Jarred Kelenic’s game-tying home run yesterday gave him the highest WPA (.222) for any Mariners batter in the contest, even more than Mitch Haniger’s go-ahead single or Jake Fraley’s game-clinching, bases-clearing double. Kelenic punishing a hanging slider from Ohtani was obviously deeply cathartic to witness, but it’s what he did against Ohtani’s splitter that deserves more accolades.
It’s clearly no secret that the book on how to attack Jarred Kelenic is with the off-speed. Kelenic is slugging close to .500 on four-seamers, which probably explains why he sees them just 30% of the time. Mostly it’s been a steady diet of sliders (18%), curveballs (17%), and changeups (13%).