Logan Gilbert and Jarred Kelenic debut: The next Mariners wave has arrived

The Mariners are on a four-game losing skid but the team is getting some fresh reinforcements. Top prospects Jarred Kelenic and Logan Gilbert will make their MLB debut today against the Indians.

We knew Jarred Kelenic would make his debut at some point during this month, but I did not really expect Logan Gilbert to be called up this early in the season. With all of the injuries in the starting rotation, it makes a lot of sense to call him up now though.

Logan Gilbert and Jarred Kelenic are the next wave of Mariners talent

On Twitter, I learned many fans bought tickets to today’s game to watch Kelenic play but those fans are going to get an even better experience than they were expecting. Logan Gilbert will be on the bump for the first game of the homestand and make his highly anticipated MLB debut.

The Stetson product threw five innings on May 7th in Tacoma and allowed just one run while striking out five. He threw 67 pitches so he probably won’t be throwing more than 80 pitches today. Gilbert has been slowly ramping up his workload and the team will be very careful with how they proceed, for good reason.

As far as Jarred Kelenic goes, I don’t expect the team to have any restrictions on him. Pitchers are treated a lot differently than position players as prospects, so Kelenic should be playing every day from here on out.

Of course, if Kelenic does pick up an injury the team should be extremely cautious, just like they were during Spring Training.

Jarred was hitting leadoff for the Tacoma Rainiers but I don’t imagine Scott Servais moving Mitch Haniger down in the lineup. I wouldn’t be surprised if the 21-year-old hits second or even third in today’s lineup.

Jarred Kelenic has been on the AL Rookie of the Year radar for a while, and now he can finally compete for it.