Braves’ Chris Sale solidifies his All-Star resume and praises his “sparkplug” teammate Jarred Kelenic

ATLANTA — After Jarred Kelenic had his swing corrected during a road series against the Chicago Cubs six weeks ago, the Atlanta Braves outfielder immediately made significant progress. And when he moved from a left-field platoon to an everyday role that same week following Ronald Acuña’s knee injury, Kelenic added something to his pregame workout routine.

The left-hander hit balls off the tee as usual and then a few soft tow pitches. The twist was that Kelenic set the machine up to simulate left-handed sliders because he was now facing them and knew this was a pitch he needed to work on.

“So he did that every day, and then we were facing someone who throws gas,” Braves hitting coach Kevin Seitzer said, pausing for a moment to remember which pitcher it was that threw gas, meaning threw very hard. He quickly remembered. “It was (Paul) Skenes, the day we faced Skenes. And (Kelenic) said, ‘I think I’m going to hit fastballs today.’ And I said, ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea.'”

#Braves 3-1 win to even the series with the Giants. Chris Sale pitched 9 strikeouts in 6 innings to earn his 11th win, the most in the NL and tied for the MLB lead. An RBI single by Duvall and Riley’s two-run double powered Atlanta’s offense.

— David O’Brien (@DOBrienATL) July 4, 2024

That was on Saturday, when the Braves faced the Pittsburgh Pirates’ tall right-hander, a rookie flameout. Seitzer told Kelenic he didn’t think it was a good idea to break his routine while he was on a roll; Kelenic had a .311 batting average with 12 extra-base hits, including five home runs, in his last 29 games before Saturday.

“And he said, ‘Well, I want to be there on time for this heater,'” Seitzer said. “And I said, ‘Dude, you can hit a fastball. Stick to your routine, stick to what you’ve been doing, hit your left-handed sliders and get them.'”

Kelenic understood Seitzer’s logic and followed his suggestion. He stuck with the left-on-left sliders he had brought out of the machine before Saturday’s game and …

“Hit a home run in the first at-bat,” Seitzer said with a smile.

Kelenic threw Skenes’ third pitch of the game, a 98.4 mph fastball high into the strike zone, into the right-field seats.

Despite going 0-for-4 in Wednesday night’s 3-1 win over the San Francisco Giants – just his fourth hitless game since June 14 – Kelenic excelled as a leadoff and center fielder, flying around and catching everything from gap to gap on defense while providing a spark at the top of the lineup with his power, speed and relentless energy.

“He was really good both offensively and defensively,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said before Wednesday’s game.

The Braves took a 3-0 lead thanks to Adam Duvall’s RBI double in the second inning – one of three hits from Duvall, who has been in a long slump – and Austin Riley’s two-run double in the fifth. Chris Sale pitched three hits with nine strikeouts in six innings to earn his 11th win in 14 decisions, leading the National League.

Sale solidified his chances of being guaranteed an All-Star selection when the pitchers and reserves for the NL and AL teams are announced on Sunday. It would be the 35-year-old left-hander’s eighth All-Star berth and his first since 2018, the last of seven consecutive AL All-Star seasons with the Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox before injuries sidelined his career.

When asked how pleasing it was to have 11 wins before the break, given his recent injury-plagued seasons, Sale smiled and said: “Yeah, is that more wins than I’ve had in the last five years combined?”

For the record, Sale has as many wins this season as he has in the last four years combined after sitting out 2020 with Tommy John surgery, and has gone 11-7 with a 3.93 ERA in 31 starts with 151 total innings pitched from 2021-2023.

“No, it’s good. It’s great,” he said. “I really appreciate it. But I would like to point out that, of course, you need guys that can score runs. Our defense was damn close to perfect. And tonight, the bullpen came in and the game was over in the seventh inning. So all of those things help a lot and I really appreciate it.”

Now Sale is tied for the major league leader in WHIP (0.91) and ranks fourth in strikeouts (127 in 99 2/3 innings, with just 19 walks). Other Braves starters Reynaldo López and Max Fried are also strong All-Star candidates, along with Atlanta’s designated hitter Marcell Ozuna.

