Every great baseball career has its ups and downs. It is a simple fact of life. You could even say that a baseball career isn’t complete if it doesn’t have the trajectory of a roller coaster. The career of Orlando Arcia is no exception. Arcia rose to the level of a top 5 prospect in all of baseball and is now on thin ice with the organization that he was set to save just years before.
Orlando Arcia was once considered to be the future face of the Milwaukee Brewers organization, but now five years later may not even be an everyday starter. Here’s a look at the career of Orlando Arcia to this point:
Past
It’s been 6 years since the Brewers began their last major rebuild. It seems so long ago. The Brewers were coming off of a massive collapse to miss the playoffs in a 2014 season. They led the NL Central for 5 months, General Manager Doug Melvin had fired Manager Ron Reonicke, and replaced him with Craig Counsell. Melvin stepped down months later.
As a result, the rebuild came a lot of young talent. This included Brett Phillips, Lewis Brinson, Mauricio Dubon and Jordan Yamamoto, all of which led to the teams current success. Of all of that great talent was one that stood above the rest, his name was Orlando Arcia.
Arcia was signed by the Milwaukee Brewers in late 2010 as a 16 year old free agent from Venezuela. He began his professional career with the Dominican Summer League Brewers in 2011. That summer he had a great start to his career, slashing .294/.386/.459. By 2013 he found himself with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers.
In the 2013 season, his first professional season in the United States, Arcia took a slight step back, slashing .251/.314/.333. Despite that, he was able to advance further in the organization, beginning the 2014 season in High A Bernard County.
Arcia took a step up at the plate in 2014, with a slash line of .289/.346/.392. He also began to turn some heads back in Milwaukee, as he began to show up on Brewer’s prospect reports and lists. Being as high as #3 on the Fansided “Milwaukee Brewers’ Top 15 Prospects In 2014” article from March 2014. His performance in 2014 earned him a spot in AA Biloxi the next season.
2015-2017
2015 was very good to Orlando Arcia. He finally broke out at the plate, slashing .307/.347/.453. That mixed with his stellar fielding ability and athleticism got him noticed on the national level. Arcia was listed at #12 on MLB.com’s 2015 prospect watch. He was up there with current all stars Dansby Swanson and Trea Turner. He was also selected for the 2015 All Star Futures Game in Cincinnati. His monster year in AA propelled him to AAA Colorado Springs. He was also named the Brewers 2015 Minor League Player of the Year.
The 2016 season was Arcia’s final season in the Minor Leagues. He hit .267 in 100 games. He was called up to the Brewers on August 2, 2016. Arcia would replace Jonathan Villar as the teams everyday shortstop. In the 55 games Arcia played in the bigs in 2016 he slashed .219/.273/.358 . Although the 2016 Brewers weren’t a playoff contender, they had a lot of young talent that could eventually lead to success in the future.
In 2017, the Brewers had some decent expectations and completely outplayed them. So did Orlando Arcia. Arcia had a breakout year in 2017, slashing .277/.324/.407 in 153 games as the Brewers would get red hot early on and barely miss the postseason by one game. This season looked to cement Arcia as the Brewers’ shortstop of the future.
2018-2019
2018 was a great season for the Brewers, but not for Orlando Arcia. Arcia had a down year. He showed the same glimpses of a great glove and athleticism, but his bat cooled down significantly. He was batting .194 before being optioned to AAA Colorado Springs in late May to hopefully regain his confidence and performance at the plate. His time in AAA was a brief return to his dominance in the Minors. He his .341 in 22 games in Colorado Springs. His confidence boost was helpful as he was able to salvage his average and get it up to .236 by the end of the 2018 season.
2019 was seen as a fresh start for Orlando. He still didn’t have any real competition for SS. However, it didn’t go very well. Arcia had by far his worst season at the plate in 2019, finishing with an average of .223 and a career high 109 strikeouts.
In November of 2019 the Brewers traded RHP Zach Davies and breakout OF Trent Grisham to San Diego in exchange for LHP Eric Lauer and INF Luis Urias.
Related: Brewers Position Breakdown: Shortstop
Urias was a 22 year old SS Prospect who had previously been blocked by Fernando Tatis Jr. in San Diego. This was Arcia’s first real challenge for the starting shortstop job since being called up in late 2016. He responded well to the competition, hitting .296 in spring training. It looked as if Arcia was primed for a big year at the plate.
Unfortunately, it was all for naught. The Major League Baseball season was suspended on March 11, 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The season would not be resumed until late July. By then, the hot streak had worn off. Arcia ended up slashing .260/.317/.416. Solid, but not what was hoped with the spring he had.
Present
Coming into spring 2021, the Brewers were optimistic about Arcia. Being only 26, he still had plenty of time to figure things out. Unfortunately, Arcia did not live up to the Brewers’ optimism as he batted only .186 throughout spring training. To make the situation worse, Luis Urias batted .281 throughout spring, making the SS job his to lose.It has now been all but set that Arcia will platoon with Urias at short, with Arcia also getting some games in at third.
Future
Luckily for Orlando, he still has some opportunities. One thing that he tried out this spring was playing at third base.
The Brewers have a difficult situation at the hot corner. Coming out of the 2020 season, they didn’t really have a third baseman. The closest thing they had in 2020 was Jedd Gyorko, who they did not resign. The front office made a push for Dodgers’ 3B Justin Turner. However, he eventually chose to stay in LA. The Brewers ended up signing two external players for third base, Travis Shaw and Daniel Robertson.
Currently, the Brewers’ have four options at 3B at the beginning of the 2021 season. Those being Travis Shaw, Luis Urias, Daniel Robertson and Orlando Arcia. Those four will most likely platoon at the hot corner until a true everyday third baseman emerges among those four.
This is viewed by many as Orlando Arcia’s last real chance at being an every day starter for the Milwaukee Brewers. With Luis Urias looking to be a breakout candidate for the Brewers this season, Arcia’s best chance at being a full time starter is quickly adapt to his new home at third.
Conclusion
It’s safe to say that 2021 will be a pivotal point in Orlando Arcia’s career. Arcia’s career started with a large incline, rising as high as a 20 year old AAA prospect could go. He had a career year at the age of 23, but has stagnated since. He has time to reclaim his everyday spot at SS, but he also has a new opportunity at a new position, with the Brewer’s third baseman job being as wide open as a seat at a Marlins game.
This is one of his best and last chances to stake his claim with the Milwaukee Brewers. Lets hope his roller coaster isn’t done inclining just yet.
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