Jim Jarvis' Rise with Atlanta Braves is Better Than You Think

Jim Jarvis delivered for the Atlanta Braves again, being the difference in holding off the San Diego Padres. He gave his team the lead when he doubled in Mauricío Dubón to make it 2-1. It helped spark a rally that saw the Braves plate six runs.

The Braves ultimately won a chaotic game, 7-6.

"Jarvis just keeps doing it," manager Walt Weiss said. "And it's been also lefties, too. Got a couple of hits off some tough lefties. So, he's really giving us a shot in the arm."

He has just two hits against lefties so far, but he's done some damage with the two. Both hits were doubles, and he's scored three times when you factor in the walk he had against a left-hander.

Weiss admitted that he didn't have much from spring training or word of mouth from before that to build an expectation for Jarvis. The defense was what stood out when the impression was made.

"Even last year, when he was playing in Gwinnett, I was hearing about him defensively," he said. "You never know what the bat's going to be with the young players and that type of thing, but he puts together good at-bats. He's barreling baseballs."

We can look to a popular advanced stat to show how well he's played in just 16 games. His bWAR is already 1.0. In theory, that puts him on pace for a WAR of 10 in a season. At that point, we're talking MVP caliber play.

Across 52 plate appearances, he's batting .308 with an .826 OPS, a 126 OPS+, six extra-base hits and seven RBIs. He's reached base in 10 of 16 games played in July (62.5%). It's not the ridiculous 90% of games in the minors, but relative to the major leagues, he's been a machine.

The only thing that's missing is the speed. He has 32 with Gwinnett this season, including four in a game, and he hasn't attempted one in the majors yet.

Given that he reached 32 before July 1, it could make him that much more lethal. For now, what he's currently doing is satisfactory.

Over the course of a full season, we'd likely see this pace come down to earth quite a bit. That's a major ask from even some of the best players in the game. You can win an MVP and not even come close.

Showing what is WAR currently is and what the pace would be paints the picture of how productive he's been.

All it took was being willing to hand over relief pitcher Rafael Montero to a Detroit Tigers team eager to make a playoff push. At the time, Jarvis appeared to be depth in the system. He may end up being the answer to the Braves' prayers at shortstop.

Add us as a preferred source on Google