Jorge Mateo has been designated for assignment, and thus ends the Braves’ shortstop dilemma. For now.
Mateo, 31, played in 65 games for the Braves after signing a one-year, $1 million contract with the club in January. He started 38 games, hit .240, stole 10 bases, drove in 11 runs and hit four homers while becoming a valuable commodity in the clubhouse.
In a five-game stretch in May, Mateo hit .368 and appeared to have taken the shortstop job for his own. However, he hit just .120 since then.
On Monday, Ha-Seong Kim, who has done little to earn the $20-million contract he was given in the offseason (by no total fault of his own because of injury), was reinstated from his rehab assignment. That left the Braves with Kim, Mateo, rookie Jim Jarvis and utility man Mauricio Dubón as options at shortstop.
Mateo was the odd-man out.
“(Mateo) did a really nice job for us, but the playing time had dried up for him,” Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos said. “We ultimately elected to go with Kim.”
Kim, 30, has played in 27 games this season for the Braves. In his 82 plate appearances, he has five hits and nine walks and 22 strikeouts. In the field at shortstop he has made three errors.
On July 4, Kim was placed on the 10-day injured list with inflammation of his right middle finger, the same finger that was operated on in January after a slip and fall on a patch of ice in Kim’s native Korea. In 16 games, first with the Florida Complex League Braves and then at Triple-A Gwinnett, Kim went 11-for-51 (.216) with 11 walks and 11 strikeouts.
Anthopoulos hinted that Kim won’t necessarily be the starting shortstop when the season resumes Tuesday.
“He’s a guy that’s been a successful player in the past. Obviously, was playing shortstop. Was signed to play shortstop. That changed with the performance. He’s a guy that’s played second, played third,” Anthopoulos said. “His career and back of the baseball card, he’s more accomplished and more established than (Mateo). And that’s not to disparage (Mateo). I mean that’s just reality of careers and so on.
“And I think just across the board, we ultimately were going to go with him. That was always in the plans that we were going to go with him. He was always going to be back.”
Jim Jarvis entered the chat July 2, quickly winning the adoration of fans with his hustle, effort and attitude — and it has helped he has hit .267 while playing flashy, albeit mistake-prone at times, defense since his second call-up began.
But Jarvis may not be the starter at shortstop moving forward either. Dubón, with a 1.7 WAR and .261 average, who has gained popularity for being the team’s most-clutch hitter, could slide back into the position where he has already logged 38 games this season.
And it has to be noted that Dubón is no longer needed in the outfield with Ronald Acuña Jr. being the everyday center fielder, Michael Harris II being the everyday right fielder and Lane Thomas, acquired Saturday from the Royals, and Mike Yastrzemski expected to platoon in left field.
“(Dubón) has worked his way into an everyday role,” Anthopoulos said. “We know he can play all three infield spots, all three outfield spots. So, barring (Braves manager) Walt (Weiss) deciding to change that, he’s an everyday player for us. Where it’s going to be? That’s going to be up to (Weiss), and that’s the beauty of a player like that because he protects you.”