A Grip on Sports: A little trust has gone a long way for Kelenic, the Zags and, hopefully, the Kraken

A GRIP ON SPORTS • How about a little baseball? Some basketball? And, maybe, if we have time, some hockey?

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• The Mariners won Tuesday, kicking off a three-city road trip with a 5-3 win over defending National League champion Philadelphia – and dodging a rain storm of $1 hot dogs while doing it.

But that’s not the story. Not the lead story, anyway. In that spot resides the heater Jarred Kelenic has been on. A heater that seems different than any Kelenic has experienced in his professional career. A heater that’s carried the left-handed-hitting golden child to a .343 average and seven home runs, among the best in the American League.

Is this the Kelenic everyone in the Mariners’ organization thought they would see when they made him the centerpiece of the Robinson Cano/Edwin Diaz deal with the Mets? Or is it a mirage built on a foundation of straw that will fade as the season wears on?

If you want to fall squarely in the former camp, then you need to read this in-depth story from The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, he of the charity bow ties on Fox and some of the best connections in the game.

Rosenthal delves deeply into how Kelenic turned his game around in the offseason, working to not only improve his swing but his mental processes as well. All of which seem to have come together in April to lift him into the heights the M’s hoped he would scale.

It’s a story of hard work, sure. It’s also one of trust, as the M’s showed theirs in the left-fielder, Kelenic’s agent showed his in collaboration and Kelenic learned to show his in a handful of ways.

The upshot? He’s driving the ball all over the field. No one has been hotter the past week. And Mariner fans get to experience something that is rare these days, a young player who is overpowered early and learns to overcome the challenge.

• Trust is also a big part of why Ryan Nembhard will be in Spokane this summer. The Creighton transfer (and younger brother of former GU guard Andrew) realized he could trust the Gonzaga coaching staff. And that’s all he needed to make a decision about his future.

But the question remains, who will Nembhard be able to trust when he gets on the McCarthey Athletic Center court?

It doesn’t look as if Anton Watson will be one of the players in that role. The senior, who has his COVID-19 year left, entered his name in the NBA draft process recently.

Watson, who will graduate this spring, did it quietly, under-the-radar, without much fanfare. Pretty appropriate. It reflects his game. That doesn’t mean, however, Watson won’t be appreciated by those who run next-level teams. Guys who put team success over individual always seem to find a home with well-run organizations.

Will that be in the NBA next year? Could be but Watson’s road to that type of success may be a winding one. It could include more time with the Zags, as he can withdraw his name by the end of May and keep his eligibility. Or it could come overseas or elsewhere, as he may decide that is the best route. Whatever decisions come, Watson’s love affair with the Zag fans, and vice-versa, will not change.

• All Monday’s win did for the Kraken is give them a better opportunity. Now they have to take advantage. Being down 3-1 would have been considerably more difficult to overcome than being what they are, tied with Colorado at 2-2 in the seven-game series.

But the game also gave them something else. A challenge. How to replace a high-volume scorer in the middle of a series. Seattle lost Jared McCann for possibly the rest of the series after he was checked into the boards by Cale Makar.

Makar is out as well, suspended by the NHL for what its officials eventual ruled during the game was a minor penalty. The league’s best defender, and last season’s playoff MVP, will miss tonight’s battle in Colorado. Whether his loss or McCann’s will be the most important remains to be seen.

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WSU: Around the Pac-12 and the nation in football, the best bet for the conference in Thursday night’s NFL draft first round? That would be Oregon cornerback Christian Gonzalez. … Washington’s Rome Oduzne continues to improve. … Oregon continues spring practice with whatever players it has available. … Former Oregon State quarterback Chance Nolan is headed to TCU. … There were even more players entering the transfer portal yesterday at Colorado. … Such things keep Utah coach Kyle Whittingham up at night. … UCLA has a couple incoming transfers with experience at other conference schools. … Is Arizona State’s new coach too intense? … In basketball news, either UCLA or Utah will enter the next women’s basketball season as the favorites. A big reason is how each handled the portal. … Oregon State has added to its staff with a former player coming on board. By the way, athletic director Scott Barnes is recovering well and is out of the cardiac intensive care unit. … Among the men, Arizona State added a big transfer from LSU. … Another Arizona player has declared for the draft.

Gonzaga: We linked above Theo Lawson’s story on Nembhard as well as Jim Meehan’s piece on Watson. We do so again here. … The baseball team had a late bullpen meltdown and lost 11-4 at Oregon.

EWU: Eastern will hold its Red-White Game on Friday night. A few of the players who will play key roles in the fall may not take part due to a variety of reasons. One of those is offensive lineman Matthew Hewa Baddege, who Dan Thompson profiles today. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, former Eastern basketball player Jake Groves, who starred at Shadle Park High, will spend his grad transfer season at Virginia. … A Montana State football player decided to head back home to Butte.

Preps: Dave Nichols has a roundup of Tuesday’s action in the GSL and elsewhere.

Indians: Gabriel Hughes is the ace of the Spokane staff. But the Gonzaga product had his first awful inning during Monday afternoon’s 15-2 loss at Avista against Everett. The 11-run frame wasn’t all Hughes’ fault but no matter, it led to the Indians’ defeat. Dave has all the particulars in this story.  

Kraken: The Makar suspension was the biggest news to come out of Tuesday. And maybe the most confusing. … The winner of tonight’s game has a significant edge in the series.  

Mariners: Not only is Kelenic hot, but Teoscar Hernandez is driving the ball consistently as well. The duo gave Marco Gonzales, making his start a day early, all the runs he needed in the 5-3 victory.

Seahawks: Wondering who the Hawks will take with the fifth pick tomorrow night? Larry Stone feels Pete Carroll has already told us. … Others have their thoughts as well.

Sounders: Seattle has loaned Danny Leyva to MLS foe Colorado. That doesn’t happen all that often.

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• Change seems to be all the rage in sports. In our weather too. Yesterday was beautiful, if a bit chilly. It starts to warm today. The 70s are coming back and we’re not talking about disco. Until later …