Orlando Arcia was one of the worst hitters in baseball a year ago. He was also one of a select few Braves regulars to stay healthy. That was ironically detrimental to the team’s performance. Every metric is hard on the eyes from the .218/.271/.354 slash line. Then, the 4th percentile batting run value. Followed by his last-place ranking among all MLB players in Win Probability Added at -3.51.
Unfortunately, these struggles have carried over into Spring Training 2025. Arcia is just 2 for 24 entering Sunday’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays, good for a 0.83 batting average. While he isn’t striking out much, the quality of contact has been bad with lots of feeble popouts and groundouts. This continued last year when Arcia was a weak contact machine – his frosty blue Statcast page tells the story.
The Araco, Venezuela native must pick it up at the plate or risk being replaced. He enters the final season of a 3-year, $7.3 million contract. He is still valuable as a solid defender (87th percentile Outs Above Average) and a locker-room leader. However, the Braves cannot afford to have another black hole in the lineup all year.
They may be stuck, though, as potential internal and external alternatives at shortstop are very limited as of now. The last intriguing free agent option is now off the board after Jose Iglesias struck a deal with the San Diego Padres. Nevertheless, “below replacement level” must mean something and Arcia’s 73 OPS+ from 2024 suggests that he fits that description. Let’s examine some of the options the Braves should consider when sending him to the bench.
Nick Allen
Allen, 26, was acquired in a November trade with the Athletics for minor league pitcher Jared Johnson. This move was not made to secure a new starting shortstop but rather for depth. Allen is a decent defender at short but comes with a mere .209/.254/.283 slash line and 55 OPS+ for his career.
However, Nick Allen is surprisingly tearing the cover off the ball so far in Grapefruit League play. While Spring Training stats should always be taken with a grain of salt, there may be a chance Allen has figured something out with new Braves hitting coach Tim Hyers. He carries some prospect pedigree as a former third-round pick in 2017 and has played himself into a roster spot so far. The Braves may be inclined to try him in an everyday role at some point if he keeps mashing.
Braves fans: AA, we need another SS.
AA: Shh. I’ve got this. Meet Nick Allen. #BravesCountry— Anna Huffstutler (@A_Huffstutler) March 15, 2025
Eli White
White, 30, is a similar case to Allen. He’s also a poor hitter for his MLB career and also crushing in Spring Training 2025 (10 for 26, .385/.448/.538). While he has been exclusively a bench guy with the Braves, he showed some promise when called upon last year. He posted a .282 batting average and 113 OPS+ in 39 at-bats.
The biggest issue is that White is a primary outfielder who has never played shortstop at the major league level. While that would typically rule him out for consideration to spell Arcia, he is a very good athlete, and the Braves are giving him some run at short this spring with pretty good results. He can’t be a worse offensive option than Orlando Arcia at this point, and if the Braves deem his glovework passable, he could be in the running to grab some innings at shortstop during the regular season, though it is unlikely.
Nacho Alvarez Jr.
The Braves 5th round pick in 2022 is now their 5th ranked prospect. The product of Riverside (CA) Community College got a cup of coffee with the big league club last year and… went 3 for 30 with no extra-base hits. Alvarez, 21, is a slap hitter with above average contact skills but little power and looked overmatched by big league pitching. He is 0-for-6 this spring.
Alvarez is probably not far enough along in his development to be seriously considered for this spot. These are the options the Braves have to work with. His defense also needs some work. He made 11 errors in 70 games at shortstop last year between Double-A Mississippi and Triple-A Gwinnett. Alvarez will almost certainly start the year in the minors and will need to show marked improvement to be considered for an everyday spot in the majors, even despite Arcia’s struggles.
Bo Bichette
This one is admittedly a bit out there, but we’ve seen Alex Anthopoulos take big swings before. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale wrote that the Blue Jays star is “as good as gone” when his contract expires. If true, it could prompt Toronto to trade him at some point before the deadline. Furthermore, Bleacher Report teased the idea of a Bichette-to-the-Braves trade at multiple points this offseason.
Bichette has a proven track record and would cost a premium, even as a one-year rental. This would almost certainly mean the Braves parting with one of their big 3 pitching prospects (Cam Caminiti, AJ Smith-Shawver, Hurston Waldrep). Anthopoulos is highly unlikely to make such a move, but it’s fun to dream about a top-three lineup adding a two-time AL hits leader.
Main Photo Credits: Brett Davis-Imagn Images
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