Recently Acquired Shortstop Potential Answer to Braves Position Woes

It's the month of September, and that marked the first time this season that a home run came from someone who has played shortstop for the team. 

Nick Allen, Orlando Arcia, Luke Williams and Vidal Brujan have started a combined 138 games at the position this year. None went yard. Jonathan Ornelas also saw action at the position. No dice, either.

Kim got his first home run as a Brave in his second time being penciled into the lineup. 

So far through two games, he’s 3-for-8 with the aforementioned home run, three RBIs and a 1.125 OPS. It’s a minuscule sample size. Frankly, it’s way too small to make any judgment outside of one notion: There’s some hope here.

They might have found someone who can both provide some offense along with strong defense and speed.

Kim wasn’t picked up as a one-month bridge to the offseason. He’s likely getting starting reps at shortstop the rest of the way and could be the starter for next season as well.

He’s battled injuries for much of the season, and his offensive production has suffered as a result. Before arriving in Atlanta, he had batted .214 with a .612 OPS in 24 games with the Tampa Bay Rays, the worst offensive showing of his career. 

It’s the first time he’s played fewer than 117 games in a season, and that was during his rookie season. He played more than 150 games twice in his four seasons, indicating he can mostly stay healthy. 

The reason he missed time last season was right shoulder inflammation, holding him to 121 games played. Sure enough, he had surgery for it, and he missed the beginning of this season, too. In theory, that should be behind him now. 

How his lower back fares is something we’ll have to wait and see on, but it wasn’t a long-term ailment. He went on the 10-day injured list and was activated by the Braves right when he was eligible. 

The last question is, will he stay? That's his choice only.

He has a $16-million player option for 2026. Based on his season, he’s likely to pick it up for the security, but there are no guarantees. If he has a good September and is healthy, he might be able to sell that he’s good going forward on the open market.

Again, it's not a strong selling point, but it provides a reason why he might not stay for next season.

It's also a lot to speculate after a couple days, but the offseason isn't too far away. It speeds up the discussion timeline a bit.

For now, the Braves can sit back and be happy because a potential answer, in a way, fell into their laps ahead of an offseason with a thin shortstop market.

More From Atlanta Braves on SI