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Orlando Arcia

Rockies Sign Orlando Arcia

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May 28: The Rockies have just made it official, announcing their signing of Arcia. Infielder Aaron Schunk has been optioned as the corresponding move. The 40-man roster count goes from 38 to 39.

May 27: Arcia and the Rox are in agreement on a big league deal, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post.

May 26: The Rockies and free agent infielder Orlando Arcia are in the final stages of contract talks, according to Daniel Alvarez-Montes of El Extra Base.  Should the deal be completed, it will mark a quick turn-around in the open market for Arcia, who was released just yesterday by the Braves after he cleared waivers. Arcia is repped by World Sports Agency.

Ezequiel Tovar is locked in as Colorado’s everyday shortstop, so adding Arcia probably means the Rockies are either looking at the 30-year-old as a depth piece.  Second baseman Adael Amador hasn’t hit much at all since being called up to the majors, so the Rockies might be considering sending him back down to Triple-A since Thairo Estrada is close to returning from the injured list.  This leaves Arcia, Kyle Farmer, Tyler Freeman and Aaron Schunk on hand as the bench depth, barring another move.

Arcia has mostly played shortstop during his 10 Major League seasons, and his generally solid glovework has helped him carve out that long career despite a modest .241/.294/.373 slash line.  His most consistent offensive run came with the Braves in 2022 and during the first half of the 2023 season, and Arcia was even named to the All-Star team for his strong performance at the plate in the opening months of the 2023 campaign.

Since then, however, Arcia’s bat has normalized back its usual levels, and he lost his starting shortstop job in Atlanta to Nick Allen.  Arcia has appeared in only 14 games this season, and batted .194/.219/.226 in 32 trips to the plate.  Since Arcia was no longer in the team’s plans, the Braves designated him for assignment and released him earlier this week.

Owed $2MM in 2025, Arcia is still owed around $1.376MM of that salary, plus his contract contains a $2MM club option for 2026 with a $1MM buyout.  The Rockies only owe the prorated MLB minimum portion of what remains of his 2025 salary, with Atlanta booting the rest of the bill.

The price tag is small enough that the Rockies may have felt it was worth it to bring in a veteran player with some relatively recent success on his track record — perhaps as a trade chip for the deadline, or perhaps just as an upgrade over its other backup infield options.  Since Colorado certainly looks like it will be a seller at the deadline, any number of roster spots could be opening up after July 31.  If Arcia himself isn’t moved, he can cover innings for the Rockies in the event that perhaps Estrada, Farmer, or Freeman are moved, or if the Rox explore a bigger trade like moving Ryan McMahon.

Braves Release Orlando Arcia

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May 25: Atlanta has released Arcia, according to Mark Bowman of MLB.com. The infielder is now a free agent who is free to sign with any club.

May 23: The Braves announced Friday that they’ve designated infielder Orlando Arcia for assignment. His active roster spot will go to returning All-Star Ronald Acuña Jr., whose previously reported reinstatement from the injured list is now official.

Atlanta originally acquired Arcia from the Brewers in a trade sending righties Patrick Weigel and Chad Sobotka back to Milwaukee. Arcia struggled in 2021, his first partial season with the Braves, but Atlanta nonetheless signed him to a guaranteed two-year, $3MM contract to buy out his final arbitration seasons. A club option for the 2024 campaign extended their window of control over him by one season.

Arcia went on to have a solid showing in a utility capacity in 2022 (.244/.316/.416 in 268 plate appearances), and the Braves ripped up that prior contract to sign him to a new extension in March of 2023. That deal guaranteed Arcia a modest $7.3MM from 2023-25 and tacked on a club option for the 2026 season. At first, it looked like a masterstroke by president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos, as Arcia improbably made the All-Star team in 2023 while replacing former franchise shortstop Dansby Swanson, who had signed with the Cubs in free agency. His terrific first half gave way to some second-half doldrums, however, and Arcia has never recovered at the plate.

Arcia’s role as the starting shortstop has been overtaken by light-hitting but slick-fielding Nick Allen this season. Arcia has totaled just 32 plate appearances and gone 6-for-31 with five singles and a double. Dating back to August of that 2023 season, he’s batted a paltry .238/.292/.380 (83 wRC+) with a 20.4% strikeout rate and 6.8% walk rate.

