Could Braves bring back Nacho Alvarez soon?

Prospect fatigue in baseball is a real thing. Young players get hot on the farm, become heralded as the next major-league star, and then a rough patch often leads to them being cast aside completely. It’s the nature of the business. Because, more often than not, even the most highly touted prospects won’t carve out lengthy major-league careers.

Braves Country saw this most recently with AJ Smith-Shawver, who made his debut in 2023 as a 20-year-old and immediately began turning heads with his high-90s heat and punch-out capabilities. However, it wasn’t until this year, when a lot of prospect outlets stopped talking about him completely, that Smith-Shawver really started to come into his own before going down for the season with a torn UCL.

We are seeing something similar with Nacho Alvarez, who is now the organization’s top position player prospect. Last season, Alvarez was the talk of the organization on the farm. He hit nearly .300 with an .861 OPS in 64 games after being promoted to Gwinnett and was eventually called upon by the Braves as a replacement for the injured Ozzie Albies.

That cup of coffee in Atlanta didn’t exactly go like anyone had hoped. Alvarez managed to accrue -0.5 WAR in just eight games, which is almost impossible to do, by hitting .100 with a .256 OPS and not exactly setting the world on fire defensively at second base either.

Fast forward to 2025, and Alvarez began the year on the IL and did not return to Gwinnett until last week. However, in his first two games with the Stripers, he’s picked up right where he left off, racking up four hits and two walks in his first 10 plate appearances, good for an on-base percentage of .600 to go along with a 1.225 OPS.

Yes, it’s a tiny sample size. But given the state of Atlanta’s middle infield, Alvarez could get another look sooner rather than later if he keeps hitting.

As with Vaughn Grissom before him, questions remain about Alvarez’s ability to stick at shortstop defensively. That aspect of his development may ultimately be more important than what he does at the plate, as the Braves are still searching for a long-term solution at the position, but even second base has become a real concern. Ozzie Albies has been dismal in 2025, and while he’s earned some benefit of the doubt, Alvarez could start pushing for his job sooner than most expected.