It's officially baseball season! Super Bowl Sunday was the grand finale for football fans, and now the attention turns to baseball carrying sports fans through the spring. Officially, pitchers and catchers have reported for the Atlanta Braves. From here we are just a month and some change away from regular season baseball.
One of the biggest stories to watch this season for the Braves is the play they get out of the shortstop position. All signs point towards rolling the dice with veteran Orlando Arcia once again, but many fans are skeptical Arcia can be serviceable over a full 162 game season.
In 2023 Arcia was more than fine at short as he finished the year with an exactly league average 100 wRC+ and 2.4 fWAR. However, last season was a nightmare for Arcia as he struggled through much of the year. In the end Arcia limped to a 72 wRC+ and 0.8 fWAR. Can he bounce back in 2025, or will he lose his starting shortstop job by seasons end?
Braves don't have a likely alternative to Arcia, forced to hold out hope he bounces back
Alex Anthopoulos has often said that Orlando Arcia was never meant to be batting above the eighth spot in the lineup last year. Unfortunately, injuries prevented that from happening and Arcia found himself at the plate in a ton of clutch situations. As we know, the results were very bad.
Despite the poor 2024 season from Arcia, the Braves front office has shown confidence he can at the very least "not hurt them" when batting ninth in the lineup and playing good defense. It's a sound strategy, and quite honestly their only viable one right now.
the top 30 and bottom 30 players in baseball last season
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Internally the Braves don't have many other options outside Arcia at shortstop. Nacho Alvarez Jr. is one of the Braves' top position player prospects, but his 2024 debut was less than stellar. In an eight game sample size Nacho collected just three singles in 30 ABs. Alvarez Jr. hasn't killed his ascension yet, but he does need to showcase he can tap into his pull-side power, handle Major League level fastballs, and field his position better in 2025.
So with internal options a low probability, that leaves acquiring a guy outside the organization should the Braves need to move on from Arcia. That list is nearly as small as the former, with only a couple viable trade candidates existing at the shortstop position. It's hard to know which teams will be sellers at the trade deadline, but we do know with the expanded playoffs less teams end up trading away players than ever before.
The only name that is often repeated in this realm is Bo Bichette of the Toronto Blue Jays. Bichette had the worst season of his career in 2024, as he struggled to remain on the field. It was the first season he failed to put up a wRC+ of at least 120 (career low 71 wRC+ last season). However, many expect him to bounce back in 2025. Should Bichette accomplish that and the Blue Jays find themselves falling out of a crowded AL East battle, then he could possibly be the one name on the trade market worth monitoring.
However, even if all that happens you then need the Braves to outbid several other teams for a half-season rental player at a premium position. Again...doesn't feel likely. So all of that circles us back to current starter Arcia. Yes, the Braves NEED better from Arcia in 2025, but they truly don't have many other places to turn. With that in mind it's safe to assume Arcia will keep his starting shortstop role the entirety of the 2025 season.
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