The Atlanta Braves made a few surprise roster moves Monday, picking both Vaughn Grissom and Braden Shewmake for the minors. Grissom and Shewmake had been fighting for the starting shortstop job. The Braves will instead enter the season with veteran Orlando Arcia as a starter in the Six while Ehire Adrianza, who was not invited to the roster, acts as a reserve.
Grissom, a 22-year-old who made his big-league debut last season, appeared to be the favorite in the spring. He had 121 OPS+ in 41 games last year, but evaluators had reservations about his defensive ability. The 25-year-old Shewmake is considered a plus defender by comparison. Unfortunately, he hasn’t shown much offensive ability in the Upper Minors, hitting for a .715 OPS in more than 300 Triple-A plate appearances in 2022.
Expectation in the league last week plus had the Braves pick a starter between those two and then leave the others to the minors so they continue to get consistent playing time. Arcia would have been the team’s best utility infielder option in this scenario. For some reason, the Braves decided to deviate from that approach.
As a result, the pressure to replace production from Dansby Swanson – and to excuse the lack of an outside complement to the position – will be on Arcia. Swanson signed a seven-year contract with the Cubs in the winter after spending the first seven years in Atlanta.
28-year-old Arcia is a few years away from his final stint as a starting shortstop. That came in 2020 with the Milwaukee Brewers. He joined the Braves in an April trade the following spring and has since hit .237/.308/.398 (94 OPS+) with 11 homers in 99 games with Atlanta. Arcia has filled a super utility role during this time, making only one appearance at Shortstop in 2022. It seems he’s going to get a good number more in the coming year, at least for starters.