THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Jarred Kelenic needs to relax

What to do on a rainy Sunday in Tacoma?

Well, if you’re Jarred Kelenic, waiting all afternoon to see if the Class AAA Rainiers are ever going to start their game against Reno ...

Why not watch the Mariners game on TV?

Specifically, why not watch Julio Rodriguez — who may have a little more natural talent, but not THAT much — get four hits, reach base five times and unload a 423-foot home run to help Seattle hang an 8-7 loss on the Mets?

Kelenic, of course, was supposed to be right in the middle of a Mariners lineup that could put up eight runs against Carlos Carrasco and New York’s highly regarded relievers.

Instead, last Friday the struggling lefty was given his second demotion in any many seasons — once again with the idea that he might hit a reset button and come back able to hit major league pitching.

Consistently.

There have been plenty of pronouncements about Kelenic’s problems this year, and there’s no hiding from the numbers.

KELENIC made the trip south on I-5 with some serious baggage in the trunk — like, appearances in 30 games with the Mariners, in which he posted a .140/.218/.291 slash line with two doubles, a triple, three home runs, 10 runs batted in and four stolen bases.

If you’re a fan of advanced analytics, there’s more.

Kelenic was in the top (or bottom) 5 percent of MLB regular players at popping up pitches in the strike zone.

Actually, that doesn’t seem as damning as Jarred’s penchant for freezing at the plate whenever a pitcher got ahead of him.

In two-strike counts, Kelenic had just three hits in 52 plate appearances, slashing .059/.077/.078 with one walk and 36 strikeouts.

He managed just nine walks in 86 at-bats to go with that strikeout total.

The 22-year-old phenom seemed completely overmatched.

Why?

He had dominated at every level in the minors, and didn’t seem to have a hole in his game.

Mariners management (and his teammates) say that Kelenic works as hard as anyone on the roster, and it’s easy to see both his strength and lightning bat speed.

In short, Jarred Kelenic SHOULD be smacking the ball around for fun.

PERHAPS some of the issue is right there, in that single word.

Fun.

Instead of simply playing the game he loves, and enjoying it while letting his natural ability take over, Kelenic projects the image of a coiled spring.

He wants to succeed so badly that he’s been tying himself into knots, and every good hitter will tell you that, no matter what happens from at-bat to at-bat ...

You got to relax and enjoy playing baseball.

Although they are wired differently, which is obvious, Kelenic could learn from watching his friend Julio.

Even when umpires were screwing him over so brutally at the start of the season — to the point that the Mariners complained to the commissioner’s office and sent along video evidence — Rodriguez never let it bother him.

He just assumed that sooner or later, it would become a fair fight, and his talent would win out.

And so it has, with Julio’s once microscopic average already risen to .264 — as pitchers are starting to fear him like a virus.

Kelenic is never going to be as easy-going as his pal, but he CAN quit trying to clobber every pitch — and just like Julio, hit the ball the other way when the situation presents itself.

On Sunday, Rodriguez first tied the game with that screaming home run to left (114 mph off the bat), then casually poked a single to right in his next plate appearance — driving in what turned out to be the winning run.

Those two at-bats, all by themselves, could have combined as a terrific object lesson for Kelenic.

What’s more ...

He’ll need to learn it for the trip back up I-5.

Email: scameron@cdapress.com

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear three times each week in The Press. He also writes Zags Tracker, a commentary on Gonzaga basketball which is published monthly during the off season, and weekly beginning in October.

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”