The Braves’ biggest offseason acquisitions are making incredible impacts this season, leading the way are two All-Stars in Chris Sale and Reynaldo Lopez, but Jarred Kelenic deserves a ton of praise as well.
The former No. 6 overall pick was initially drafted by the Mets. He quickly became one of the top prospects in their system but was subsequently traded to the Mariners in the deal that sent Edwin Diaz to New York. The hope for Seattle was that Kelenic would realize his full potential, becoming a premier outfielder.
Once he was called up to the Show, he struggled mightily, hitting to the tune of a .168 batting average and .589 OPS over his first two seasons. Trends changed last season, though. Kelenic flashed some of that potential that made him such a highly touted prospect, but the struggles came back, resulting in frustration for the youngster.
It culminated with Kelenic breaking his foot after kicking a water cooler, costing him several months. That seemingly was the end of the line in the Mariners’ eyes, and he was traded to the Braves in a glorified salary dump. It’s safe to say, at this point, that Seattle regrets the trade.
In 78 games with his new club, Kelenic is slashing .269/.314/.442 with 10 homers and 29 RBIs. That improvement could be attributed to multiple things. The Braves hitting staff deserves credit, a simple change of scenery should be noted, but Atlanta’s lineup shouldn’t be one of them.
The Braves offense has been pretty hard to watch for most of the season, and to make matters worse, they lost reigning MVP Ronald Acuna Jr. for the year with a torn ACL. Then, Jarred Kelenic moved to the leadoff role. Since being thrust to the top of the order, Kelenic has slashed .286/.330/.510 with six homers, 13 runs, and 14 RBIs.
Meanwhile, the Mariners’ offense ranks last in batting average (.217), leads the MLB in strikeouts (974) and is 28th in runs (360). Seattle has an elite pitching staff, one that can lead them to a World Series title, but the offense is dragging them down. Kelenic would be the most productive hitter in Seattle’s lineup right now, as he sports a higher batting average, slugging percentage, and OPS than any Mariner.
Granted, Kelenic will eventually go into a slump. That’s just baseball. Moreover, there’s no guarantee that Kelenic would be experiencing this same success with the Mariners because of all the Braves offer from a coaching and locker-room perspective.
However, if trends continue, it’s safe to say Alex Anthopoulos once again took advantage of another GM.
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Andrew Mordzynski/Icon Sportswire
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