The Braves traded 2022 second-rounder Cole Phillips and ate the majority of Marco Gonzales’ contract and the remainder of Evan White’s contract in order to acquire Jarred Kelenic from the Mariners earlier in the offseason. They took on just shy of $26MM in salary and luxury tax obligations in order to facilitate the deal. It was a fairly big bet on a once-elite prospect whose bat hasn’t yet come around at the big league level.
A good portion of Kelenic’s struggles in the big leagues thus far have come against left-handed pitching — he’s hit just .189/.255/.311 against fellow southpaws — but Atlanta president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos said Thursday that his team is leaning toward everyday at-bats for Kelenic rather than a platoon role (X link via The Athletic’s David O’Brien).
The remainder of the Braves’ lineup is a powerhouse, so the team can afford to give Kelenic some leash and see if regular at-bats and a change of scenery can help to unlock some of the potential that made him a top-10 draft pick and one of the sport’s top five overall prospects prior to his debut. Kelenic touts a .304/.372/.567 slash in 580 Triple-A plate appearances but is a career .204/.283/.373 hitter in 974 MLB plate appearances.
Kelenic got out to a big start in 2023, hitting .297/.350/.564 with 10 homers in his first 180 plate appearances. He was benefiting from a .375 average on balls in play and striking out at a lofty 29% clip, but it was nonetheless an encouraging showing. He fell into a prolonged slump soon after, however, hitting .205/.291/.311 in a near-identical sample over his next 182 trips to the plate. Frustration boiled over, and Kelenic suffered a broken foot upon kicking a water cooler after striking out in a key ninth-inning at-bat against Minnesota’s Jhoan Duran. He landed on the injured list, returned in mid-September and hit .261/.370/.283 in his final 54 plate appearances of the season (and of his Mariners tenure).
The Braves are light on platoon options for Kelenic anyhow, although designated hitter Marcell Ozuna or non-roster invitee Jordan Luplow could conceivably have filled such a role. Atlanta only played Ozuna in left field for two games last year, however. He spent his other 141 games at designated hitter. It seems clear they prefer to avoid using him in the outfield. Luplow could still make the club as a pure bench bat, but the team’s decision to give Kelenic a full-time look in left field is a significant…
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