Photo by Ed Delany, MMN
Seeing the start of Jarred Kelenic‘s professional career, you have hopes he could one day be the Mets version of Ronald Acuna. At least for tonight, Kelenic would get the Acuna treatment.
In the second inning of Kingsport’s game against Bristol, Kelenic hit a three run homer giving Kingsport a 4-2 lead.
In his next at-bat, Bristol starter Denny Roman channeled his inner Jose Urena and hit Kelenic. This would lead to the benches clearing with Roman and both managers being ejected.
Tensions between our Kingsport Mets and the Bristol Pirates flared up after Kelenic’s home run. Both benches emptied. #PlayoffPush pic.twitter.com/OlLaZNWZLr
— Mark Davis (@kmetsfan) August 23, 2018
Now, when a pitcher throws at a batter, the obvious intent is to intimidate the batter. Well, tonight, we found out there is no intimidating Kelenic.
After getting hit by the pitch, Kelenic was 2-for-3 with three runs scored.
In fact, it was Kelenic’s single to lead off the bottom of the seventh which would spark an epic nine run inning which put Kingsport up for good in their 15-7 win.
Overall, Kelenic was 3-for-4 with three runs, a homer, three RBI, HBP, and a stolen base.
This game was another part of what has been a terrific August for Kelenic.
In August, he’s now hitting .326/.380/.543 with seven doubles, two triples, three homers, and 20 RBI.
He currently has a seven game hitting streak with him amassing multiple hits in his last four games.
As impressive as his work at the plate has been, his work on the basepaths may be even better.
In August, Kelenic stole 11 bases in 12 attempts. On the season, he’s stolen 15 bases in 16 attempts.
Seeing how well the sixth overall pick has performed this year, it’s clear he’s not intimidated by anyone, especially not any of the pitchers for Bristol.