As of this writing, Arcia is still owed $1.376MM of this year’s $2MM salary. His contract contains a $2MM club option with a $1MM buyout, bringing the total owed to him up to $2.376MM. It’s a light enough commitment, with an affordable extra season of club control, that perhaps a team in dire need of infield help would consider taking a flier.

The likelier outcome is that Arcia is simply released, as is the case with most veteran players on guaranteed salaries who hit waivers during the season, although if other clubs have interest in a trade, Atlanta could always offer to cover a portion of the remaining guarantee to further entice potential trade partners. The Braves will have five days to trade Arcia before they’re required to place him on waivers — a 48-hour process — in order to ensure that Arcia’s DFA is resolved within the one-week maximum timeframe. He can, of course, be placed on release waivers or outright waivers at any point prior to that.

Looking Ahead To Club Options: NL East

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MLBTR continues our division by division look at next year’s team/mutual option class with the NL East. Only three teams in the division have such options, though Atlanta’s group of decisions involve some of the more notable players in the class.

Previous installments: player options/opt-outs, NL West, AL West, NL Central, AL Central

Atlanta Braves

This is the final guaranteed season of the $35MM extension which Albies signed early in 2019. The deal was widely considered a massively team-friendly contract the day it happened, and that has proven to be the case. Albies has made a pair of All-Star teams, won two Silver Slugger Awards, and twice found his name on MVP ballots over the course of the deal.

There’s no intrigue to this one. The Braves will exercise the option, which ends up being a $3MM investment after factoring in the $4MM buyout. There will be another $7MM club option (with no buyout) for 2027 that will probably be a similarly easy call. Albies’ offense has declined over the past two seasons, as he’s hitting just .246/.300/.398 in 553 plate appearances since the start of 2024. The $3MM difference between the option price and the buyout is low-end utility player money, though. Even if the Braves start to question whether Albies remains the answer at second base, there’d be surplus trade value.

Atlanta signed Arcia to a three-year, $7.3MM extension on the eve of the 2023 season. It looked like an odd move at the time, an unnecessary multi-year commitment for a likely utility infielder. Then Arcia broke out with an All-Star season while replacing Dansby Swanson as Atlanta’s everyday shortstop. The contract looked like a major coup for the front office.

Things have swung back in the opposite direction over the past year-plus. Arcia’s bat cratered last year, as he turned in a .218/.271/.354 line over 602 plate appearances. While the Braves stuck with him as their starting shortstop, he’s lost that role with a dismal start to the ’25 season. Arcia has hit .200 with eight strikeouts, one walk, and one extra-base hit (a double) through 31 trips. Nick Allen jumped him on the depth chart and has started the past five games. Arcia wouldn’t need to do much to convince the Braves to exercise an option that amounts to a $1MM decision, but he’s no longer a lock to even stick on the roster all season.

Johnson dominated over 24 appearances after being acquired from the Rockies at the 2023 deadline. The righty would have been one of the better setup men in the following free agent class, but the Braves signed him to a two-year extension with a $14.25MM guarantee to keep him off the market. He has made consecutive $7MM salaries and has a matching club option with a $250K buyout for next season.

It has worked out nicely. Johnson fired 56 1/3 innings of 3.67 ERA ball with a strong 28.4% strikeout rate last year. He has punched out 10 while allowing four runs through 9 1/3 frames to begin this season. His whiffs are slightly down, while opponents are making more hard contact than they did a season ago. Those are worth monitoring, but Johnson’s overall body of work in Atlanta consists of a 2.89 earned run average with 109 strikeouts over 89 1/3 innings. As of now, a $6.75MM price point seems like solid value.

Sale’s first season in Atlanta was brilliant. He posted an MLB-best 2.38 ERA while leading the National League with 225 strikeouts. He won his first career Cy Young award after finishing in the top six on seven occasions earlier in his career. He reestablished himself as an ace following some injury-plagued years. The trade in which he was acquired from the Red Sox for struggling second baseman Vaughn Grissom has been a steal.

The left-hander’s uneven start to 2025 has contributed to the Braves’ mediocre April. Sale has allowed 5.40 earned runs per nine through his first six outings. They’ve gone 3-3 in those contests. It’s largely the product of an inflated .400 batting average on balls in play against him. Sale’s 27.3% strikeout rate is down nearly five percentage points relative to last season, but it remains a well above-average mark for a starting pitcher. He’s getting whiffs on 12.9% of his offerings. His slider has been as lethal as ever. Opponents have feasted on his fastball so far, but there’s no dramatic change in velocity or spin. While the poor start has probably tanked his chance of repeating as the Cy Young winner, the $18MM option still seems like an easy “yes” for the front office.

