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Arcia

Arcia laced a line drive double to right field off Jack Flaherty that cleared the bases and gave the Braves a 4-1 lead. The route was on after that as Atlanta cruised to a 10- victory. Arcia made the All-Star team in 2023 and has unsurprisingly taken a step back this season. He has a respectable 16 home runs, but he’s hitting .220 with a .635 OPS and 45 RBI on the year.

This was Arcia’s first multi-homer game since 2019 as the Braves, somehow, continued to roll. Arcia has had a poor season by all accounts with just a .654 OPS, 15 homers, and 41 RBI in 130 games, but continues to play every day as Atlanta has been decimated by injuries.

Arcia’s home run was his 13th of the season. He hit a solo shot off Jake Irvin in the fifth inning. Arcia is hitting just .225 this year, but his .254 BABIP nearly 30 points lower than his career .283 BABIP and almost 50 points lower than the .301 BABIP he had in 2023 when he hit .264. He’s picked it up lately going 23-for-93 (.247) with six home runs and 10 RBI over his last 26 games. Arcia is best used in NL-Only leagues.

Arcia’s deep fly accounted for the Braves’ only runs as well as their only extra-base hit. Interestingly, he seemed to stare down Bryce Harper as he rounded first base presumably after their dust-up during last year’s NLDS. That is definitely a choice during an August regular season game.

After four months as one of the league’s worst hitters, Arcia has suddenly homered four times in six games, raising his OPS from .588 to .641. We still wouldn’t rush to pick him up in mixed leagues, but the Braves have to be pretty thrilled.

Arcia turned a 2-1 lead into a 4-1 cushion when he socked a two-run homer off Matt Waldron. The shortstop has mostly scuffled in 2024, as the two-hit game still has his overall line at a disappointing .212/.246/.338 through Atlanta’s first 93 games.

The Braves are pretty aggressive with promotions, and it’s worth wondering if they might decide to give 21-year-old Nacho Alvarez Jr. a chance to replace Arcia after the break. A trade for an upgrade also wouldn’t be too difficult to pull off. After all, Arcia is hitting just .208/.243/.327, and it’s not like he’s particularly strong defensively.

The 29-year-old shortstop missed each of the Braves’ last three contests due to an abscessed tooth and an infection that went along with it. Thankfully, he’s feeling much better on Friday and ready to return to action. He’ll start at shortstop and bat ninth against Aaron Nola and the Phillies on Friday evening in Atlanta.

Arcia hasn’t played since last weekend and underwent a dental procedure earlier this week to address an abscessed tooth. The 29-year-old shortstop figures to be ready to return at some point in the coming days.

Arcia had his abscessed tooth extracted on Tuesday but is still dealing with an infection and wasn’t quite ready to go on Wednesday. Zack Short will draw another start in his place at shortstop and will bat ninth against Jordan Hicks and the Giants on Wednesday evening in Atlanta.