A PAIN IN THE ARCIA
While I was writing about the young arms in the Braves camp yesterday, the Braves were rewriting spring training expectations about who is going to be their shortstop this year.
At the start of camp, Vaughn Grissom was presumed to be the young shortstop taking over Dansby Swanson’s spot. I was a little skeptical. In January I wrote:
No deep analysis here, but he's young with hardly any experience above High-A. That he wasn't crushed last summer when called on to replace Ozzie Albies isn't meaningless, but Albies is back. Grissom looks like the shortstop on a team with World Series ambitions, which is something that could work but there will certainly be a short leash if he struggles at the plate or in the field. That makes his current price too high. PAN
Grissom was going for about $20 in NL-only leagues.
Last week, chatter revealed some front-office discontent with Grissom, whose fielding has not built confidence. Braden Shewmake was a first-round pick in 2019 from Texas A&M. His stick does not stand out but he is a plus glove, which is in distinct contrast with Grissom. He’s hitting .323 in spring training, with an .823 OPS but no homers and one steal in two tries. Shewmake seems like a fine and maybe temporary solution if Grissom really doesn’t fit at shortstop, which seems to be the case.
But did the Braves decide to give Shewmake the job? As you probably know, no they did not. Yesterday, the Braves sent Grissom and Shewmake out of the major league camp and anointed Orlando Arcia their opening-day shortstop.
Photo: luvsd on Flickr (Original version) 佾珜 (Crop)
The odd thing about this is that Arcia hasn’t played much shortstop since 2020, only six games, but back then he was a good fielder there (and has since proven himself to be a lesser outfielder). Does that mean he’s a better fielder than Grissom? Maybe, though maybe not as good as Shewmake (based on what I’ve read). And is he a better hitter than Shewmake? Maybe, though almost certainly not as good as Grissom. Seems like the tweener wins the job, for now at least.
This doesn’t mean that Arcia is going to hold the job all year, though he could. The Braves lineup is loaded enough that it could probably carry anyone with a good glove at the position, but the team’s reasons for this decision have not been revealed yet, as far as I know. My guess is they’ve decided Grissom isn’t the shortstop of the future, but don’t want to push Austin Riley to the outfield on short notice (to give Grissom third base), and don’t want to promote Shewmake too quickly when they have a seasoned pro on hand to do the job.
So, more seasoning for everyone.
I bumped up Arcia’s at-bats a little and his price a little more. He has a little pop.
Grissom gets put on the list as a top minor leaguer for reserve lists. Shewmake is on that list, too, but much lower. He’s not the hitter Grissom is, and that's the skill the fantasy game values. But potential playing time matters, too.
ROUND UP
Looking forward to an Ohtani-Trout face-off tonight? I am.
Let me know if you have any questions or areas of inquiry you’d like covered. I can go on and on about the news or any other thing, but would love to target what you all want and need entering peak auction season.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Rotoman's Guide to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.