The Atlanta Braves brought back Adam Duvall on a one-year, $3 million deal on Thursday. Atlanta plans to platoon Jarred Kelenic in left field with Duvall, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports. In the offseason, president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos indicated that the team was not planning to platoon Kelenic in left field. However, Anthopoulos tells a different story: right-hander Duvall and left-hander Kelenic will pair together. The change in plans is due to multiple factors.
“You’re bringing in a guy who’s led the league in RBI, won a Gold Glove, all those kinds of things,” Anthopoulos said during the Braves-Rays game. “So it’s a rare opportunity. I didn’t think we’d be sitting here in the middle of March with an opportunity to get a guy like this. So this just solidifies us, because we know we’re going to have needs. Every trade deadline, it seems like we’re trying to add outfielders.”
The Braves have told Kelenic he will platoon with Duvall
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) March 14, 2024
Braves Jarred Kelenic Will Platoon with Adam Duvall
First off, there was a drop in Duvall’s asking price. Secondly, Kelenic’s struggles have been noted throughout the spring. Anthopolous acquired Kelenic in a December trade with the Seattle Mariners. The former highly-touted prospect is off to a 2-for-30 start with four walks and seven strikeouts. That’s not a good look for someone who could have the position locked up for himself. Kelenic even struggled against left-handed pitchers in his career with a .181/.255/.311 slash and 29.9% strikeout rate against them.
Duvall has played with five teams but spent more time with Atlanta in his career. The 35-year-old has batted .224/.285/.464 in parts of five prior seasons. He’s a strikeout-prone slugger whose walk rates lead to low batting averages and terrible OBP numbers. Although Duvall will be a platoon option in his latest Braves stint, he has even splits in his career: .232/.301/.469 against left-handed pitching and .232/.287/.473 against right-handed pitching.
Anthopoulos said that performance had nothing to do with acquiring Duvall.
“Zero, no impact,” Anthopoulos said. “This is about [Adam] Duvall. Jarred’s looked great, he’s looked great defensively, he’s been playing unbelievable center field, he had a nice game last night. We’re very excited about Jarred and how he’s doing. Thrilled.”
Duvall’s History with the Braves
At two trade deadlines, Anthopoulos acquired Duvall: from the Cincinnati Reds in 2018 and the Miami Marlins in 2021. He started every postseason game that fall to help the Braves win the World Series, and he hit a grand slam in Game 5 against the Houston Astros. Duvall spent last season with the Boston Red Sox, becoming one of the game’s hottest hitters for the first ten days of the season before fracturing his wrist. He missed two months, hitting 21 home runs in 92 games with a .247/.303/.531 slash line. It gives the Braves a proven, trusted slugger to share time with Kelenic.
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