Miami Marlins

  • None

New York Mets

Over the weekend, Raley reportedly agreed to terms with the Mets on a one-year deal with a club option. The signing has not been finalized, nor has the money been reported. Raley is working back from last May’s Tommy John surgery.

The Mets also re-signed Smith on a one-year deal with an option after TJS — a July operation, in his case. He’s making $1MM for what will probably be a completely lost season. The Mets get an affordable $2MM option for next season that they’re likely to exercise so long as Smith doesn’t suffer a setback. If they do pick it up, he could earn another $750K based on his appearance total next season. Smith would make $50K apiece at 30, 35, and 40 appearances; $75K for 45 and 50 games; $100K at 55 and 60 appearances; and $125K each for 65 and 70 games. He owns a 3.48 ERA over parts of six seasons as a quality middle reliever for New York.

Philadelphia Phillies

Alvarado signed for two years and $18.55MM in new money on a deal covering the 2024-25 seasons. He has made $9MM salaries in each of the past two years and has a matching option with a $500K buyout. That’s a little below the market rate for high-leverage relievers, which Alvarado has proven himself to be.

Over parts of five seasons with the Phils, the lefty carries a 3.34 earned run average. Bouts of wildness have led to some inconsistency, but he’s shown the ability to miss bats at plus rates while throwing as hard as any left-hander in the sport. Alvarado’s 24.4% strikeout rate last season was oddly pedestrian, but he’s fanned nearly 30% of batters faced in his career.

He has been back at peak form to begin this season. He has punched out 18 of 56 hitters (32.1%) while allowing only three runs through 13 2/3 innings. Alvarado has collected five saves and a pair of holds without blowing a lead, and he’s operating with career-best control (3.6% walk rate). It’s tough to envision him continuing to throw this many strikes — he walked more than 10% of opponents in seven consecutive years leading up to this one — but he’s the Phils’ most trusted reliever right now. This is tending towards an easy pickup.

Shortly before Opening Day last year, Strahm preemptively signed a one-year extension covering the 2025 season. The lefty is making $7.5MM this year and has a club/vesting option for next season. It begins as a $4.5MM team option. The price would jump by $1MM apiece if he reaches 40, 50 and 60 innings pitched this year. If he hits 60 innings and passes a postseason physical, it vests at $7.5MM. It’s a straight vesting option, not one with an opt-out, so Strahm would return on a guaranteed deal if it triggers.

That’s a result with which the Phillies would probably be happy. Strahm turned in an excellent ’24 campaign, working to a 1.87 ERA while striking out a third of opposing hitters over 66 appearances. He has fanned 15 through his first 11 2/3 frames this year. Strahm has surrendered five runs, four earned, on 11 hits and four walks. His 91.8 MPH average four-seam fastball is down from last season’s 93.4 mark, which is a little alarming, but the results have been solid and he remains one of the more reliable setup options for skipper Rob Thomson.

Washington Nationals

  • None

Braves Notes: Strider, Murphy, Allen

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It’s been a tough start to the season for the Braves, who only won their first game of the season last night. On top of their struggles in the standings, the lineup lost Jurickson Profar when he was hit with an 80-game suspension for a positive PED test while the rotation will be without right-hander Reynaldo Lopez for the foreseeable future as the hurler is scheduled to undergo shoulder surgery. Brutal as the start of the season has been for fans in Atlanta, however, there is light at the end of the tunnel. MLB.com notes not only that right-hander Spencer Strider is scheduled to make a rehab start at Triple-A this coming Thursday, but that it could be his final outing before he returns to the majors.

A healthy and effective return to the big league rotation would be a game changer for the Braves, particularly after Lopez’s recent injury. While reigning AL Cy Young award winner Chris Sale and young righty Spencer Schwellenbach are both excellent starters, beyond that duo the club is currently relying on converted reliever Grant Holmes and a pair of youngsters with hit-or-miss track records as big leaguers in AJ Smith-Shawver and Bryce Elder. A more established pitcher would be very welcome, and Strider is more than simply established after he finished as the runner-up in NL Rookie of the Year voting in 2022 before earning an All-Star appearance and a fourth-place finish in NL Cy Young award voting the following season.

