Braves outfielder Jarred Kelenic has no regrets about his time in Seattle

Fate fell short many times for Jarred Kelenic in Seattle. Smiles faded in the summer, as the former top prospect of the Seattle Mariners struggled to live up to the hype once he made it to the show. After breaking his leg last season, Kelenic was later traded to the Atlanta Braves in the offseason. While he couldn't the hit broadside of a barn in spring training, Kelenic has had a solid first month with Atlanta.

Upon his return to the Pacific Northwest for the Braves' now biennial trip to Seattle, he met with the local media and reflected upon his previous tenure with the M's. There were certainly good moments from his time in Seattle, but we can safely say that his once blue-chip stock took quite the hit over the last few seasons. He may not have any regrets about what happened, but appreciates his time there.

Kelenic started by saying how emotional he was breaking his foot during the latter part of last season.

“It feels like just yesterday when I was sitting over there crying in front of you guys talking about when I broke my foot."

Overall, it seems as though Kelenic feels like he has grown so much in the last calendar year or so.

“And I feel like ever since then, I've grown so much, just as a person and a player, really, for the better. But as a baseball player, I felt like I went through a lot of ups and downs here. I mean, a lot of emotional roller coasters. Everybody saw it. But I think when I look back at my time [here], I appreciate the good times even more.”

Give him credit for being able to take all the adversity he has had to endure in stride up to this point.

“I wouldn't say regrets, because the only things that you would really regret in your life are negative things. But for me, I feel like a lot of the negative things that happened, I really learned from it; they turned out to be really positive things in my life. So I wouldn't say that there's anything that I regret. There are things that I would do differently, obviously, looking back on it. But I'm not someone to really dwell on the past too much; [I] just constantly move forward.”

Atlanta is happy to have him as pretty much the every day starting left fielder in the Braves outfield.

Jarred Kelenic appreciates the good, the bad, and the ugly with Seattle

Kelenic is still only getting started with his MLB career. He only has parts of four big-league seasons under his belt, and won't be turning 25 until July. In short, Kelenic has his whole career ahead of him. Going from a team where he had to be one of the guys in Seattle, to a team where he can sit back and fit in as he pleases in Atlanta will help him play with greater confidence going into this mid-to-late 20s.

There are two other things Kelenic has working for him in Atlanta. He has a fantastic hitting coach to work with in Kevin Seitzer, as well as a proven veteran and a likable guy in Adam Duvall backing him up in a slight platoon in left field. Kelenic's reputation for beating himself up has stuck with him over the last few years. Hopefully, a change of scenery can help him shake that bad habit in his development.

Overall, I think people like the guy, and fans are wishing the best for him where he plays. Being likable goes a long way in a skill game based around failure. His athleticism in the outfield and left-handedness will allow him to have staying power in the league as his batting improves. The quickest way he can be out of baseball is to let the little things snowball and bother him to the point of insanity.

So far this season for the Braves, Kelenic is slashing .306/.368/.371 in the latter part of the order.