Orlando Arcia's injury won't pave the way for anticipated Braves prospect after all

Last season, Orlando Arcia had our heads spinning with his great play. Now, only his head is spinning. Although the Atlanta Braves shortstop continues to do marvelous things defensively, he has become a major liability at the plate this season. He is slashing a dismal .212/.243/.343 on the year with only six home runs and 22 runs batted in. This was the starting shortstop at the All-Star game for the NL.

Unfortunately, Arcia had to exit Monday night's road game at St. Louis due to dizziness. Atlanta tried to bounce back after a rough inning for rookie right-hander Spencer Schwellenbach, but the Braves fell to the Cardinals, 4-3. Even though Arcia is in year two of a dirty-cheap, three-year contract, legions of Braves Country are clamoring for top infield prospect Nacho Alvarez Jr. His day will come.

Truth be told, I think we just need to pump the brakes when it comes to any top prospect the Braves call up going forward. The last guy who wowed me was Michael Harris II, who went on to win NL Rookie of the Year in 2022. I distinctly remember a time when Vaughn Grissom was all the rage and could do no wrong. Not only did Arcia beat him out, but he was later used as trade bait for Chis Sale.

Still, we have to ask ourselves how much longer Brian Snitker can deploy a walking out at shortstop.

What I would love more than anything is for Alvarez to be developed and make an impact next year.

Orlando Arcia's struggles won't hasten Nacho Alvarez Jr.'s team debut

Prior to Atlanta's loss last night at the hands of the Cardinals, the Braves had won eight of their last 10 games. All of those wins came against American League opponents. While the Cardinals are playing markedly better of late under skipper Oli Marmol, the Braves have been the better team this season. Then again, none of that will matter if the Redbirds creep closer to Atlanta in the NL Wild Card race.

Overall, I am more interested in Arcia continuing to be stellar defensively with the occassional big hit than for the Braves to have a total liability at shortstop. This is why the Braves traded Grissom to the Red Sox. For as likable as he was and for how promising his bat was, his glove was nothing to write home about. In fact, if you wrote home about Grissom's glove, your entire family would leave you...

Ultimately, I suspect that Alvarez will get his opportunity with the big-league club sooner rather than later. An unfortunate injury in the middle of the infield would expedite that. Should it be smooth sailing between the bags for the Atlanta defense, then maybe we will see Alvarez make his team debut during the September call-ups. For now, we can only hope Arcia can go on a hot streak offensively.

Since Arcia is not making an inordinate amount of money, his bad offense does not feel as punitive.