Strider’s career 3.47 ERA is merely above-average (123 ERA+), but it belies his otherworldly 36.9% strikeout rate and 2.56 FIP, both of which place him among the very best pitchers in the entire sport. It would be unreasonable to assume that Strider will be able to provide that peak production this year given the number of players who have struggled while shaking off the rust of a long layoff. Nonetheless, even a somewhat diminished Strider is likely a front-of-the-rotation caliber, and the hurler’s 46.7% strikeout rate and 1.08 ERA through two rehab outings certainly don’t reveal any obvious signs of rust.

Strider isn’t the only notable player who could be returning to the roster soon for Atlanta. Catcher Sean Murphy is scheduled to make a nine-inning rehab appearance at Triple-A tomorrow. According to Bowman, that could be his final rehab outing if all goes well, with Murphy returning to the Atlanta lineup on Tuesday against the Phillies. It would be a huge boost to the Braves if Murphy were able to return so quickly after suffering a fractured rib last month. While his 2024 season was derailed by injury and saw him struggle when healthy enough to take the field, Murphy is not far removed from being considered the game’s best catcher and would be a huge boost to a struggling Atlanta lineup if he were to hit to even his career .233/.329/.429 slash line, to say nothing of the star-level offense he posted during the 2022 and ’23 seasons.

The return of Murphy to the lineup will likely spell the end of top catching prospect Drake Baldwin’s first stint in the big leagues, as he’s gone just 2-for-22 with three walks and five strikeouts through six games in the majors. While that’s not a sample size worth drawing any conclusions from, it would hardly be a shock if the club decided Baldwin was best served getting regular at-bats at Triple-A and opted to use Chadwick Tromp as their backup catcher going forward. With that being said, the club did recently add catcher Jason Delay to their 40-man roster in a trade with the Pirates and could therefore designate Tromp for assignment and still have a third catcher in the fold even if he were to depart via waivers or free agency. That could at least leave the door cracked open for Baldwin to backup Murphy in a larger role similar to the one Travis d’Arnaud held last year.

In other Braves news, The Athletic’s David O’Brien recently suggested that there could be a shakeup at shortstop coming down the pipeline for the club. Nick Allen was initially acquired to serve as a bench bat, but he’s hit a solid .333/.375/.400 so far while playing strong defense to this early point in the regular season. That strong early showing in conjunction with a lackluster spring from Orlando Arcia and his dreadful (2-for-13 with five strikeouts) start to the season could create an opening for Allen to seize a larger role with the club, particularly if the club’s early season struggles continue for longer than the season’s first week.

Anthopoulos: Braves Expect Payroll To Rise

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Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos conducted an end-of-season media session with reporters this morning. Most notably, the GM indicated he expected player payroll to increase going into next year. A rising payroll doesn’t mean the Braves will be especially active in free agency, as the club already has a lot of internal commitments.

“It’s gone up each year that I’ve been here,” Anthopoulos said (link via Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution). “I know it’s not going to go down, I expect it to rise, but to what level, we’ll spend the offseason going through that. I view it opening day to opening day, because in-season things come up. … Is it a bottomless pit? Is it unlimited? Of course not. But every year we’ve set a new Braves high from a payroll standpoint. … We will be going up, I just can’t give you the amount.”

According to the calculations at Cot’s Baseball Contracts, the Braves entered the 2024 season with around $223MM in player salaries. Their estimated luxury tax number was much higher. A team’s tax figure is calculated based on the average annual values of their contracts, leading to a higher tax number than raw payroll for an Atlanta team that has a lot of backloaded extensions. Cot’s estimated the Braves’ tax hit around $279MM, though Anthopoulos confirmed shortly after the trade deadline that Atlanta was narrowly below the $277MM threshold that marks the third tier of penalization. It’s the second straight year in which the Braves will pay the luxury tax.

The Braves seem prepared to go over the threshold for a third consecutive season in 2025. That’d entail paying a higher price for repeat payors. Atlanta would pay a 50% tax on their first $20MM above next year’s $241MM base threshold. That’d jump to 62% for the following $20MM with further penalties if they pushed past the $281MM mark.

According to RosterResource, the Braves already have around $180MM in player salaries (not CBT obligations) on the books for 2025. They’re planning to exercise a trio of club options that’ll tack on another $31.25MM. That puts the team at roughly $211.25MM. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects their arbitration class to add roughly $10MM more — assuming they tender Ramón Laureano and move on from Cavan Biggio. Rounding out the roster with minimum salary players would put them close to last year’s estimated Opening Day payroll before accounting for outside acquisitions.

