .181/.265/.350 with 14 home runs and 43 RBIs in 93 games.[34]
2022
Prior to the 2022 season, due to his performance during the tail end of the Mariners' 2021 season and his previous high prospect status, Kelenic was viewed as a candidate for a breakout season.[35] Kelenic began the 2022 season with the Mariners. In May 2022, he was optioned to Tacoma after hitting .140/.219/.291 over 30 games.[36] After being sent down to the minors, in 54 games for Tacoma, Kelenic slashed .288/.363/.540 with an OPS of .903.[37] He was then called back up to the majors on July 31, replacing Julio Rodríguez, who had been placed on the injured list after getting hit by a pitch.[38] During his short 10-game stint with the major league squad, he had just two hits in 27 plate appearances before being optioned once again to Tacoma.[39]
Kelenic was once again called up in late September, again hitting well[clarification needed] within the final month of the regular season as well as during the postseason, the Mariners' first since 2001.[40][41] At the end of the 2022 season, Kelenic had a career batting average of .168, second to John Vukovich for lowest in history for batters with more than 550 plate appearances.[42]
2023
During the offseason, Kelenic worked on adjusting his approach at the plate to one that would be more suitable for hitting major-league pitching, especially towards breaking balls, which he greatly struggled hitting while he was in the major leagues.[43][44] Before the 2023 season, Kelenic was again viewed as a breakout candidate because of his performance after his final call-up, as well as the ban on the infield shift that was introduced in 2023.
In spring training, Kelenic flourished, slashing .353/.389/.706 with four home runs in 54 plate appearances. Kelenic began the season on the Opening Day roster, with the intent of platooning in left field with the newly-acquired A. J. Pollock.[45] Kelenic continued his spring training success into the major league season, hitting well enough to earn starts against left-handed pitchers and become the everyday left fielder.[46] On April 12, 2023, Kelenic hit a 482-foot home run that landed in the second tier of the center field bleachers at Wrigley Field, the longest regular-season home run recorded at Wrigley and the longest by a Mariner during the Statcast era (since 2015).[47]
On July 20, Kelenic broke his foot after kicking a water cooler during a game against the Minnesota Twins.[48] He was activated off of the injured list on September 11.[49]
Atlanta Braves
On December 3, 2023, the Mariners traded Kelenic, Marco Gonzales, and Evan White to the Atlanta Braves for Jackson Kowar and Cole Phillips.[50]
