Kris Medlen debuts as Braves analyst for Bally Sports this weekend

“I retired and I kind of went recluse. I’m on Instagram and stuff, but for the most part I’ve been out of the limelight. I loved the attention as a player because I was good at something. When I was playing, I loved messing around. I loved being on camera, being energetic and showing who I am. But you get away from the game, you lose touch with people and you start, like, not questioning how legit your career was, nothing extreme like that, but you fall back into ‘civilian life’ and you’re just like, ‘Man, what am I good at? What do I do?’ So that alone has pushed me back. I’d been afraid to poke my head out of the hole. So this is going to be a good chance to force the hand and make me come out of my shell a little bit that I’ve been in for the past few years.”

A California native, Medlen had done some work with Bally Sports and Braves radio before, but he acknowledges, “I feel like this is technically my first time doing it. I almost don’t even count that last one because I felt so uncomfortable doing it. … I’m just looking forward to getting the reps in so I can feel more comfortable in my skin on camera.” He also has been a pitching coach at Milton High School, another way to pay it forward as he tries to find his post-playing-career connection to the game.

“My commitment to baseball at such a young age, and just the undying focus that I had on it, it’s all I ever thought about,” he said. “I had no backup plan, no anything, and the baseball gods, God himself, it really just happened for me. Man, how could you not want to want to give back?”

Medlen, 37, is one of four former Braves who are analysts on “Braves Live,” joining Peter Moylan, Nick Green and Gordon Beckham. Moylan advocated for Medlen getting the opportunity. “He’s definitely one of my best friends, like a brother,” Medlen said. “So to do this with him, it’s pretty exciting.”

Braves fans adored Medlen during his playing days. He’s best known for his 2012 season in which he posted a 1.57 ERA over 50 games. But the true story of that season was the Braves shifting him into their rotation at the end of July.

In 12 starts, the righty was 9-0 with a 0.97 ERA. He struck out 84 and walked 10 over those 83-2/3 innings, holding the opponent to a .191 average. It’s considered one of the greatest stretches for a starter in franchise history – quite the accomplishment for an organization that long has been defined by its distinguished pitchers.

“That 2012 season for me was like – I always reflected back on me as a child, like, man, that would be so cool,” he said. “And I’m sitting on top of the world for two months. It made my life. It made my career. It was awesome.”

Medlen had a 2.95 ERA across 152 games with the Braves. He said he considered himself a “forced prospect,” meaning: “You had no choice but to respect what I was doing. I don’t care how short I was (5-foot-10), how hard I was throwing, whatever. I just wanted to get outs and did.” That’s largely why he endeared himself to fans.

The Braves won 23 consecutive Medlen starts, a major-league record. He also started the infamous wild-card game against the Cardinals in 2012 known for its controversial infield-fly rule call and Game 1 of the 2013 National League Division Series against the Dodgers.

After a successful 2013 season, in which Medlen had a 3.11 ERA across 32 games, injuries derailed his career. The Braves non-tendered him after he underwent his second Tommy John surgery, leading him to sign with Kansas City in December 2014. He appeared in 21 games for the Royals, including 15 contests during their championship 2015 season, but dealt with shoulder trouble in ensuing campaign. He attempted a comeback with the Braves that never came to fruition in 2017. He last pitched in 2018, appearing in one game for Arizona.

Since then, Medlen has focused on family time with his wife, Nicki, and their two children. Coaching Milton helped reignite his fire to do more around baseball, leading him to his newest role.

“(Coaching) was my first step of getting back in the game,” he said. “When I was done (playing), I was very happy to be to be done and to be able to say it. That was like the hardest thing, saying ‘I’m done’ and ending on my own terms. Sure, do I think about if I would have stayed up there, and would it be different? Could I still be pitching? Maybe. It didn’t work out like that, but I want to give back to the game. Going to our local high school and getting to know some kids who are exactly where I was, giving them some knowledge that I never got, it just lit a fire under my butt and (motivated me to) get out of my shell.

“This is just my attempt to try to break out of that. The comfortability of your life, it’ll end up messing you up at sometimes. You need to get out there and kind of break some nerves and all that, and this is my attempt at doing that. And doing it with Pete and covering a team that I watch essentially almost every day – maybe not all the innings because I have children – but to call the team that you played for and you know some of those guys, know Snit (manager Brian Snitker), it’s just a really cool situation. It’s going to be easy to slide in there and be comfortable.”