The Atlanta Braves activated Orlando Arcia before Sunday’s game and optioned Vaughn Grissom back to Triple-A. The Braves chose to keep Braden Shewmake to fill in for Ehire Adrianza while he is sidelined.

The reason we say the Braves were in a hurry to option Vaughn Grissom to Gwinnett is because they didn’t even give Arcia a rehab assignment despite not playing since April 12.

The Braves didn’t want to go another day without the veteran, due in part to the unfortunate ineffectiveness of Vaughn Grissom.

How Bad Has Vaughn Grissom Been?

Vaughn Grissom is committed an error in Saturday’s game that tied him for third in all of baseball among shortstops. This is a very dubious achievement considering he has only played in just 18 games this year.

In those 18 games, Grissom has posted an unfortunate -6 defense runs saved above average, according to Baseball-Reference.com. That puts him on a pace of -46 defensive runs saved above average over 135 games. It just doesn’t look like this kid is major-league shortstop… at least not yet.

On the flipside, he had not given the Braves a tradeoff with offensive production. Through 70 plate appearances, Grissom’s .622 OPS was 30% lower than a league-average hitter in 2023.

I dare you to take a look at his Baseball Savant page…

Were the Braves in a Rush to Send Grissom to Triple-A?

Yes, they certainly were. He was creating a massive hole at one of the most important positions in the game. The Braves didn’t care if Arcia had time to get his legs under him or get bat in a groove. They knew whatever ever he is currently capable of would be a significant upgrade over the damage Grissom had been doing.

It’s not the way we had hoped it would go and we wish Grissom the best of luck in regaining his form in Triple-A. Remember, Grissom was mashing in Gwinnett prior to the call up with a 1.044 OPS.