Do the Braves Already Have Their Answer at Shortstop in Triple-A?

Jim Jarvis isn’t a top prospect, but his bat-to-ball skills and recent power surge are getting hard to ignore

There’s been no shortage of digital ink spilled about what the Atlanta Braves will do at shortstop next season. Both veteran Ha-Seong Kim, currently sidelined with a finger injury, and utilityman Mauricio Dubón will be free agents after this season.

What if the Braves had an option in-house? One that could be ready for the majors sooner than prospects John Gil or Alex Lodise, both of whom are in the lower minors to start 2026.

Let’s talk about Jim Jarvis.

Modest beginnings

Jarvis wasn’t originally an Atlanta draft pick. A standout, ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove-winning defender at the University of Alabama, he was taken in the 11th-round of the 2023 draft by the Detroit Tigers. He had only modest success for Detroit before being dealt last fall, hitting just .244 with eight homers and not advancing past Double-A.

But the Braves saw something in the former Crimson Tide shortstop, requesting that he be the return for reliever Rafael Montero at last season’s trade deadline.

Or more accurately, they saw what he could become, because Atlanta immediately began implementing changes. Injuries seemed to get in the way, with Jarvis’s season ending early after being hit in the face by a pitch on August 28th. The timing mayve have helped, however, because it gave Jarvis an early start on the swing changes.

“After I got injured, I went down to Florida, had some good conversations with them, and then I’m just trying to work on stuff now,” he told MLB.com while in the Arizona Fall League. “It's kind of positioning stuff and just like the way I'm setting up, trying to be in less of a steep angle.”

Watching Jarvis at Alabama as compared to this season, it’s easy to see his transformation.

Here’s Jarvis singling against Nicholls in the 2023 regionals, flashing an uppercut swing.

This swing wasn’t bad, per se - Jarvis struck out just 12.7% of the time in his final season for the Crimson Tide, but draft profiles of Jarvis classified him as a “bit of a slap hitter” due to his below-average raw power. It was a swing geared for maximum damage in the air, but without the requisite base of power to match.

Atlanta’s overhaul flattened out the swing, choosing to prioritize gap power and line drives instead of selling out for the fences.

Here’s a shot of Jarvis singling on Wednesday versus Memphis and top Cardinals pitching prospect Tink Hence:

It’s a much flatter swing with the hands closer in to the body, one that has resulted in an increase in slugging due to line drive-derived extra base hits. In Double-A Erie with the Tigers last year, Jarvis slugged just .336 with 19 extra-base hits in 310 plate appearances. But in his 20 games in Triple-A, Jarvis is slugging .573, with eight extra-base hits (including three homers) in just 87 plate appearances entering Thursday’s action. His .394 batting average is third in the International League, while his 188 wRC+ is fourth.

And that swing change hasn’t resulted in significantly more swing and miss, with Jarvis logging a 94th percentile 14.2% whiff rate in 2026 and a 15.8% strikeout rate. The underlying power still looks below average, with Jarvis putting up an EV90 of just 100.2mph, 30th percentile in baseball per Prospect Savant. The success of the swing change just reinforces that shooting for massive power totals isn’t his game.

SIDEBAR: “EV90” refers to a player’s 90th percentile exit velocity — the threshold where only the hardest-hit 10% of their batted balls exceed that number. It’s a more reliable measure of power than max exit velocity, which can be inflated by one perfectly squared-up swing. In my experience, EV90 better reflects how often a hitter produces consistent impact contact, giving a much clearer picture of real power. MLB average EV90 is roughly 104 mph.

Instead, selectivity and quality zone contact are the hallmarks of Jarvis’ offensive game. Even without an elite walk rate, sitting at just 11.8% (slightly above average for Triple-A), Jarvis holds a zone contact rate of 91.36%, one of the best marks at the level. He accomplishes this through excellent discipline, posting one of the lowest overall swing rates (41.91%) and zone-swing rates (59.12%) in all of Triple-A.

Going through the small sample size of his performance against various pitch types in 2026, Jarvis has shown the ability to consistently handle fastballs, hitting .500 with a miniscule 1.9% whiff rate on four-seamers. Offspeed pitches, however, appear to be a concern for Jarvis, with the lefty hitter whiffing 39.1% of the time off of changeups during his time in AAA.

The question that will determine whether he is a starter or a utility piece is where the power ultimately settles. Can he maintain a 10-homer profile in the majors? 23 shortstops hit that mark in 2025, with only eight players logging more than 100 games but not getting at least ten homers. ¹

Baseball America isn’t as high on his slugging, writing in this year’s scouting report that his offensive value will be “driven almost entirely” by his ability to make contact, owing to “well below-average power”. Projecting him at #28 in Atlanta’s system entering the year, they argue that the lack of power will “cap Jarvis’ upside” but that he can “have value in a utility infield role.”

Can he be a utility man?

If Jarvis can’t maintain the power production and does fall back to be a multi-position backup, he at least has the experience to be successful. Jarvis has the most time at shortstop in his post-prep career, logging 1,483.2 innings at the position, but has also covered second base (382.1 innings) and third base (451.0 innings) through both college and the minors.

Defense is one of the hardest things to evaluate without a massive sample size, but in the innings I’ve seen, Jarvis appeared to be a reliable, steady defender at shortstop with both decent enough range and the requisite arm strength to stick at the position in the majors. While I don’t think he’ll win a Gold Glove, he won’t be a liability there, either. His natural reactions make him an above-average defender on the left side of the infield.

He hasn’t logged outfield innings in college, the Cape Cod Summer League, or in the minors. His baseball instincts and knowledge would likely help with this transition, however, if the Braves were to pursue it.

Jarvis is also improving as a baserunner. After going just 14-19 on stolen base attempts last season, the shortstop is already 12-0 for the Stripers in 2026. He’s reportedly been clocked at 6.60 seconds in the 60-yard dash, which would translate to roughly 88th percentile speed of 27.28 ft/sec in the majors.

That speed applied to Atlanta’s 2026 roster would tie him for fourth-fastest player with Ozzie Albies, behind only Eli White (30.3 ft/sec), Jorge Mateo (29.6 ft/sec), and Michael Harris (27.6 ft/sec).

Can he force the issue?

For a team that’s spent years building a roster around stars, the next solution might be a little quieter.

Jarvis doesn’t have to hit 25 home runs. He doesn’t need to. If he controls the zone, sprays line drives, plays steady defense, and adds value on the bases, he fits. And if the power settles just high enough to keep pitchers honest, he fits even better.

That’s the bet Atlanta is making.

And if they’re right, the answer at shortstop might not be a free agent signing or a headline trade.

It might be a former 11th-round pick who quietly rebuilt his swing and played his way into the conversation.

1. Here’s your requisite Nick Allen note. No MLB shortstops had more plate appearances last year without a homer than Allen’s 416. In fact, not only did he not have a home run, he didn’t record a barrel.