If the Braves do elect to seek outside options, there are few options left on the free agent market. It wouldn’t be terribly surprising if he was the shortstop on Opening Day if the Braves think that Grissom needs some time at Gwinnett, but he is not much of a long-term solution. 329 xwOBA from 2022 isn’t glimmering with massive upside, either (though you’d never turn that down from a shortstop).Īt this stage, Arcia is better equipped as a utility player. It is clear that he has made adjustments at the plate, but there is a long track record to overcome, and his. Five of his nine home runs for the season came in 14 games against the Nationals. Arcia feasted on the Washington Nationals, hitting. Those numbers look appealing, but there is more to the story. His 7.5 percent barrel rate was also the best of his career. Per Statcast, Arcia posted the best average exit velocity of his career at 90.7 mph and raised his launch angle significantly. One thing was different for Arcia in 2022: he had above-average offensive outputs for the first time in his career, posting a 104 wRC+. The bulk of his time has been spent as a utility option and as an injury replacement at second for Albies. Due to Swanson’s presence, Arcia hasn’t seen much time at shortstop since coming to Atlanta. Arcia came up as a shortstop with Milwaukee, where he was adequate defensively. You almost have to wonder if it was foreshadowing on the Braves’ part when they signed Arcia to a two-year deal, that includes a club option for a third season, in November of 2021. With the restrictions on defensive shifting coming next season, it isn’t going to be an easy task. Grissom has spent part of the offseason working with Ron Washington and we will find out in the spring if that work has paid off. As much as his bat cooled off over the final month of the season, he has enough of a track record as a hitter to suggest that he can provide offensive value - especially if he does anything akin to adjusting towards hitting the ball harder rather than trading contact quality for contact quantity.Ī bigger question could be whether he can make sufficient progress defensively at a more difficult defensive position. With all of that as prologue, Grissom winning the job may still be the preferable outcome. Grissom lost playing time to Arcia over the final week, but that was more due to his defense at second base where he was -4 in Outs Above Average in 347 innings. 326 xwOBA which further suggested that regression was coming. 378 BABIP over that stretch so it wasn’t surprising that regression came as opposing pitchers adjusted. Arcia was filling in for Ozzie Albies, who was out with a broken foot. Grissom made the leap from Double-A on August 10 to play second base after Orlando Arcia suffered a hamstring injury. If the Braves do go with a competition during the spring, the best outcome would be Vaughn Grissom winning the job. A trade is always possible, but we are going to explore a couple of veteran free agent options that are still available.įirst, let’s take a closer look at what is shaping up to be a spring competition between Vaughn Grissom and Orlando Arcia. Obviously, you can’t write this article without the disclaimer that things could still change, as we have seen throughout the offseason. As the calendar has flipped to a new year, it appears that the Atlanta Braves are planning to go with internal options to replace Dansby Swanson next season.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |