MLB Rumors: Braves have way too much confidence in Jarred Kelenic

The Atlanta Braves are entering another season in which they fell short of their ultimate goal -- winning the World Series. Even though the Braves had the best record in all of baseball, they were stunningly eliminated by the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League Division Series for the second consecutive year. This offseason, the team did bring in the likes of Aaron Bummer and Chris Sale to bolster their bullpen and starting rotation, respectively. But there were some changes in the outfield.

This offseason, the Braves saw their outfield depth take a hit, specifically in left field. Eddie Rosario and Kevin Pillar both elected free agency. One of their early moves of the offseason was to acquire Jarred Kelenic from the Seattle Mariners. The expectation at the time of the trade was that Kelenic would platoon with another player in left field.

Well, that doesn't appear to be the plans the Braves are considering.

Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos said on Thursday that the plan is for Kelenic to be their everyday starting left fielder. The GM expressed his belief that Kelenic would benefit from taking at-bats every day.

Alex Anthopoulos says Braves are leaning towards having Jarred Kelenic as their everyday left fielder

Kelenic was once considered one of the top prospects in baseball. After being drafted by the New York Mets in the first round of the 2018 MLB Draft, he was traded later in the year to the Mariners in the Robinson Cano trade.

After receiving his call-up in 2021, Kelenic struggled at the plate. In his first two seasons with the Mariners, Kelenic hit well below .200. Granted, they were with under 100 games played each season. But this past season, Kelenic did see a rise in his batting average.

In 105 games, Kelenic recorded a .253 batting average, a .327 on-base percentage, a .419 slugging percentage, 11 home runs, 44 runs, 49 RBI, 94 hits, 132 strikeouts, and 41 walks in 372 at-bats. Kelenic missed time after suffering a broken foot.

But there were areas of concern, as Kelenic ranks in the seventh percentile in strikeout percentage (31.7) and in the ninth percentile in whiff percentage (33.8), per Baseball Savant. So, the strikeouts were still an issue in 2023.

Anthopoulous believes that Kelenic can improve with more at-bats. If the Braves have shown anything in recent years, it's that they know how to get the most out of their players. For Kelenic, we'll have to see how he performs in exhibition games in the spring and who the team deems their fourth outfielder.