The Atlanta Braves appeared to have a surprise answer at the shortstop position in Jim Jarvis. The career minor leaguer offered a .279 batting average in July and allowed the Braves to put Mauricio Dubon in left field and put Ha-Seong Kim on the bench. However, this hasn't played out as hoped over the last weeks of the season, as Jarvis is sporting a .071 average in the month of August heading into this weekend's action. The lack of contact and ability to drive the ball has left little question that the page has to be turned from the current starting lineup.
Jarvis was a great story and deserved to stay in the lineup as long as July's results continued. Now that things have tanked, there is no choice but to attempt to put Dubon back at shortstop and give Kim a handful of starts in hope of the veteran breathing life back into his career. Atlanta is simply in too important of a position to risk losing postseason positioning.
The franchise is competing with the Milwaukee Brewers and Los Angeles Dodgers for one of the two best records in the National League and the chance at a playoff bye. Jarvis isn't playing winning baseball right now, and the Braves are hardly in a position where they can simply sit back and hope that things are going to change. There needs to be a sense of urgency, and this requires benching the struggling infielder.
Braves Have no Choice but to Bench Jim Jarvis After Recent Rough Stretch
It should be pointed out here as well that the decision to part ways with Jorge Mateo is hardly aging well, as it would have been another potential wildcard at the position. As things currently stand, the most sensible answer is putting Dubon back in the infield and working with a combination of Lane Thomas and Mike Yastrzemski to answer left field. Manager Walt Weiss has been consistent in riding with the hot hand, and that should be the expectation here.
For Jarvis, it is a frustrating end to what is a fun story, but it does appear that pitching has caught up to the struggling infielder. Whether there are any adjustments to be made is up for debate, what cannot be debated is Atlanta's need for urgency and the lack of patience Jarvis is inspiring.
Dubon back at short makes the most sense and gives Weiss the most options, managing his current outfield. As great as it would be to have another consistent option in the outfield, we are far past the trade deadline, and there doesn't appear to be an obvious minor league answer, leaving the team simply hoping for the best from its current options.
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