White Sox' Jarred Kelenic ready to show swing improvements at spring training

White Sox outfielder Jarred Kelenic sure knows how to ingrain himself to the fan base.

"Chicago's my favorite city that I've been in," he said Wednesday on a Zoom call.

Now, Kelenic has to show out in spring training to grab a spot on the major-league roster after signing a minor-league deal in December with a non-roster invite to spring training.

Out of all the low-risk, high-upside players the Sox have signed this offseason, Kelenic is the most high-profile.

Kelenic, a Wisconsin native, was drafted No. 6 overall in the 2018 MLB Draft by the New York Mets. That same year, he was traded to the Mariners in the deal that brought Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz to the Mets.

After being a consensus top-five prospect in 2021, Kelenic never found his footing in Seattle, batting .204/.283/.373 over 252 games.

In the 2023 offseason, Kelenic was traded to the Braves, where he struggled to find a role. After slugging 15 homers in 2024 as a primary left fielder, but batting just .233, Kelenic only appeared in 24 games last season as he served as a bench player after the team signed Jurickson Profar.

In 2024, Kelenic showed brief promise as the hitter he was touted to be. The hot surges — he batted .306 over his first 22 games with the Braves — were immediately followed by stretches of untenable production — .227 over his next 32 games. He never carved out a regular role with the Braves and was removed from the 40-man roster on Oct. 1.

Now, the Sox' hitting department, led by director of hitting by Ryan Fuller, will be tasked with helping Kelenic shorten those poor stretches.

"I’m still working to be as consistent as I possibly can," Kelenic said. "Consistency is the name of the game. I’ve been through a lot of ups and downs, and I’m just trying to learn from those and attack them and grow as a baseball and as a teammate."

The Sox helped former top prospect Miguel Vargas improve as a player after a rough introduction to the majors by changing his hand placement to help him be more on time at the plate. New hitting coach Derek Shomon also had a hand in helping outfielder Kyle Stowers have a breakout season last year and make his first All-Star team.

Kelenic said he had a few meetings with the White Sox brass this offseason. He came away impressed with the team's vision for how to help Kelenic improve. The two camps found common ground on how to help Kelenic improve as a player.

"I have a tendency to get stuck back, and my posture I can be a little bit more leaned back," Kelenic said. "Anyone that knows the swing, when your posture is back, your barrel, it takes a while for it to get in the zone.

"It actually goes in and out of the zone pretty fast, so it doesn’t work. It can be tough dealing with change of speed when they are adding and subtracting on you."

Kelenic said that he wanted to work this offseason to make sure his spine angle was more linear and that his weight distribution was more centered. He wants the athlete in him to show more.

"Hearing them talk about that, hearing them acknowledge the type of player I am, was reassuring to hear," Kelenic said. "And just the clear crystal plan they had of what they wanted to do to attack it, it was really motivating for me."

After a down 2025 season, Kelenic is ready for spring training to open so he can show his offseason work. Time is running out on the former top prospect.

"[In the offseason] you're in the cage, you're grinding on flips, on machine, on BP, but at the end of the day the real test is in the box against a real-life pitcher with a real-life defense out there," Kelenic said. "You really don't get to see the real rewards until you're out there grinding with the boys, so I'm looking forward to that."