Anthopoulos and his staff could create some payroll room via trade. Jorge Soler is set for respective $13MM salaries over the next two seasons. Soler hit well down the stretch when the Braves acquired him at the deadline to bolster a scuffling offense. He’s not an ideal fit on a roster that already has Marcell Ozuna locked in at designated hitter, though. Ronald Acuña Jr. should be back early in the season in right field. If the Braves retain Laureano for his final arbitration season, trading Soler and offloading at least a chunk of his contract would make sense.

At the same time, the Braves are going to need some kind of additions. They could lose Max Fried and A.J. Minter to free agency. Charlie Morton is also an impending free agent and might decide to retire. Getting Spencer Strider back midway through the year would help compensate for losing Fried, while the bullpen still looks strong even if Minter departs. Still, there’d be some questions about the rotation depth behind a strong front four of Chris Sale, Reynaldo López, Spencer Schwellenbach and (once healthy) Strider.

Atlanta could look for an upgrade over Orlando Arcia at shortstop as well. A free agent splash for Willy Adames would be out of character for a front office that has typically done its heavy lifting via trades and extensions. (Jon Heyman of the New York Post floated the Braves as a possible Adames landing spot earlier this week.) There aren’t many obvious shortstop trade candidates, particularly if the Blue Jays elect to hang onto Bo Bichette for his last year of club control. Anthopoulos and his staff have had a knack for pulling surprise trades over the years, though, making it difficult to pinpoint exactly where they’ll look.

One area that doesn’t seem it’ll have any turnover: the coaching staff. Manager Brian Snitker is under contract through the end of next season. The 68-year-old confirmed right after the team was eliminated in the NL Wild Card Series that he’ll continue managing (X link via Justin Toscano of the Journal-Constitution). Anthopoulos said this morning that he expects the entire coaching staff to remain in place.

NL East Notes: Schwarber, Harper, Luzardo, Arcia

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The Phillies were shut out in today’s 6-0 loss to the Braves, dropping Philadelphia to a respectable 5-4 record in its nine games without injured sluggers Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper.  The good news is that at least Schwarber will be activated from the 10-day injured list for the Phils’ next game on Tuesday, and Harper seems on track to be activated at some point this week, even if Tuesday is still up in the air for the former NL MVP.

Both players ran the bases prior to today’s game, with MLB.com reporting that Schwarber has now been running at full intensity for two straight days, while Harper was running “either at or close to 100% intensity.”  Schwarber was sidelined with a groin strain and Harper with a hamstring strain, so baserunning is essentially the final step in assessing whether either player is fully ready to return.  While neither injury was thought to be overly serious, it is obviously a great sign for the Phillies that the initial assessment seems to be accurate, so the team won’t have any longer-term concerns about two key members of their everyday lineup.

More from around the NL East…

  • Even though Jesus Luzardo is on the 60-day injured list, teams are still checking in with the Marlins about the left-hander’s availability, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale writes.  Luzardo’s initial IL placement took place on June 19, so he won’t be back until August 18 at the earliest as he recovers from a lumbar stress reaction.  If Luzardo was indeed able to return around that date and return in good form, there would be plenty of time for the southpaw to contribute to a contender for the remainder of the season, yet naturally his health situation would make for some tricky trade negotiations with Miami.  From the Marlins’ perspective, it is hard to imagine they would agree to sell low on one of their top trade chips, especially since Luzardo is still under team control through the 2026 season.
  • Orlando Arcia entered today’s action hitting .209/.245/.332 over 314 plate appearances, and with the lowest wRC+ (58) of any qualified hitter in baseball.  It has been an ugly dropoff for a player who had roughly a league-average 101 wRC+ for the Braves in 2022-23, and Arcia was even an All-Star last season after moving into the starting shortstop role.  Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes that the Braves are seemingly okay with letting Arcia try to find himself at the plate, since he is at least continuing to deliver strong glovework at the shortstop position.  While Atlanta has been aggressive in promoting prospects in recent years, Toscano doesn’t think the team is considering bringing the hot-hitting Nacho Alvarez up to the majors as a potential replacement for Arcia, as Alvarez only just made his Triple-A debut last month.

