Heading into this weekend, the Braves figured Orlando Arcia might still be 10 to 14 days away from returning.
In a stunner, the Braves activated Arcia for Sunday’s game versus the Orioles. As a corresponding move, they optioned Vaughn Grissom to Triple-A Gwinnett.
“I’m just happy,” Arcia said through interpreter Franco García on Sunday morning. “Honestly, last night I couldn’t even sleep with the idea, the excitement of just rejoining the team. So I’m just very happy.”
The obvious question: How did Arcia make it back so quickly?
On Thursday, he began taking dry swings, which is usually the first step in a hitting progression. But the Braves were on the road and couldn’t lay eyes on Arcia until Friday, when their latest homestand began. On Friday and Saturday, Arcia had a terrific workout. On Saturday, he followed it with another.
Arcia took batting practice and looked healthy enough to be activated. He was outstanding during infield drills. The key here: The fractured wrist was his left one, so he hasn’t lost any arm strength. The injury wasn’t to his legs, so he began conditioning shortly after suffering the injury and hadn’t lost any stamina.
The Braves, including infield coach Ron Washington and athletic trainers, supervised Arcia’s workouts.
They determined he was ready to return. Arcia’s recovery was impressive: He fractured his wrist on April 12 and was in a cast until April 25, when he moved to a splint. Less than two weeks later, the Braves brought him back.
“I think they were waiting to see how BP went (Saturday),” Arcia said. “I think they saw how it went, we all spoke, and then they made the decision.”
All along, the Braves had planned on Arcia at least heading out on a rehab assignment. It sounded like Arcia did some convincing. His message, in effect: Why send me on a rehab assignment? I’m ready.
He proved this during workouts. Plus, he had no pain in his left wrist. Had the Braves sent Arcia on a rehab assignment, he would’ve played on Sunday and been off on Monday – the minor leagues are off on Mondays – and the Braves figured they could just work him back into the fold with them. Atlanta is off on Monday and Thursday.
Arcia underwent follow-up testing, like another MRI, that confirmed the microfracture had healed. And when the Braves’ coaches and trainers returned from their road trip and saw Arcia with their own eyes, they believed he was ready.
Then there’s this: The Braves needed a reliable shortstop.
In 19 games, Grissom committed six errors. He didn’t always look comfortable there. He’s only 22 years old and has more developing to do, but his defense was a noticeable drop-off from Arcia’s glove.
In 65 at-bats after getting called up, Grissom hit .277 with a .622 OPS. He displayed his great bat-to-ball skills, but didn’t homer.
But really, the Braves optioning Grissom isn’t as big of a headline as you might think. It was probably coming soon.
Ehire Adrianza, on the injured list with right elbow inflammation, is eligible to return on May 12. When he’s activated, Grissom or Braden Shewmake, would’ve been sent down. The Braves still see it as best for Arcia and Adrianza to be on the big-league roster together. Grissom and Shewmake will play every day in Triple A, which is better for their development than sitting on the bench while Arcia starts every day.
For the next week, the Braves decided to keep Shewmake over Grissom. If the Braves would’ve kept Grissom, it would’ve been for his bat. But he’s a right-handed bat, just like bench players Travis d’Arnaud, Kevin Pillar and Sean Murphy (if Murphy isn’t in the lineup that day). Thus. Grissom might not have gotten many at-bats. (D’Arnaud is expected back very soon. He caught on Friday, was the designated hitter Saturday and was scheduled to catch Sunday.)
Plus, the Braves liked the idea of Shewmake experiencing the big leagues for the first time. He’ll be able to travel with the team to Toronto. He’ll be part of the advance scouting meetings. He can benefit from seeing how all of this works, even if for a week.
(The Braves briefly considered optioning both Grissom and Shewmake and recalling an experienced veteran infielder, but they figured it would be too much trouble to tinker with the 40-man roster when the infielder would’ve been on the team for only a week before Adrianza returned.)
On April 25, Arcia said he hoped to be playing again by the time the team returned for its next homestand on May 5. It seemed ambitious at the time. When he said it, he wore a splint. He had only run. He had not swung or fielded ground balls.
Maybe he knew his body best.
“I feel like you kind of have to have a good awareness of how you’re feeling and what’s going on,” Arcia said. “I think it’s fair to say if you’re not feeling well, if you’re hurting or if anything, you need to be able to voice that and if you’re feeling OK, you need to be able to voice that too.”
In Sunday’s win over Baltimore, Arcia went 1-for-4 with a double. In extra innings, he made a high-risk, high-reward play that helped the Braves eventually win the game: He fielded a ground ball and fired it to third base (instead of first) to cut down the lead runner.
Over the last couple days, Arcia felt well. He voiced that to the Braves, who then activated him.
When he was injured, Arcia was itching to get back.
“Really badly,” Arcia said. “When they told me that I had to have a cast, it was kind of discouraging just because it just feels like you’re gonna be out while. But when that happened, I just continued to work hard so I could just rejoin the team and get back as soon as possible.”
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