Orlando Arcia's Hitting Ability (And/Or the Lack There of)

[JohnBriggs12]

To me Arcia has never looked overmatched at the plate. I'm confident he'll hit. He's got the tools to be an offensive force. Batting in the 8 spot is tough.

[monty57]

Brewers brass doesn't just look at stat lines and I'm glad they don't.

 

I'm sure someone in management is aware of the .220 avg / .272 OBP / .352 SLG / .624 OPS line he's posted since being called up.

 

I don't get why Arcia would be immune to potentially being sent down. It happens to prospects (and even vets) all the time. No one would suggest giving up on him, as he is a potentially elite talent, but it is possible that he could benefit from some more time in the minors.

 

I personally would rather have him for another year in his prime, when he is hopefully one of the premiere SS in the game rather than wasting service time watching him struggle in the majors as a 21/22 year old.

 

Hindsight is 20/20, but we probably could have got just as good of play out of Rivera if we had made him our starting SS instead of Arcia last year. Meanwhile, Arcia would likely be better prepared this year to come up as the "shortstop of the future," and we would have one more year of his prime under team control. That obviously didn't happen, but right now we have to look at what is best for Arcia as a player and the Brewers as a franchise over the long term. If he continues to hit the way he has, then there is a possibility that sending him down for a while is in the best interest of both him and the team long-term.

[homer]

That one AB where he took the ball to right field looked great. Then there were a few swings where he was stepping in a bucket and not staying with the pitch. I think he just needs time and experience.

[Jenkins5]

Arcia with another could hits tonight! Even if he is not a star or even that great with the bat right now. He needs a long lease. Let him go through the struggles & learn. We wanted him to be Lindor coming up but his bat is behind. That is what a rebuild process is for. He is will be 22 almost all season. Defensively alone he is an asset to this team. His bat isn't going to be what keeps us from contention this season. All we are looking for is growth from last year. If he hits .240 & can manage a .300 obp. That is encouraging to me. Needs get those walks which is a struggle. Get back to lower K totals that he had in minors, and just put ball in play & see what happens. One thing is he's been battling up there and making pitchers throw a lot of pitches to him. That's a good start.

[JohnBriggs12]

Given the choice of Arica or Addison Russell for the long haul, I'm taking Arcia. Seriously. Arcia runs better and is a tad more athletic. Eventually he'll hit for average too. Russell right now has the power edge but that's more because Arcia hasn't grown into his body like Russell has.

 

I laughed out loud when I heard Len Kasper predict Russell for a string of gold gloves on the radio the other day. Russell isn't the best defensive SS in the division much less the NL.

[Ennder]

Well Arcia certainly was brought up too early, it made no sense bringing him up last season other than maybe to placate fans since we were trading so many guys away. Now that he is up I don't think you send him back down though. You realize you wasted a year or two of his value and move on. He is definitely showing improvements.

[JohnBriggs12]

Well Arcia certainly was brought up too early, it made no sense bringing him up last season other than maybe to placate fans since we were trading so many guys away. Now that he is up I don't think you send him back down though. You realize you wasted a year or two of his value and move on. He is definitely showing improvements.

 

For player with his talent, the only way he reaches his ceiling as a hitter is to be facing the best. The other factor at play is a team like the Brewers absolutely cannot have all their top young talent with the same expiration date. Then what do you do? Brewers will obviously look to lock him up in a year or two with a multi year deal, and they'll have the payroll at a level where they can do that, not just with him.

[JosephC]

With Thames smacking the ball around it's about time to drop him down in the lineup. I'd like to see Arcia get moved to the #2 spot. From the OBP perspective it makes no sense, .281 is just too low to be hitting early in the lineup. But this is a rebuilding club, and right now the #1 priority is developing the young players. I'd love to see if Arcia looks any different with a legitimate bat hitting behind him. Give it a three week audition and see what happens.

