SS Orlando Arcia reinstated from injured list, Vaughn Grissom optioned to AAA Gwinnett

The Braves get their starting shortstop back, while Grissom gets to go work on the defense in Gwinnett

Lindsay Crosby | May 7, 2023

The Atlanta Braves this morning reinstated SS Orlando Arcia from the injured list, the team reported via twitter:

The #Braves today reinstated INF Orlando Arcia from the injured list. The club optioned INF Vaughn Grissom to Triple-A Gwinnett following last night’s game.
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) May 7, 2023

Arcia, Arcia, 28, was taken out of April 13th Reds matchup in the 2nd inning after being hit a fastball from Reds starter Hunter Green. Initial x-rays at the ballpark were negative, the team announced during the game, but follow-up testing on Thursday's off-day showed a "microfracture"of the wrist and Arcia was sidelined for just under a month with the injury.

Arcia was batting .333/.400/.511 for Atlanta with two homeruns and seven RBIs, while providing exceptional defense at the shortstop position. He was one of the bright spots in the bottom of the lineup, which had been scuffling at the plate early in the season. Arcia signed a three-year, $7.3M extension shortly after winning the shortstop job that will keep him in Atlanta through his age 31 season.

The corresponding move for Arcia's activation was the optioning of Vaughn Grissom to AAA Gwinnett. Grissom struggled both offensively and defensively during his time as the replacement SS, batting .277/.314/.308 with no homeruns and only two extra base hits during the stretch, with one caught stealing. More importantly, he struggled at shortstop, a position where Atlanta values defense. Grissom committed six errors in his eighteen games as the starting shortstop; for context, Dansby Swanson committed eight total errors in 161 games last season.

For now, with Ehire Adrianza on the injured list, Atlanta will roll with Arcia and Shewmake as the shortstop options in Atlanta, while Grissom gets everyday reps at Gwinnett to improve what has been, to this point, some of the worst defense of any starting shortstop: He's sitting in the 3rd percentile for Outs Above Average per Statcast, with -4 OAA and a success rate of only 68% (against an expected success rate of 74%). As OAA is a volume stat - the more you play, the more (or less) Outs Above Average you accumulate - it's telling that he's already 13th-worst in all of baseball (and 3rd-worst for shortstops) on the list in such a short sample size.

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