Jarred Kelenic’s time in Atlanta has to be nearing an end. The outfielder’s lack of offensive production and replaceable glove leaves the team no choice but to look in a different direction. They have superior defensive and speed options that at least offer the same possible offensive upside. Kelenic continues to scuffle at the plate and made headlines this past weekend for all the wrong reasons.

The outfielder’s decision not to run out a deep fly ball cost his team, and it caught the attention of Ronald Acuna Jr.

The since-deleted tweet was factually correct but perhaps ill-advised. Acuna has been benched for lack of hustle before, and seeing Snitker’s handling of the situation both in the game and in follow-ups was beyond frustrating. Controversy aside, there simply isn’t a reason to keep Kelenic at the big league level with the lack of quality at-bats he is offering an Atlanta lineup that finally appears to be waking up.

Braves Need to Cut Jarred Kelenic and Add a Superior Offensive Option

When the Braves brought up Alex Verdugo, the team should have made the decision to send a message to Kelenic. Optioning Bryan De La Cruz showed poor judgment that is based on investment over production. Nothing about De La Cruz’s early performance was worse than what Kelenic has offered.

Not only this, but the former Marlins outfielder is right-handed, offering the bench more balance and a hitter with a far better resume. Whether it is when Ronald Acuna Jr. is called up, or before the team is going to have to make the difficult decision of admitting they made a mistake with the outfielder. It will be interesting to watch whether Atlanta can find anyone willing to take on the salary and give the left-handed hitter a third chance.

Regardless, the Braves still find themselves in far too deep a hole to continue to give away outs. We’ve seen Atlanta already make one surprise move, putting Orlando Arcia on the bench and consistently starting Nick Allen at shortstop. No matter who the third outfielder is, it is glaring that it cannot be Jarred Kelenic. The outfielder is consistently giving away outs and has now unintentionally created discourse among the fanbase and perhaps in the clubhouse.

It is time to make an overdue move and put someone in the role that has a better chance of helping Atlanta win as they continue to attempt to turn the season around.