Mariners: 3 takeaways from lost series versus the Oakland Athletics

1) Murphy thrives while Kelenic struggles

When Tom Murphy first arrived in Seattle via a trade ahead of the 2019 season, he was determined to prove himself. He subsequently went on to have a breakout campaign.

That year saw Murphy play 75 games for the Mariners and set a host of career-highs. This including a .273 batting average, 18 home runs and 40 RBI.

Unfortunately for the 30-year-old, he was unable to build on this the following year due to injury. He went on to miss the entire 2020 campaign with a fractured metatarsal in his left foot.

As a result, Murphy entered this season once more in the position of wanting (and having) to prove himself. The early results were disappointing however, as he struggled at the plate with his bat.

At one point right before the end of April, the former Colorado Rockie had a lowly .111 batting average. As May progressed it didn’t get much better, with him sitting at .127 following Seattle’s humiliating 16-1 loss in San Diego.

Since then though, Murphy has started to turn around his fortunes, collecting hits in seven of his last nine games and adding five RBI in the progress. As a result, his batting average has risen to .175.

While there is still some way to get to where he was two years ago, this is extremely encouraging for the West Monroe, New York native. Ironically, the highlight of his recent resurgence was a game where he didn’t actually record an official hit.

It took place on Monday afternoon against the Athletics, with Murphy coming in as a pinch hitter. He hit a fly out to right field, which allowed Ty France to score the winning run from third base.

Murphy’s subsequent celebration was a hit on social media, with his look of a man possessed accompanied by an impassioned scream. His reaction was understandable given that he had secured a walk-off win in the bottom of the 10th.

The 2012 third round draft pick was a lot calmer by the time he spoke to the media. Discussing his key at-bat, he said:

“For me, I was trying to get the ball up so I could put it in the air. It was as simple as that.

“Obviously, the bases are loaded (with) one out. A fly ball is going to do the job and thankfully, I put myself in a good count and got the pitch I needed to do it on”

As Murphy continues to improve, Kelenic has been headed into the opposite direction after a promising start to his Major League career. Even as an objective bystander, it’s been painful to watch.

The 21-year-old is hit-less in his last seven games and in a 0-for-28 slump heading into Thursday’s action. As a result, he has a slash line of just .111/.200/.222.

Mercifully, Kelenic was given the day off on Wednesday for the series finale against the Athletics. The question is, should he be given a longer break?

While there is no denying the outfielder’s talent, the last thing Seattle wants to do is destroy his confidence. No matter how much belief he has in himself, he has never struggled like this before on his rise to the Majors.

You can make a case for Kelenic going back down to Triple-A (even taking into account Lewis’ injury). Maybe this is what he needs to work on some things, especially given his limited time at that level, never mind with the Mariners.

The organization still has the utmost faith in the 2018 sixth overall draft pick’s abilities and rightly so. However, when considering the majority of their decisions have been based on patience and the long term, the same has to apply with their young top-rated prospect.

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