Will Nacho Alvarez Jr. Use the Arizona Fall League to Earn a MLB Job Next Spring?
A quick interview with Nacho Alvarez Jr. before Sunday night's AFL Fall Stars game
(Excited to run a freelance piece from my friend , who runs the excellent. As an Arizona resident, he’s been a constant presence at Arizona Fall League games and attended the Fall Stars game on Sunday night to talk to some Braves players for us.)
MESA – The Atlanta Braves will have some interesting decisions with their infield coming up. One of them is the future of former top prospect Nacho Alvarez Jr., a player competing for a potential role in 2026.
Alvarez got his first extended big league action during the 2025 season, filling in for an injured Austin Riley at the hot corner. In 58 games, he struggled to a .234/.296/.330 slash line with just two home runs and a 76 wRC+.
Beyond the troublesome bottom-line results, his Statcast metrics weren’t much better. While he was good at limiting chases and swing-and-miss, Alvarez struggled to make loud contact. He produced a hard-hit (exit velocity of 95 MPH or greater) rate of just 26.9% and a 1.4% barrel rate.
“There were highs and lows, but you can’t get too high, you can’t get too low,” said Alvarez on Sunday night at the Fall Stars Game. “Got to enjoy every single failure to enjoy every single success.
“I can’t go back and change everything. I’m just trying to get ready and put myself in the best position to make the team this upcoming spring.”
Since Alvarez only played 76 games between Triple-A and the major leagues in 2025, the Braves sent him to the Arizona Fall League to make up reps. He said he didn’t have anything specific to work on beyond those reps. In Arizona, he’s slashing .304/.448/.478 in 19 games. He’s played all of his games at the hot corner.
“It’s been good, honestly. The guys are amazing, play has been well. I feel like the pitching is fine, nothing crazy, but it’s nothing that I feel like was a waste of time.”
At the Fall Stars Game, Alvarez is joined by fellow Braves prospects Luke Sinnard and Pat Clohisy. Alvarez and Sinnard were initially named to the roster, while Clohisy won the Final Vote.
“There are so much talent out here, so many good players.
“It’s pretty cool to see guys that have come in after you get to play with them. Clohisy is a dog. Sinnard is a good player, he’s up there and competes every time he’s out there, that’s all you can ask for.”
Alvarez believes the lessons learned from his first extended stint in the major leagues, plus his stint in the Arizona Fall League, will help him moving forward.
Looking at the long-term picture of the Braves’ infield, Austin Riley is extended through the 2032 season. Shortstop is wide open after Ha-Seong Kim opted out to test the free agent market. Ozzie Albies is in the final year of his contract with the Braves, but the team holds a $7 million club option for 2027 if he bounces back.
It’s worth noting that Alvarez might not be viewed as a solution at short, as he never played a single game at the position. That comes despite the team trying out Orlando Arcia and Nick Allen, who put up a wRC+ of 21 and 53, respectively. Outside of the starting rotation, that may be the biggest priority to address in the offseason.
With that in mind, it’s difficult to project a role for Alvarez in 2026. He has one option remaining, so Atlanta can send him down to Triple-A Gwinnett if he doesn’t make the club. With the clock ticking, they’ll need to find something sooner rather than later.
“I got to show up ready for spring and whatever the team wants, I got to do. They haven’t told me any specific role, any specific position. Just got to show up and be a Swiss Army knife and hopefully be able to play every day on the field.”
Alvarez won’t turn 23 until next April, so it might be too early for the Braves to give up on a player who could be a starter on their infield.
The biggest rule change coming to Major League Baseball in 2026 is the introduction of the Automated Ball/Strike System (ABS). Pitchers, catchers, and hitters all have the option to challenge a called strike or ball. Each team gets two challenges, which are only burned on confirmed calls.
Having experienced it in Triple-A the past two seasons and the fall league, Alvarez doesn’t believe the ABS Challenge System is going to lead to drastic changes to how the game will flow. He feels like the umpires have been really good.
“The game is gonna be the game regardless. You just get two challenges per game. I don’t feel a certain way towards it. I think it’s good, but at the end of the day, it’s baseball.”
Alvarez believes the check swing challenge, which was tested in the Arizona Fall League the past two years and the Florida State League in 2025, needs tweaking. The current standard is the barrel being 45° ahead of the knob. Essentially, it means the bat makes a line parallel to the baseline for it to be considered a swing. Alvarez had one check swing challenge this season, which went the other way.
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