June 14, 2022
Ozzie Albies fractured his left foot in last night’s game, leaving a major hole at 2ndBase and the lineup. While he has had a mediocre start to the year at the plate, his incredible defense will be hard to replace. Albies has hit .244/.289/.405 with a .694 OPS and 8 Homers. His career line is .270/.321/.470. The reason for this cold streak has been quality of contact, as his barrel % and Hard-hit % have both nose-dived well below MLB average this year. He does have a history of struggling at the beginning of the season, however, so this drop is probably nothing to worry about. While he is injured, the Braves have no obvious replacement for him. Here are some of their in-house options.
Orlando Arcia: Arcia has hit well in limited at-bats in the Majors as a utility player this year. He currently is hitting .313/.393/.458 with an .851 OPS in 48 At Bats. This does contradict his large sample size however. He has a career .244/.296/.366 line with a .662 OPS in 1851 At Bats. That line looks remarkably similar to Albies’ this year. Arcia doesn’t have much history of power, with his highest total being 15 in 2017 and 2018, both in full years. While he will not provide much value at the plate more than likely, he does have a relatively good glove, that while not as good as Albies’, will still be valuable as a replacement. Well, at least at shortstop. Arcia has only played 22 innings at Second Base in the Majors. Thus, he doesn’t have too much of a track record there but should be moving to an easier position to play from shortstop. He has a below average Hard-hit % in his career, and an abysmal career barrel %, that is almost half of league average. He is having a fantastic year in those departments as well this season. However, it would seem more likely that you would see Arcia trend towards his career numbers.
Phil Gosselin: A name likely familiar to many Braves fans, Gosselin came up with the Braves in 2013, after being drafted by them in 2010. The Braves traded him in 2015 for Bronson Arroyo and Touki Toussaint. Well, now he’s back as a journeyman veteran who is being stashed in AAA Gwinnett. Last year was the first season he got over 300 at bats, when he hit .261/.314/.362 with a .676 OPS with 7 homers in 345 At Bats. His career numbers are eerily similar, coming in at .261/.314/.362 with a .676 OPS. You can’t make this up. It is exactly the same. He certainly won’t give you much power, even less than Arcia, but he has proven that he will make contact and won’t strike out a whole lot (he will strike out at an about league average rate). While not a terrific fielder, he is also not terrible by any means. He will give about league average defense at second base. Gosselin is apparently very fast, which I never would have guessed. According to Statcast he has elite Sprint Speed, ranking him in the 95thpercentile. This hasn’t translated into stolen bases for Gosselin, as he only has 11 in his entire career. Gosselin doesn’t hit the ball extremely hard by any metric during his career, but still nonetheless has a high career BADIP (Batting Average on Balls in Play). If the Braves are looking for someone who will make consistent contact, Gosselin may be their guy.
Kramer Robertson: A new face to the Braves organization, Robertson was claimed off waivers by the Braves this month from the Cardinals. He is 27 years old but has just one MLB At Bat. He is on the 40-man roster, unlike Gosselin, which could factor into the decision if Albies won’t be placed on the 60-Day Injured List. His career line in the Minors is .247/.359/.368 with a .727 OPS. He has drawn a significant amount of walks consistently enough to make him a considerable option. He doesn’t have much power, as usual with a utility infielder which Arcia, Gosselin, and now Robertson have proven. Robertson has only played 141 innings at second base in his career, so he doesn’t have much of a track record there either. I think Arcia or Gosselin would be a more reliable option for a Braves team looking to catch up with the Mets.
Hernan Perez: Another former Brewer like Arcia, Perez has spent a lot of time at Second Base over the years. In Perez’s career, he has hit .250/.280/.382 with a .662 OPS, which just so happens to be the same as Orlando Arcia’s OPS (there has been a lot of these little things coming up in the stats hasn’t there). Perez hasn’t had a full season since 2017, when he hit .259/.289/.386 with a .704 OPS. He has a respectable glove at second base, third base, and the outfield, making him a true utility player. He has a good amount of speed as well. Back in 2016 he stole 34 bases for the Brewers. Perez has had a low Barrel and Hard-hit percentage for his career. He has also had an extremely low Walk %. While this would likely explain why he’s in AAA, he could be a respectable stop-gapper for Albies.
I expect Arcia to fill in at Second Base, but they will need an extra infielder on the bench to fill his spot. In that case, I would expect Robertson to come up unless Albies goes to the 60-day IL. Gosselin is however hitting quite well in AAA so far, with a line of .297/.358/.473 with a .830 OPS. Perez is not hitting nearly as well if you were wondering. Another option could be one of their top prospects Braden Shewmake, but I expect him to stay in Gwinnett for more development. Arcia is certainly the most likely to start out of everybody mentioned.