Atlanta Braves fans baffled as Orlando Arcia named Opening Day shortstop, Vaughn Grissom sent to Triple-A: "This is insane" "Didn’t see that coming"
The Atlanta Braves pulled off a stunner Monday, naming Orlando Arcia as the team's opening day shortstop and sending both Vaughn Grissom and Braden Shewmake to Triple-A.
Grissom had been figured to take over as the team's starting shortstop this season after the free-agency departure of Dansby Swanson to the Chicago Cubs. While Grissom has played mostly second base in his career, he sparkled in a 41-game major league debut last season, hitting .291 with five home runs, 18 RBIs, 24 runs and five stolen bases.
#Braves will go with Orlando Arcia as their Opening Day shortstop, and will option both Braden Shewmake and Vaughn Grissom to Triple A. Ehire Adrianza is the utility infielder.
Instead, it will be Arcia. A formerly heralded prospect of the Milwaukee Brewers, Arcia has yet to distinguish himself in seven years at the major league level. Atlanta acquired him in a 2021 trade.
Needless to say, Atlanta Braves fans were not enthused by the news.
Didn’t see that coming twitter.com/dobrienatl/sta…
This does not spark joy twitter.com/dobrienatl/sta…
This is straight up the incorrect decision twitter.com/dobrienatl/sta…
Arcia, 28, has a .243 batting average over seven major league seasons. In 99 games with the Braves in 2021 and 2022, he is hitting a paltry .237. His best season came in 2017, his first full season in Milwaukee, when he hit .277 with 15 home runs and 14 stolen bases over 153 games.
He hasn't recaptured that magic since, and Braves fans are not giving him much benefit of the doubt.
Nah man this is insane Arcia hasn’t done shit to earn this job twitter.com/dobrienatl/sta…
Two years too late for my Arcia deep sleeper hype. Arcia is fascinating in that he's a much more intriguing hitter now than he used to be, but it doesn't matter much because he's lost range and speed. I don't see him working out as a regular shortstop. twitter.com/DOBrienATL/sta…
Dansby Swanson to Orlando Arcia...
*gulp* twitter.com/DOBrienATL/sta…
The Braves are an exciting, young team – and Grissom, 22, seemed to fit into that mold perfectly after joining outfielder Michael Harris Jr. as two of the team's 2022 call-ups that handled big league play splendidly.
It's unsure if Atlanta felt that Grissom needed more time to work on perfecting shortstop – Ozzie Albies has second base locked down – of if there's something else that the team is not making public for why the talented youngster is heading back to the minors.
I have to admit I'm crestfallen over Grissom not starting the season with the big club. twitter.com/DOBrienATL/sta…
I’ll take Vaughn Grissom thank you very much. twitter.com/dobrienatl/sta…
So strange…don’t know what else Vaughn needed to do to earn the starting job. twitter.com/dobrienatl/sta…
Most fans figured that the entire reason why the Braves didn't make a bigger push to retain Dansby Swanson this offseason was the emergence of Grissom. However, with Grissom now heading back to Triple-A, Braves fans have no idea why their team didn't make more of a play to keep Swanson in Atlanta.
Disaster. All you had to do @Braves was give Dansby a competitive offer. Now this is where we’re at 🤦🏻♂️ twitter.com/dobrienatl/sta…
Atlanta Braves now have two top prospect shortstops at Triple-A
The Atlanta Braves now have a pair of top prospect shortstops at Triple-A. Joining Grissom in demotion is Shewmake. The 25-year-old Shewmake was a first-round pick of the Braves in 2019 and made his Triple-A debut in 2022 – hitting .259 with seven home runs and 25 RBIs in 76 games.