With the recent departure of Jonathan Lucroy, Will Smith, and Jeremy Jeffress, the Milwaukee Brewers undoubtedly have some holes to fill.
Shortly after the trade deadline closed on Monday, the team announced the promotion of catcher Manny Piña, as well as recalling David Goforth from Triple-A.
The biggest news, however, was the promotion of the team’s top prospect, shortstop Orlando Arcia.
Prior to the 2016 season, Arcia was rated as Baseball America’s No. 8 Prospect, MLB’s No. 6, and BaseballProspectus.com’s No. 12 overall. This year at Triple-A Colorado Springs, he has put together a solid season, batting .267/.320/.403 with eight home runs, 53 runs batted in, and 15 stolen bases.
His past indicates that he may also have room for improving on what he’s already accomplished this year, as he has a .281/.341/.408 career slash line between his time in the minors and the Venezuelan Winter League. He’s also averaged 25 stolen bases per minor league season since his arrival in Single-A ball.
Despite impressive numbers across the board, Arcia’s power may be the most promising element of his development. Since joining the Brewers Single-A Wisconsin team in 2013, he has consistently upped his power every year, even if only a modest percentage. That production culminated this year at eight home runs in 100 games, the same number he put up in 2015 in 129 games.
If he is able to maintain that pace within the hitter-friendly confines of Miller Park, there’s a chance he could be looking at somewhere around 12 home runs with 87 RBI on the year.
Of course, none of this takes into consideration adjusting at the major league level, but considering even half of that would be a relatively productive season for a shortstop, plus his excellent glove work, the Brewers could be looking at a dynamic infield on both sides of the plate, especially with the addition of Villar.
Since Arcia’s arrival on Tuesday, manager Craig Counsell has shuffled the infield around to accommodate him. Villar has been shifted over to third and Hernan Perez, the hot-hitting third baseman has been moved into the outfield in order to secure him continued playing time.
Arcia started at shortstop in his first major league appearance Tuesday night against the San Diego Padres, going 0-4 with three groundouts and a strikeout.
Jonathan Powell is the Brewers Staff Writer for Outside Pitch MLB. Follow me on Twitter @JP_OPSN.
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