Jim Jarvis

The Braves announced they’ve selected the contract of infielder Jim Jarvis from Triple-A Gwinnett. He’ll head to the majors for the first call-up of his career. Outfielder Jose Azocar has been designated for assignment in a corresponding move.

Jarvis, a product of the University of Alabama, was an 11th-round pick by the Tigers in 2023. Detroit traded him to Atlanta at last summer’s deadline for middle reliever Rafael Montero. Jarvis was amidst a middling offensive season in Double-A but has posted stronger numbers since joining the Braves’ system.

The lefty batter hit .265/.344/.361 over 21 games with Atlanta’s Double-A affiliate after the trade. He earned a late-season bump to Gwinnett, where he has played the first five weeks of this season. Jarvis is out to an excellent .308/.415/.445 start through 153 plate appearances. He has worked walks at a lofty 15% clip against a lower than average 17.6% strikeout rate while stealing 15 bases in 17 tries.

Jarvis has shown a strong awareness of the strike zone throughout his minor league career. He hasn’t been much of a power threat despite connecting on four home runs and six doubles in Triple-A. That accounts a third of the longballs he has hit in nearly 1200 professional plate appearances. Jarvis’ exit velocities in Gwinnett are still middling, so he’s unlikely to hit for much power at the MLB level.

The lack of offensive impact has kept Jarvis mostly off the prospect radar. Baseball America ranked him 28th in the Atlanta system over the offseason, while Brendan Gawlowski of FanGraphs had him as an honorable mention in his March writeup of the organization. Both outlets credit Jarvis as a steady, if not particularly flashy, shortstop with a contact-based offensive approach.

Atlanta has moved Mauricio Dubón from shortstop to center field over the past week. That was initially driven by Michael Harris II battling minor quad discomfort that kept him out of the field. Harris donned a glove last night but started in left field for the first time in his career. They kept Dubón in center while pushing Mike Yastrzemski over to right field. That’ll probably be their primary outfield trio while Ronald Acuña Jr. is out, even if they flip Harris back up the middle and Dubón to left once Harris is back to full speed.

Jarvis gives them a little more depth on the infield behind stopgap shortstop Jorge Mateo. The Braves should get Ha-Seong Kim back from injury within the next week to 10 days. That’ll push Mateo back to a depth role alongside Kyle Farmer and could nudge Jarvis back to Triple-A.

Azocar was just selected onto the MLB roster as outfield depth when Acuña went down on Sunday. He made one start in right field, going 0-2. He pinch ran and stole a base on Monday. The 29-year-old has had a couple very brief stints on Atlanta’s roster over the last two years. Azocar was out to a .270/.348/.420 start with Gwinnett but has a modest .243/.288/.318 batting line over parts of five MLB campaigns.

Atlanta will trade Azocar or place him on waivers within the next five days. The latter outcome seems likelier. There’s a decent chance he’ll clear because he’s out of minor league options, meaning a claiming team would need to be willing to carry him on the big league roster. Azocar has been outrighted in his career a few times, giving him the right to elect free agency if he goes unclaimed again.