On Jared Kelenic:
ALEX ANTHOPOULOS
He’s young, he’s got upside, highly touted prospects, got big raw power. He’s got some swing and miss to his game, but again, he’s still young and we think that still can improve. But you know, the biggest thing is he could be a very good defender in, in the corner. He’s got great tools, he can run, he could throw, he’s got power. So you know, look, he hasn’t been able to put it together yet at the basic level over the course of a full season. He’s had spurts and when it’s been good it’s been good. This and the question is, can we get that over six months rather than six weeks.
Finding Motivation:
Whatever fuel these guys wanna use, the fact they’re not, you know, satisfied with making the postseason and so on and they’re looking at things that way. Fantastic. But I like it. I like that these guys have a chip. I like that they’re, they’re they’re motivated. They’re driven. I think it’s a great sign.
On Ian Anderson : Ian Anderson is obviously he’s gonna start the year on the IL. Right now, it’s still so far out, but you map it out over the course of the year. He’s scheduled, assuming everything continues to go well, that we’ll start our rehab assignment in June. That’s normally about a month, so we’re hoping he’s back sometime in July, assuming no setbacks or he doesn’t need any extra rest.
On Tyler Matzek:
Tyler’s here, he’s full go and we’ll see how he looks, but he has not even had his rehab, he never got in games or did any of those things. So we’ll see where he’s at with his arm strength and trying to build up and so on, but he’s definitely in a great place and it’s nice that we have six weeks here to continue to see him and make sure that we build him up correctly.
On Chris Sale:
I think what he’s gonna do for all the young guys we have with him and Charlie Morton, it’s hard to quantify. But I’m a big, big believer that when guys look back down the road, the impact that the Mortons will have had in their career and sale will have in their career the way they go about it I think will be huge when we’re trying to sign these guys.
Resigning Players:
You know, we’re trying to make sure that we’re signing them with the long term in. Find that we can still continue to have a great team around them, so we’re going to try on all these guys, Max included, I mean, that goes without saying, he’s great, he’s awesome, but it will always be with… with the intent of hopefully continuing to be competitive.
680 THE FAN – Braves General Manager Alex Anthopoulos gives his opinion and evaluations of Braves team members including Tyler Matzek, Chris Sale, Ian Anderson, Jared Kelenic and MORE!
