Waukesha’s Kelenic gears up for MLB draft
Before Jarred Kelenic graduated early from Waukesha West High School, he’d sometimes find himself gone five days a week, traveling around the country to hone his craft and play for talent evaluators.
In the first spring where he’s no longer taking classes, he found himself close to home – and stuck in a cold and dreary spring.
“As a hitter, it’s been really hard,” said Kelenic, who almost certainly will hear his name called in the first round of the Major League Baseball draft Monday. “It’s been hard getting into a rhythm, but with these great facilities we have in Waukesha (at NX Level Sports Performance), Stiks Academy, Hitters at Racine, we have the opportunity to hit 365 days a year no matter the weather. It’s different hitting inside, but it’s better than not being able to do anything.”
Kelenic, who will turn 19 in July, graduated early from West so he could focus on training in the final weeks before a draft in which he could become the highest-selected Wisconsin high schooler in history. Kevin Brandt of Nekoosa was taken 11th overall in 1979 by the Minnesota Twins, 20 years before Kelenic was born.
“I simply just say that ever since I was really young, I’ve had the highest expectations possible,” Kelenic said. “When people tell me, ‘You have the chance to be No. 1, a first-round pick, top 10’ … I expect that out of myself. That’s who I am.”
Mock drafts place Kelenic anywhere from No. 2 to No. 15, with some websites suggesting he could be an option for the Detroit Tigers at No. 1 overall if the franchise elects to pursue a player with an ease of “signability.”
The left-handed batting outfielder, with two Team USA gold medals in his trophy case, has been praised as a fivetool talent, but perhaps the greatest tool in his arsenal is NX Level, and his own family has a lot to do with it.
His father, Tom, co-owns and helped
drive the construction of the Infinity Fields complex in the town of Waukesha. Part of that complex is the NX Level building that opened in 2015, a facility with 80 yards of indoor artificial turf, a basketball court, batting cages and a bevy of training options. Tom also owns the new building down the road into which Stiks Academy and Sports Training recently relocated.
“My dad is somebody that’s willing to give not only his kids, but kids around this community, the best opportunity possible,” Kelenic said.
Kelenic also has trained alongside players such as Gavin Lux, who was taken with the 20th pick in the 2016 draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers out of Kenosha Indian Trail High School. Lux was the first Wisconsin player taken in the first round since Brandt in 1979.
“I text Gavin now and then, (Twins 2016 second-round pick) Ben Rortvedt, too,” Kelenic said. “I keep in contact with a lot of guys I play with on Team USA.”
Those Team USA experiences have featured a gold medal win at the Baseball World Cup in 2017 at Target Field in Minneapolis. In the 2016 Pan American Games in Mexico, his U18 team not only won gold, but Kelenic was named team MVP at the showcase.
He’s had representatives from all 30 major-league teams inside his house, and he recently went through the process of selecting an advisor (a precursor to an agent).
“Wherever I end up getting taken, the biggest impact for me is on the kids around here,” he said. “They may not have as much hope as kids down in the south do with the weather (here). They’ll look at my story and realize if you really want it, you can work for it and achieve what you want.”