Batman and Robin in Seattle

Baseball is unique in the fact that it is a team sport that is driven by individual success. Consequently, when your best players aren't performing, the team succeeds if someone fills the void. From a Mariner perspective, superstar Julio Rodriguez had been scuffling for the first two months of the season, even flirting with the Mendoza line (.212) as late as the first week of May. So who stepped up when Seattle's Batman was struggling?

Enter Robin, or should I say Jarred Kelenic? Who came into this season hoping to ride a nuclear spring training and a new approach. He has finally started living up to the massive expectations placed upon him when the President of Baseball Operations, Jerry Dipoto, acquired him in the Robinson Cano/Edwin Diaz trade. He's currently slashing .277/.330/.852, accounting for 1.4 WAR, which is fourth on the team. Kelenic hit some tape-measure homers, provided clutch hits, and played game-saving defense while Julio worked through an extended slump.

It is safe to say that the 23-year-old Kelenic's role as Robin to Julio's Batman was a godsend for this team, especially when most of the bats around him were delivering uneven results. Thankfully, with temperatures rising, cutting through the Marine Layer is becoming a little easier, and Ty France, Teoscar Hernandez, Eugenio Suarez, and Julio Rodriguez are heating up. In his last fifteen games, Rodriguez is raking (.317/.388/.905), and the team is reaping the benefits averaging 5.27 runs per game in that span, which is 6th best in the MLB.

Additionally, Rodriguez has notched multiple hits in seven straight games, hitting the ball with authority (98th percentile in MLB). Those are all good signs that the 22-year-old face of the franchise is back on track.

We got a taste of the future this week when Kelenic and Rodriguez had three hits apiece, drove in four runs, and paced the Mariner offense in an 11-2 win over Oakland. If both youngsters can catch fire together, watch out because everyone knows Batman and Robin are a dynamic duo for a reason. Here's hoping Jarred Kelenic and Julio Rodriguez can follow suit.