Before they reunited with Ha-Seong Kim on a one-year deal, the Atlanta Braves' shortstop situation was looking dire. Their internal shortstop candidates were unsatisfactory and/or not ready for the big leagues and the free agent and trade markets held few viable answers. For a team that had to endure Nick Allen getting most of the plate appearances at short last year, that was a brutal reality.
Exactly how brutal, though, has been up for debate. Allen was a really good defensive shortstop after all and while no one wanted to run it back with him, it isn't like he had zero value. Really, it was a relatively unknown data point as to exactly how much the Braves had lost out on at shortstop last year.
Well, the fine folks at ESPN took a shot at it. In a recent article from ESPN's David Schoenfield that highlighted key stats for every MLB team, he focused on the Braves' shortstop position in 2025 and predictably, it did not grade out well at all.
Braves shortstops were collectively bad on a historic scale in 2025
Again, there are no real surprises here as everyone knew that Atlanta needed to get a new shortstop. It is important to remember that this is just one measure and others metrics are compiled differently and could lead to varying results, though we suspect you will struggle to find a real stat that reflects kindly on Braves shortstops last season.
According to Schoenfield, Braves shortstops created 38 runs in 2025. To put that in context, that is the worst team mark of any position from any team in MLB last season and the second-lowest shortstop showing over the last five years (the 2024 Tigers shortstops were somehow slightly worse). Their 18 extra base hits total was equally terrible and could have been significantly worse had the Braves not claimed Kim off of waivers and allowed him to add four extra-base knocks across 24 games.
That is a tough reality to face, especially when you think about how many close games the Braves lost last year. Atlanta went 21-35 in one-run games last year. If the Braves had a real shortstop for the entire season (not a star, just someone competent at the plate) and they had also had another quality reliever to replace Joe Jimenez, the Braves could have at least stitched together a winning record if you follow the numbers and pattern of logic far enough.
Unfortunately, that is decidedly not what happened and the Braves ended up with one of the worst records in baseball. While it is nice that Atlanta looks to be in much better shape heading into 2026, that doesn't mean facing those previous losses is any fun at all.