Kelenic starts fundraiser to help local businesses

 

Baseball is coming back soon…or is it? Every day it seems like there’s a new proposal for how to save the season. Even the players aren’t sure what’s coming.

“I’ve heard everything under the sun. I’ve heard that we’re going to play July 1, I’ve heard we’re gonna play July 4, I’ve heard we’re not going to play at all," says Mariners top prospect and Waukesha native Jarred Kelenic. "Until there’s a distinct plan I’m just along for the ride.”

That ride has been unique. Over the last two months Jarred has been working out at Stiks academy and NX Level in Waukesha. 

“When something like this gets taken away from you because of a pandemic, it starts to hit you very fast how much you truly love the game. And how much you wish you were back on the field with the guys in the locker room. When it is time to come back that fire and hunger of wanting to come back and play is ultimately going to make me better.”

Without a set date to get back to baseball, the Mariners top prospect has become an all-star off the field.

“Now that we are getting over the hump we have to focus on who will be hit when this is all done and that’s our small businesses.”

So Jarred started a fundraiser, selling custom shirts with the message “We’re in this together” to help local businesses in Seattle and back home in Waukesha.

“I use a lot of small businesses wherever I go, especially here in Wisconsin and they need us, they really do. Now we’re actually in this together, we’re getting the whole community involved”

They’ve sold more than a hundred shirts already raising a few thousand dollars. You can order, or just donate here. Reporting from home, Scott Grodsky CBS 58 sports.