With Travis Demeritte cooling down, one guy in particular should be scooping up those extra at-bats: Orlando Arcia. The Braves’ utility man has excelled in every situation he’s been thrust into this season, and last night’s two-hit game is just the latest evidence.
Arcia needs more ABs!
— SportsTalkATL.com (@SportsTalkATL) May 26, 2022
Hard contact
Whether he gets out or the ball finds a hole, Arcia is mashing baseballs. All three of his balls put in play last night were crushed. One of his doubles had a 95 MPH exit velo, while his double-play ball and second two-bagger came in at 103 and 106 MPH, respectively. Although he hasn’t gotten enough appearances to qualify for Baseball Savant’s percentile rankings, Arcia has an otherworldly average exit velocity of 94.7 MPH. Plus, his hard hit rate is 51.9%, a stunning figure.
Readiness
Arcia seems like one of those players who steps up in big situations. After sitting on the bench for an extended amount of time, he was called on to pinch-hit in the ninth inning of a May 3rd game against the Mets. The 27-year-old delivered with a single to bring Acuña to the plate. The Braves ended up losing a tight contest, but Arcia delivered. There’s also this magnificent walk-off homer he had in Atlanta the other week, the team’s first walk-off of the season:
https://twitter.com/BravesOnBally/status/1524578414723837953
Defense won’t be Arcia’s strong-suit in the outfield, primarily because he’s been a shortstop his entire career. However, he has played outfield in several different situations for the Braves, and it’s not like this team has a bunch of stellar defensive outfielders to begin with. The drop-off will be minimal, if any.
Of course, Arcia is in line for some regression. His .423 BABIP will tell you that; however, that’s all the more reason to play him often now. With so many holes in the outfield, Brian Snitker needs to be utilizing the hot hand as much as possible until reinforcements arrive. As of today, that’s Orlando Arcia.
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Photo: Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire
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