Braves hitting coach deserves half the credit for Jarred Kelenic's hot start

The Atlanta Braves acquired Jarred Kelenic in a surprising offseason trade with the Mariners expecting him to be their starter in left field not only for this season but for the foreseeable future. Kelenic arrived in Atlanta with five years of team control and all of the potential in the world. It's on Atlanta to unlock it.

Things couldn't have gotten off to much of a worse start with the streaky outfielder starting slowly in Spring Training. In fact, Kelenic led the Braves with 56 at-bats this spring and recorded just eight hits (.143 BA). He started to show signs of life at the end of Spring Training, and he's carried that into the regular season so far.

Kelenic obviously has tons of talent, but has yet to unlock it. Braves hitting coach Kevin Seitzer might've done just that with some adjustments made to Kelenic's swing.

Braves hitting coach deserves tons of credit for Jarred Kelenic's hot start

“We quieted down all the hand movement,” Seitzer said of their progress at spring training, per The Athletic. “Then the last adjustment was him saying, ‘I just want to bang the leg kick.’ He goes, ‘I’m trying to do too much, swinging too hard, my timing is not good.’ He goes, ‘I’ve done this before where I’ve just kind of spread out and gone just a little no-stride.’ Well, his spread-out, no-stride has equated into a real small leg kick, and it’s helped his position on his takes.”

I mean, the difference is night and day here, and the results are showing. Kelenic has recorded six hits in the first 11 at-bats of his Braves career and has walked the same amount of times as he's struck out (twice each). It's only a five-game sample, but we can see how real these adjustments are. There's every reason to believe that this hot start is sustainable.

There's a reason Kelenic was an early first-round pick and considered one of the best prospects in the game. The Mariners couldn't unlock that, but the Braves and Seitzer might have done so already.

Blooper said it best. Seitzer's hitting lab really does go crazy. The Braves' offense was historically great last season, and if this Kelenic breakout is real, it might be even better in 2024. Their lineup is loaded from top to bottom, and their hitting coach has certainly played a huge role in that.