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 roadblock to what previously appeared to be his likeliest role. An everyday role for Kelenic also lessens the chances of the Braves adding a veteran outfielder in free agency or via trade, though there haven’t been any recent rumors suggesting they were pursuing that type of move anyhow.
Atlanta’s bench has at least two spots all but spoken for. Travis d’Arnaud will once again be a backup catcher and occasional designated hitter. Luis Guillorme was signed to a low-cost one-year deal after being non-tendered by the Mets. He’s out of minor league options and thus likely to hold a utility role.
That move clouded the outlook for infielder David Fletcher, who isn’t on the 40-man roster after being outrighted over the offseason. At the time, Fletcher’s outright looked like a procedural move. The Braves knew his contract would go unclaimed and that he wouldn’t reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency, as doing so would’ve required forfeiting the $14MM remaining on his deal. Fletcher is just four days shy of the five years of MLB service needed to reject an outright and retain his full salary. It looked as though that technicality allowed the team to temporarily free up his roster spot, but in Guillorme the Braves acquired a versatile infielder with a similar skill set. Fletcher could still be added back to the roster in a utility role, but the presence of Guillorme makes that far less certain.
O’Brien further adds that one of the ostensibly “open” bench spots will go to someone who can offer speed. That bodes well for 28-year-old outfielder Forrest Wall, who swiped 57 bags in 65 tries (87.7%) between Triple-A and the big leagues last season. Wall appeared in 15 games with the Braves but tallied only 15 plate appearances, typically entering as a pinch-runner or defensive replacement. He swiped another 52 bases with the Mariners’ Triple-A club the prior season. Wall is already on the Braves’ 40-man roster.