Everything Jarred Kelenic said about joining the Atlanta Braves
New Atlanta Braves outfielder Jarred Kelenic, formerly of the Seattle Mariners, took some time from his home out west to talk to Atlanta media about the trade, his reactions, and what he’s looking forward to as a member of the Atlanta Braves organization for the next few seasons:
On if he was aware a trade was likely and what his reaction was:
“Yeah, I was I was actually watching the Packers game with a bunch of buddies of mine at my house here, and I got a phone call from our GM with the Mariners (Jerry Dipoto), and he just informed me that I was going to be going to Atlanta. Once I heard that, I was fired up because I knew I was going to go to a really good organization that you know, they’ve had a winning history the last however many years and it’s no question that they were one of the best teams in baseball all last year and years prior.”
“I was really looking forward to being a part of that and learning from those guys and kind of just, you know, having a fresh new start and with a new organization. I’m fired up.”
What factors he attributes his hot start last season to:
[Kelenic was batting .308/.366/.615 with 7 HRs the through the end of April]
“Yeah, I think everything was just kind of synced up really well. You know, I’m someone that has – last year I had a lot of, I think, moving parts, I would say.”
“And I had a bigger leg kick naturally, a hand palm thing that was kind of working for me. And I just think that I was being really consistent with my movements. My body was feeling really good. I was fresh from the offseason. It was early. And then so I think that was everything was synced up and I was just seeing the ball really well.
“And going into this offseason, that’s something that I want to focus on is making sure that I’m a little bit more short and compact, so I’m able to be a little bit more consistent so that I can hopefully have those first two months of the season (results) the entire year.”
What changed when he started struggling?
“Yeah, I honestly… it’s like anything when you play 162 games. My hand pump kind of got a little bit bigger. My hands were dropping a little bit lower. My leg kick was kind of getting a little bit higher subconsciously. It wasn’t something that I was working on or anything like that. And then I think when you have a lot of those moving parts, it can cause you to be… it’s hard to reciprocate that over and over again.”
“And so for me, I think that I just, I got a little bit out of sync, and I wasn’t, my body wasn’t moving as consistently, and I think that if your body’s not going to move consistently, I don’t think you’re really going to ever see consistent results and my main focus is how consistent can I be with how my body moves to give me the most consistent results.”
On coming to Atlanta and hitting in a lineup that has such great protection for a hitter:
“Yeah, I mean, I think the most exciting thing for me is being able to not only be teammates with those guys (Austin Riley, Matt Olson, Ronald Acuña Jr), but also be able to just kind of watch how they go about their business on a day to day (basis) and really learn the ins and the outs of what they’re doing because obviously it’s working.”
“I mean, they’re some of the best players in the game on that roster. And that’s one thing that I’m really looking forward to. And I think that it’ll allow me to, just get comfortable in the box and really hone in on what makes me click and what makes me the best version of myself.”
“And I think if I can just focus on that, I think, I’ll be right where I need to be.”
On the challenges that came with being a high draft pick (1-6 in 2018) and the expectations:
“Yeah, I think, I would say that when I first came up to the big leagues, a lot of I didn’t know what to expect, honestly, and looking back on the struggles that I had in the big leagues and stuff like that, like some of those struggles were some of the biggest lessons that I’ve learned and some of the ones that I needed to learn.”
“Some of the biggest takeaways from my first like three years or three seasons in the big leagues would be that learning how to kind of turn the page and just let things go. (Breaking) my foot was a prime example of that, of a real turning point not just baseball, but also like just my life. Like granted it was a terrible thing, but it was one of the best things that had ever happened to me.”
“You know, I look at the struggles that I had there (Seattle). They’ve made me who I am today, but also like they taught me a lot and I feel like now, anything, the more and more or the older I get, the more information I learn and the better off I’m going to be.”
