Jarred Kelenic has an option. That is fact. Jarred Kelenic is also batting very poorly in practice games. Also fact. Jarred Kelenic is supposedly going to platoon with Adam Duvall. Is that a fact? It’s been said, yes, but real games haven’t started. So…not fact yet. Will Alex Anthopoulos stick with the plan, or could he do something that he’s done with 2 other players?
The Case of Adam Duvall
In July of 2018, the Braves traded Lucas Sims, Matt Wisler, and Preston Tucker to the Reds for Adam Duvall. Unfortunately, Duvall was horrible, and carried a .344 OPS in 57 PAs. When 2020 rolled around, Duvall still had an option and Anthopoulos used it, sending Duvall to Gwinnett for most of the season.. They had identified a problem in his swing and wanted him to work it out AAA. Needless to say, he worked it out (.965 OPS in 429 AAA PAs). At the end of July, he was recalled to Atlanta where he carried an .882 OPS for the rest of the year. Since 2019, he’s averaged around an .800 OPS.
The Case of Orlando Arcia
In April of 2021,4 games into the season, the Braves traded Patrick Weigel and Chad Sobotka for Orlando Arcia. Arcia, in a ridiculously small sample, was horrible for the Brewers and they were ready to move on. At the time, it felt like an odd trade to make, but the plan became clear when Arcia was immediately sent to AAA. The Braves sat Arcia down with a plan to completely change his swing. A month later, Arcia made his debut with Gwinnett. Like Duvall, Arcia flourished with the new swing, he dropped his hands quickly to get the bat into the zone longer, and he carried a .932 OPS in 229 AAA PAs. In his 6 years with Milwaukee, he carried a career .658 OPS in 1876 PAs. In Atlanta, that OPS has been .728 in 845 PAs.
Will There Be a Case of Jarred Kelenic?
Surprisingly, at least to me, the Braves decided to go with 5 outfielders on the roster: Forrest Wall, Jarred Kelenic, Adam Duvall, Michael Harris II, and Ronald Acuña Jr. The plan is for Duvall and Kelenic to platoon, but is that just AA saying what Kelenic wants to hear for now, rather than the actual truth? If the Braves, like they did with Duvall and Arcia, are truly revamping an entire swing, would it be wise to send Kelenic to AAA to get comfortable with the swing, then come up crushing? There’s no doubt that the defensive side will be fine should they choose this strategy.
What are your thoughts on the matter?
Keeping an unproductive Kelenic on the 26-man roster is the wrong way to go. Give him an improvement plan and sending him down to AAA is the way to do it.
Kelenic has had 42 PA in Spring Training so far, which would equate to less than two weeks’ worth of PA in the regular season. That’s a fairly small sample, and basically every player — even the elite ones — go through rough stretches. I think that, given how productive the rest of the lineup is projected to be, the Braves can afford to give Kelenic some time to work things out in the majors, at least for a few weeks. The good thing about Duvall platooning with Kelenic is that it allows Kelenic to focus solely on making the necessary adjustments vs. RHP before trying to implement them vs. LHP. Plus, if it really gets bad enough, I suppose Duvall could just slot in as the everyday LF while Kelenic gets more days off or goes down to Gwinnett to work on stuff.
I’d imagine that Kelenic has really been pressing in the hopes of making a good impression on his new teammates and coaches. He knows that the Braves have something like $15-$17 million invested in him (not sure of the exact figure, but I think it’s in that range) and that they’re hoping he’ll be a long-term solution in LF. He’s feeling tons of pressure, I’m sure, and sending him down the minors to start the season would be a blow to his self-confidence.
I do wonder if the Wall selection might portend a short leash for Kelenic. I have no objection to going the Duvall/Arcia route with Kelenic if the result is a perpetually productive player. I also acknowledge that I am not privy to all the same info the coaches and managers are. Has Kelenic’s swing been “totally revamped”? Is he just pressing and he’ll get over it? I don’t know but I do believe that a little patience or perseverance will yield a really good player. Kelenic is the youngest player on the roster except for MoneyMike. He is also now our best hitting prospect.
I doubt Wall has anything to do with Kelenic. If they send Kelenic down, they could just call Wall up then. I think they just looked at the 26th man not getting into a game for two months straight last season and decided they could at least have a pinch runner in that spot.
Man, it is so quiet in here. Where is everyone!?
Forgive them. It’s clearly the longest spring training in history.
As usual, spring training stats mean nothing. My thought is it doesn’t matter if Kellenic hits 100 or 400. They will evaluate based on their expectations. The other thing to consider is that Atlanta’s focus is on the 2nd half of the year and the post season. I think they’ll either send him down before the regular season starts or will give him a very short leash. Great post, thank you for making the comparisons. I would not have considered this option except for this blog,
I liked the Kellenic acquisition and I think he can be an above average major league starter. The minor league system needs more high upside players and taking on dead money to get someone like Kellenic is smart. What I didn’t like was telling him he was going to get a majority of the at bats before a single spring training game because it never felt particularly sincere.
Duvall guarantees left field will have league average production and Kellenic can be sent down as needed.
And just as we kvetch, Kelenic starts hitting… Go figure…..
I think there’s a fair chance that if Kelenic craters that Duvall gets the lion’s share of the playing time.
Yes..of course we see that studly new swing the day I post this. I swear if Seitzer fixes Kelenic, he deserves to be in the HoF.
Yep
Come on home, Jesse. We still love you.
I wonder if there are any of the released players the Braves might try to pick up. With the active roster full, what could the Braves offer? I think the only vulnerable positions are Wall and Stephens. Would either of Pillar or Chavez be worth it? Is there anyone else among the plethora of possibilities?
P.S. Pillar might be redundant to Duvall and Chavez redundant to Giles. Myles Straw? Eduardo Escobar? Kolten Wong? Elvis Andrus? Amir Garrett? Not to mention Danny Duffy, Chasen Shreve, Shane Greene.
I know it’s just spring but I hope the Atlanta bats turn things around as soon as the regular season starts. Arcia and Harris are the only 2 regulars that I would consider having a really good spring. The bright side is that no one is striking out at an alarming rate but we have shown very little power. Let’s hope we don’t wait a month to get the offense going.
We slugged .500 last year with 8 of the same starting 9. I appreciate you’re feeling stressed, but of alllll the things to worry about, power output I think we’ll do okay.
Even if the team hits 80 percent of the homers it hit last year, their total would be about 245, good for second place. I’m with Nathan here–power shouldn’t be the problem.
And back comes Uncle Jesse. With Duvall and Chavez back in the fold this team is getting more and more familiar.