“It would be a lot of fun,” said Sale, who is scheduled to make two more starts before the All-Star break. “I’m not quite sure how it’s going to turn out, but the more teammates we can get there, the more fun it would be.”

Sale didn’t want to talk at length about what it would mean for him to return to the All-Star Game because the Braves have a lot of baseball to play before the break and he wants to focus on that. But he was happy to talk about his teammates on the Braves, including Duvall, who was with the Red Sox last year — “You won’t find a more respected player anywhere,” Sale said — and Kelenic.

“This guy was a real spark,” Sale said of Kelenic. “There’s no other way to say it. What he’s done is that once he started playing every day and getting his reps, he’s taken off. You can put him in the No. 1 position, and I don’t know the numbers, but I can’t imagine there are many No. 1 players who have been better than him since he started.”

Since taking over the first batting position on June 15, Kelenic had a .323 batting average with three doubles, five home runs and an OPS of .966 in 16 games prior to Wednesday.

Sale, known for his extreme intensity, appreciates this aspect of Kelenic’s game: “He’s hot and that’s very contagious throughout the lineup and even in the dugout. He gets the game going from the start. He’s a lot of fun to be around.”

Beginning with the May 21-23 series in Chicago, after tinkering with his swing since spring training with Seitzer and assistant hitting coach Bobby Magallanes, Kelenic found his rhythm, with his hands down and his shoulders and upper body more relaxed.

The results: .304 average with seven home runs, 19 RBIs and a .902 OPS in his final 35 games before Wednesday. That came after he hit .245 with two home runs, seven RBIs and a .630 OPS in his first 35 games with Atlanta.

“He’s just more comfortable and more confident. He’s in a really good mood mentally,” Seitzer said of Kelenic, who turns 25 on July 16. “The most important thing is that he’s really focused on his plan, where he’s chasing (pitches) and keeping his approach, staying in the middle of the field, left-center, and letting everything else take care of itself.”

As Sale noted, Kelenic’s emotions run strong, as evidenced by the fact that he broke his foot last summer with the Seattle Mariners when he kicked a cooler in the dugout out of frustration.

“Sometimes he goes a little crazy,” Ozuna said, laughing and adding, “But he figures it out.”

“Yeah, he’s fiery,” Seitzer said. “He gets into a fastball count and then all of a sudden he blows up and we have to talk. It’s like he’s playing too hard at 2-0 (counts) and he’s still playing too hard at 3-1 and then he gets two strikes and all of a sudden he’s in control and a missile somewhere. So, I’m proud of him.”

The Braves took on bad contracts and spent about $17 million to gain five years of contractual control of Kelenic through a trade with Seattle, so convinced were they that his talent exceeded his career statistics in his first three MLB seasons.

“He wanted to get off to a good start, and he fought and worked hard, adjusted his swing and all that,” Seitzer said. “Now it’s a night and day difference from how he started. I’m really proud of the adjustments he’s made. He’s able to control himself emotionally now and is just so much better.”

The Braves won Saturday’s game against the Pirates 2-1 in 10 innings, and Kelenic had a home run, a single and a walk in three plate appearances against Skenes, who took everyone else in the lineup out of the game at least once.

Kelenic had another double against the Giants on Tuesday, but his impact on the game was more on defense. He caught two sensational running balls in the gaps between left and right center, preventing extra-base hits for Matt Chapman in the second and third innings. The latter catch was a highlight play to end the inning, preventing two runs.

“He’s a really talented kid,” said Snitker, who was asked if Kelenic’s defense exceeded his expectations and initially responded that he didn’t know what to expect. “The skills are really good. His arm is strong and accurate, he’s got good speed, a good outfielder. I don’t think it bothers him (to switch from one outfield position to another) because we had him play right a little bit too. He doesn’t care, he’s an outfielder, he’ll play any of them.”

When a reporter asked Seitzer about Kelenic’s talent, he replied: “Unbelievable. And what about the defense? Unbelievable.”

Earlier in the day on Wednesday, Snitker returned to the original question about Kelenic’s defense.

“Yeah, honestly, it’s better than I thought,” he said. “You never know what to think – you can watch videos and stuff, but until you see them live…”

Snitker didn’t finish the sentence, but simply said, “He was really good.”

(Photo: Todd Kirkland / Getty Images)