[pacopete4]

With Thames smacking the ball around it's about time to drop him down in the lineup. I'd like to see Arcia get moved to the #2 spot. From the OBP perspective it makes no sense, .281 is just too low to be hitting early in the lineup. But this is a rebuilding club, and right now the #1 priority is developing the young players. I'd love to see if Arcia looks any different with a legitimate bat hitting behind him. Give it a three week audition and see what happens.

 

 

I don't understand? Because Thames is hitting, you want to move him down?

[adambr2]

I actually think Arcia is a good 9 spot candidate to hit the pitcher 8th with the kind of power that the Brewers have at 1-3, but I don't see Counsell doing that.

[Ennder]

With Thames smacking the ball around it's about time to drop him down in the lineup. I'd like to see Arcia get moved to the #2 spot. From the OBP perspective it makes no sense, .281 is just too low to be hitting early in the lineup. But this is a rebuilding club, and right now the #1 priority is developing the young players. I'd love to see if Arcia looks any different with a legitimate bat hitting behind him. Give it a three week audition and see what happens.

 

The 2nd spot in the batting order is where your best pure hitter should play. Braun is comfortable at #3 so I understand not moving him up but there is no reason at all to move Thames down.

 

I'm not a huge fan of Arcia batting 8th but it is a deep lineup so I get it. I would bat him in front of the C personally or as mentioned above bat him 9th with the P 8th.

[JosephC]

I can appreciate that moving Thames down two spots in the order probably costs him roughly 50 plate appearances over the course of a season but currently the three guys hitting in front of him most days are Arcia (.281 OBP), 9th spot (.125 OBP) and Villar (.224 OBP). Getting Braun in front of him should result in more baserunners when Thames is coming to the plate. I also think in the long-term Shaw is probably fits best in the 6th or 7th spot in the lineup. It would be an opportune time to stick Santana between Thames and Shaw with the way he's been hitting.

 

But all of that is the resulting shakeout of trying to get a legitimate bat behind Arcia to see how he responds. I wouldn't consider moving Thames at all of Arcia wasn't in the equation. But with the way Thames and Santana have been hitting, it seems like the time is right to try a Villar-Arcia-Braun-Thames-Santana-Shaw lineup. The teams been playing well, so if the primary concern is wins then the lineup isn't altered. But if the mindset is still in the rebuilding mode, I think it's a good time to move the lineup around and see how players respond to hitting in a different spot.

 

I also think the idea of hitting the pitcher eighth, Arcia 9th and having Villar behind him is a good one.

[jerichoholicninja]

At his ceiling Arcia isn't even a 2 hitter. No point in putting him there now.

[tmwiese55]

Not really a fan of Arcia's approach at the plate. Seems way too upright and a long swing that he has to start early, seems like anytime he takes a pitch it's a check swing. No way I'd put him at 2 right now. Villar will be fine at leadoff and then there will be plenty on in front of Thames. However, if someone else does start hitting well (say Broxton) to warrant a move to the top then sure move Thames to 4th. Otherwise why rock the boat. As of now the only person that would warrant that would be the C Pina. Also, if Santana keeps doing well he could be a good #2 actually. Takes a ton of pitches so gives Villar a chance to steal. Should take enough walks for a good OBP in front of Braun/Thames.

 

Basically, I'm not in favor of putting a guy #2 who's hitting badly just because he was listed as a top prospect. At least as of now when the team is competing. Get to later in the year when they're way out of it then do whatever you want to experiment with.

[stoutdude04]

Apparently they have already started to change his stance at the plate by moving his hands down. I am sure it is going to take some repetitions to get used to the new stance.

[monty57]

I think CC went with the order he did in order to sandwich Braun between two LH bats. Braun destroys LHP, and this gives him a pretty good chance of facing LH relievers late in games.

 

I could get on board with batting Arcia 9th, with the pitcher batting 8. No way I'd move him to #2 at this point.