Mariners’ Kelenic Fractured His Foot After Kicking Water Cooler in Frustration

The young outfielder heads to the injured list after an unlikely mishap.

On Thursday, the Mariners placed outfielder Jarred Kelenic on the injured list with a broken left foot. 

The injury occurred during the ninth inning of Wednesday night’s 6–3 loss to the Twins after Kelenic struck out against Jhoan Durán. Upon returning to the dugout, Kelenic kicked a water cooler in frustration, resulting in the injury.

An emotional Kelenic fought through tears as he spoke to the media about the situation before Thursday’s game.

“I let the emotions get the best of me there. I just feel terrible, especially for the guys,” Kellenic said. “I just let the emotions get the best of me, and I let them down. And I take full responsibility for it. It’s on me, it just can’t happen.”

Part of Kelenic’s opening comments pic.twitter.com/ycR8dM4qbF

— Ryan Divish (@RyanDivish) July 20, 2023

The team did not offer a timetable for the 24-year-old outfielder’s return. The team called up Cade Marlowe to take Kelenic’s place.

“Nobody feels worse about this than Jarred does,” manager Scott Servais said, per ESPN Radio’s Shannon Drayer. “Players get frustrated but you’ve got to be able to control your emotions that’s a part of being a professional. He’s upset. He knows he let a lot of people down.”

The Mariners acquired Kelenic as the centerpiece return from the Edwin Díaz trade back in 2018. He debuted in ’21 and had been enjoying a breakout year this season. Through 90 games, Kelenic hit .252/.320/.439 with 11 home runs and 12 stolen bases. 

Seattle entered Thursday in fourth place in the American League West, 10 games behind the first-place Rangers and 5.5 games out of the third wild-card spot.