MLB Announces 2023 All-Star Rosters

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The starters for the 2023 All-Star Game were already announced earlier this week, and today the league revealed the reserve selections and the pitching staffs for the National League and American League teams.  Fan balloting determined the game’s starters, while the reserves and pitchers were picked by a combination of the player ballot and selections from the league office.

This won’t be the final list of players involved, as some more substitutions will be announced later for players who are injured or who have opted not to participate.  Every team must have at least one player represented at the Midsummer Classic, and the starting pitchers for the game will be announced on July 10.

Of note, Shohei Ohtani will be in the game as both a DH and as a pitcher for the third consecutive season.  The Braves led all teams with eight All-Stars, while the Rangers weren’t far behind with six players chosen.  This year’s All-Star Game takes place in Seattle on July 11.

National League

American League

MLB Announces 2023 All-Star Starters

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Major League Baseball announced the starting lineups for the 2023 All-Star Game this evening. This year’s All-Star Game will take place at Seattle’s T-Mobile Park on July 11. The starting pitchers and reserves will be announced at a later date.

American League

National League

* Currently on injured list with sprained toe

The Braves’ Shortstop Gamble Is Paying Off

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The Braves entered the 2023 season with a question mark at shortstop. Atlanta didn’t seem to strongly pursue a reunion with Dansby Swanson over the winter. Only the front office knows how much that was due to payroll constraints versus a genuine belief in their other options. In any case, the Braves have picked up right where Swanson left off.

Atlanta shortstops have combined for a .310/.365/.422 batting line. Only the Rangers (where Corey Seager is playing at an MVP level) have gotten a stronger on-base percentage out of the position. Atlanta shortstops are eighth in slugging and fourth in overall offense as measured by wRC+.

If one were told three months ago that Braves’ shortstops were performing at this level, they’d probably have assumed Vaughn Grissom hit the ground running. The 22-year-old broke into the majors with a .291/.353/.440 showing as a rookie last season, filling in for Ozzie Albies at second base while the latter was injured. Midway through Spring Training, Grissom appeared to be the favorite for the job, with rookie Braden Shewmake also garnering some attention amidst a strong Spring Training.

The Braves went elsewhere. Atlanta made the surprising decision to option Grissom and Shewmake at the same time a week before Opening Day. That signaled a commitment to veteran Orlando Arcia, who had played a utility role since being acquired from the Brewers in a lopsided 2021 trade. It marked the first time he’d be in an Opening Day starting lineup since a four-year run as Milwaukee’s shortstop from 2017-20.

Arcia has seized the opportunity in a way few would’ve seen coming. He’s hitting .341/.400/.489 in exactly 200 trips to the plate. He lost a couple weeks with an early-season microfracture in his left wrist, but he’s started 52 of 73 games. Arcia was off to a .333/.400/.511 start before the injury. He has been no worse for wear since returning in early May, putting up a .343/.400/.482 line over the last six weeks.

The 28-year-old isn’t going to continue hitting at quite this level. He’s not going to maintain a .406 average on balls in play all year. He’s hitting .363 on ground-balls, a top ten figure in MLB that’s probably going to regress. It’d be too simplistic to wave away his strong first few months as a complete product of ball in play fortune, though.

Arcia’s plate discipline profile is the best of his career thus far. During his time with Milwaukee, he had a very aggressive approach that kept his walk rates near the bottom of the league. Not consistently swinging at good pitches was a big reason he never developed into the quality everyday shortstop the Brewers anticipated when he was coming through their system as a top prospect.

As he has gotten more experience, he’s become more patient. Arcia has swung around 45% of the time over the past two years after typically offering at over half the pitches he’d seen early in his career. He’s had a particularly discerning strike zone feel this season. He has chased less than 28% of pitches outside the zone, a career-low mark that’s four percentage points better than league average. He’s swinging at a typical rate at pitches within the zone, though. Laying off pitches off the plate without getting passive and letting too many hittable offerings pass by is a tough balance to strike.

Arcia has found it. Not coincidentally, he’s hitting the ball with more authority than usual. This season’s 45.8% hard contact percentage (batted balls with an exit velocity of 95+ MPH) is a personal best. A lot of that contact is coming on the ground, so he’s still not making a huge power impact. Combining average or better walk and strikeout numbers with a lot of hard, low-angle batted balls is a recipe for getting on base consistently. Arcia isn’t going to sustain a .400 OBP, but he looks capable of keeping his on-base a fair bit higher than the .312 league mark for shortstops.

