Can football season get here, please? I am deriving absolutely no joy in watching the Atlanta Braves be the epitome of sad boys on a nightly basis for a totally cooked Brian Snitker. This team needs a new identity in the worst way possible. I fully expect that heads will roll after this season of such great disappointment. Trying to find a silver lining to this season is about next to impossible for Braves fans.
If there is one to be had, it could be of the team's top prospect in an incredibly weak farm system, finally beginning his rehabilitation process. That is right. The Braves actually shared something positive out on social media on Monday afternoon. Infielder Nacho Alvarez Jr. will begin his rehab assignment with the FCL Braves. He was placed on the 60-day IL due to left wrist inflammation.
With this season increasingly becoming a lost cause for the Braves, it may present a unique opportunity for an up-and-coming player like Alvarez to show his stuff at the major league level again. He made his team debut last year when Ozzie Albies was injured. After a few moments here and there, Alvarez was quickly sent back down to the minors on account of his bat not being ready yet.
Because the Braves have so many other issues besides middle infield, it does not solve a constraint.
Nacho Alvarez Jr. today begins a rehabilitation assignment with the FCL Braves.
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) June 9, 2025
The bottleneck for this team is the bullpen, followed by a dismal coaching staff and its front office.
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Nacho Alvarez Jr.'s injury return is too little, too late for Atlanta Braves
Will the Braves win a game again? I mean, the math is on their side to potentially do that, but it also remains to be seen. Regardless, I have watched enough baseball over the years to know that a light-hitting middle infielder, even if he is one of the best prospects in an organization, is not going to really move the needle in the end. He can help the team improve, but not to the degree one would think.
The only way I could say that Alvarez could help this team this year, and beyond, is to be good enough to take a starting job from one of the Braves' many underperforming players. I highly doubt they would ever trade Albies, but you never know. While Nick Allen has hit a bit of a ceiling offensively, he continues to play great defense most nights for the Braves. Right now, Alvarez is merely a depth guy.
Ultimately, it will be up to general manager Alex Anthopoulos, or whoever Atlanta Braves Holdings decides is best fit for the job, to solve all of the issues put forth by unregulated roster construction. This is the downside to playing good players great money. There is simply not enough money left to play the great players what they deserve. There is no salary cap, but there is a luxury tax to be had.
Unless something drastic changes very quickly, this feels like the end of an era of Braves baseball.