Kivlehan finding consistency

By joshjacksonmilb

By Josh Jackson / MiLB.com

Patrick Kivlehan, who hit .303 with 16 homers and 90 RBIs between Class A and Class A Advanced last year, did not have a smooth transition to the Double-A level when he moved up to the Southern League at the beginning of May.

The Mariners’ №16th prospect was hitless in his first three games with Jackson, and he went 4-for-35 over 10 games. He then hit in nine straight, and after Friday’s action boasts a .295 average.

“He started a little slow, but besides that, he’s been pretty consistent for us,” said Generals hitting coach Mike Kinkade.

“Mostly when got here, he was working to be ready. It seemed like he was taking good, hittable pitches. He always hits good offspeed stuff, but he was taking some fastballs. We were working on getting him into position to be ready.”

On Friday, Kivlehan homered in support of Victor Sanchez’s shutout, but it was just his third long ball since joining Jackson. Kinkade, though, isn’t concerned, and neither is Kivlehan.

“The power will show for him,” said Kinkade, who had a six-year big league career. “He’s real even-keeled about it. He understands in terms of home runs, if you try for them, they don’t show up. He just tries to put the barrel on the ball.

“Like tonight, with staying through that breaking ball, he was definitely not trying to hit a home run, but it went a good ways over the fence. He’s also hit some really good balls the other way that have gone off the fence. There’s nothing you can do about that.”