Alongside the offense, Arcia has stepped back into regular shortstop duty without missing a beat defensively. Both Defensive Runs Saved and Statcast have pegged his glove as four runs above average in a little less than 500 innings. He rated as a solid defender for most of his time with the Brewers but hadn’t played shortstop with regularity in three years because Swanson almost never missed a game. A couple seasons of multi-positional work don’t appear to have taken any toll on his glove at the infield’s most demanding spot.

The all-around production has Arcia among the top 30 position players in both FanGraphs and Baseball Reference WAR even with his three-week injury absence. Even if he falls off that pace as the BABIP declines, Arcia has provided the Braves more than they could’ve anticipated in the post-Swanson era. The top of Atlanta’s lineup is loaded with star talent. They only needed some stability at shortstop once they let Swanson go. Arcia has gone well beyond that.

In the process, he has quieted questions about promoting the younger players. Grissom and Shewmake each saw a little MLB action while he was hurt but have spent the majority of the season in Triple-A. Shewmake is having a dreadful offensive season there; Grissom is hitting well (.314/.380/.466 with an excellent 13.5% strikeout rate) while getting an extended run to try to improve his reputation as a middle infield defender. While shortstop once looked like a potential deadline concern for the front office, that’s no longer the case.

The final touch for the team: Arcia’s affordability. He and the club agreed to a restructured contract on Opening Day that could keep him in Atlanta through 2026. He’s making $2.3MM this season, followed by respective $2MM salaries for the next two years. There’s a matching ’26 club option that comes with a $100K buyout.

That’s fine value for the utility role he’d played between 2021-22. It’s a bargain for a quality everyday shortstop. Arcia is playing like one right now, one of the many reasons Atlanta is in pole position for a seventh consecutive division title.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Braves Reinstate Orlando Arcia, Option Vaughn Grissom

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The Braves have reinstated infielder Orlando Arcia from the 10-day injured list, per a team announcement. In a corresponding move, the club optioned shortstop Vaughn Grissom to Triple-A. Arcia had been out with a microfracture in his left wrist since mid-April.

The move comes as something of a surprise, as Arcia will return to the club without a rehab assignment after reportedly beginning to take dry swings just a few days ago. Arcia opened the season as the club’s regular shortstop prior to his injury and got off to a hot start with a .333/.400/.511 slash line with a 149 wRC+ in 13 games. That hot start earned him a contract extension that will keep the 28-year-old under team control through the 2026 season.

Given his success at the plate this season prior to his injury, it seems reasonable to expect Arcia to once again get the lion’s share of playing time at shortstop. Prospect Braden Shewmake was promoted recently and received a start at shortstop, but with Arcia back on the roster seems likely to settle into an infield utility role behind Arcia, second baseman Ozzie Albies and third baseman Austin Riley. The 25-year-old Shewmake has yet to record his first hit in the major leagues, but saw a power surge early this season in the minor leagues, as his five home runs in just 110 plate appearances nearly matches the seven he hit last year in 307 plate appearances. Still, his overall Triple-A slash line of .255/.307/.415 casts him as a glove-first option in the big leagues who doesn’t figure to hit much.

With Arcia returned and Shewmake taking up a utility role in the infield, the 22-year-old Grissom is left heading to Triple-A as the odd man out. Grissom made his major league debut last season, filling in for Albies at second base, and impressed in 41 games with a slash line of .291/.353/.440 that was good for a wRC+ of 121. Though his 21.8% strikeout rate and high .350 BABIP left room for concern, the biggest question mark surrounding Grissom was his defense, which he spent the offseason trying to improve with infield coach Ron Washington.

Unfortunately for both Grissom and the Braves, the young shortstop’s start to the season has been something of a disaster. Grissom has taken a significant step back at the plate, with a slash line of just .277/.314/.308 in 70 plate appearances that leaves him 29% below league average by measure of wRC+. Meanwhile, his defense has been a major concern, with six errors in 18 starts at shortstop and defensive metrics that give him concerning ratings across the board. In particular, Grissom’s -4 Outs Above Average leave him in just the third percentile among MLB fielders and cast him the third worst defensive shortstop in the majors, ahead of only Enrique Hernandez of the Red Sox and CJ Abrams of the Nationals. Given Grissom’s pronounced struggles, it seems reasonable to expect him to work on things at the Triple-A level for the foreseeable future, unless another injury around the infield forces the club’s hand.

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