It isn’t just the Seattle Mariners who aren’t sure where Pat Kivlehan fits in their future plans. Ask Kivlehan himself to identify his best position, and he, too, hesitates.
“That’s a tough one,” he said. “I’m at the point now where I’m comfortable playing third, first and outfield.”
This much is clear, though, as Kivlehan, 25, prepares for his first invitation to big-league camp after 21/2 years in the minors following his selection in the fourth round of the 2012 draft:
“While we figure out a position,” farm director Chris Gwynn vowed, “we’re going to keep giving him at-bats.”
No wonder.
Kivlehan has a .299/.366/.491 slash (batting average/on-base percentage/slugging percentage) in rising through the Mariners’ system. That includes 48 homers and 245 RBI in 338 career games.
In short, a versatile right-handed hitter with pop.
“Kivlehan is interesting,” general manager Jack Zduriencik said. “This is the kid who played football at Rutgers, but he’s also a very intense, hard-working guy who has made up some time. A tough kid. He’s a good athlete.
“One thing that guys in the Arizona Fall League said about him is you don’t leave an RBI out there on the bases. He’s a guy who has a knack for driving in a run.”
That potential landed Kivlehan at No. 7 on our inaugural TNT Top 10, which ranks the organization’s best prospects entering spring training. We’ve also included a “Watch List” for prospects who just missed our rankings.
So what’s on tap for Kivlehan, who looms as a strong candidate to open the season at Triple-A Tacoma after spending most of last year at Double-A Jackson?
“We’re going to probably play him a little at first and more in the outfield,” Gwynn said, “and maybe at third if we have to because of an injury or something.
“But for the most part, he’s going to play a lot of outfield. He was a strong safety in college in football, so he has ball skills as far as tracking the ball.”
Kivlehan is, as Zduriencik notes, playing catch-up after attending Rutgers on a football scholarship as a strong safety. Spring football meant no baseball for three years.
“Coming out of high school,” he said, “I had to make a decision — football or baseball. And football was offering me a scholarship that baseball couldn’t. So I took that.”
But when Kivlehan played sparingly for the Scarlet Knights over four seasons, second thoughts couldn’t help creeping in.
“I kind of knew right away,” he admitted. “It wasn’t that I made a mistake, but I missed (baseball). I had that itch every year. Football, obviously, wasn’t going the way I wanted it to, but I didn’t back out or de-commit.”
“After my fourth year of football, I tried out for the baseball team. I knew I was getting in over my head, having not played for three years, but I had a really good group of core teammates who really helped me.
“I had a pretty good year and got drafted.”
Pretty good?
Kivlehan was the Big East Conference player of the year; so the Mariners took a chance. And if they’re still trying to figure out what they have in him, he doesn’t mind.
“It’s kind of cool because it keeps it fresh,” Kivlehan said. “I’ll go into the day really not knowing where I’m going to play. There’s kind of excitement before I get there, ‘Oh, I wonder where I’m going to play today?’
“Then I’ll go out and do my early work at all of the positions to get better at all of them. It keeps the game from becoming monotonous.”
Plus … he hits.
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