August 8, 2008 Wladimir Balentien hit his fifth home run of the season on Friday night as he scored a run and knocked in two.
Our View:Balentin should play most nights down the stretch now that the Mariners have purged themselves of Jose Vidro. Dating back to his last trip to the majors, Balentin is working on a 6-game hitting streak.
August 5, 2008 The Mariners recalled outfielder Wladimir Balentien on Tuesday. He hit .196 over 107 at-bats with the Mariners earlier in the season, and he has batted .304-10-31-30 over his last 32 games at Triple-A.
Our View:Balentien, 24, is a future fixture in the Mariners outfield, but he may need to split time with Jeff Reed in the coming months. He could also see some action at DH, where Jeff Clement continues to struggle. Balentien is worth a look in AL-only formats.
June 17, 2008 Wladimir Balentien has been optioned to Triple-A Tacoma, according to the Seattle Times. As an adjoining move, the team recalled catcher Jeff Clement in hopes to add a boost to the offense.
Our View:Balentien was given 107 at-bats to prove his worth to the Mariners, but only hit .196, with 35 strikeouts, which led to the demotion.
May 7, 2008 Mariners right fielder Wladimir Balentien says he's been getting lots of airtime on radio and television, not to mention newspaper write-ups, in his native Curacao since being called up by the team last week, this according to the Seattle Times. His family back home on the Caribbean island has given him regular updates. "They tell me a lot of people have been talking about it down there," said Balentien, who hit his second three-run homer in less than a week on Monday night.
Our View:Balentien played in his seventh straight game on Tuesday night. The right-handed hitter has 25 official at bats with three runs, six RBI and two home runs in his week of work since being called up from the farm. These numbers along with his .280 average are impressive to say the least.
May 5, 2008 Wladimir Balentien hit his second home run in his first six games helping the Mariners defeat the Rangers 7-3 on Monday night.
Our View:The rookie has made a splash since his call up, and while he doesn't get the pub that rookie teammate Jeff Clement does in the media, he's easily outperformed him.
