Jim Jarvis’ tenure with the Braves this summer might not be long. He doesn’t have a firm place atop the depth chart, after all. But that doesn’t mean the 26-year-old isn’t soaking in every day he’s with the big-league club.
“It’s awesome. I mean, I’ve been telling a lot of people this, like, it’s not every day you get to walk on to the best team in baseball,” Jarvis said Thursday in Pittsburgh at PNC Park. “So, it’s fun getting to come up here and see how everyone handles their business and try to emulate a little bit and learn a new thing every day. I got a lot of superstars around me, so that helps a lot.”
Jarvis was called up from Triple-A Gwinnett on July 2, the second time the former Alabama standout has been with the parent club this season (he made his MLB debut in May in Seattle). He only appeared in two games during that first stint and didn’t have much of a chance to show what he could do offensively or defensively (although a diving catch in Los Angeles made plenty of highlight reels).
But he has done that and then some this past week with the Braves.
Jarvis’ three-hit game Thursday against the Pirates raised his average to .292 at the MLB level over seven big-league games. A small sample size, yes, but a welcome sight juxtaposed with the offensive struggles of fellow shortstops Ha-Seong Kim and Jorge Mateo.
The right-handed throwing, left-handed hitting Jarvis has been more than solid on the infield dirt, too, and flashed the leather Thursday with a slick, 6-3 double play that got the Braves out of a late-inning jam.
Braves manager Walt Weiss called Jarvis’ game “calm.”
“He’s settling in really, really nicely, and meshing with all the guys,” Braves outfielder Mike Yastrzemski said. “It’s great to have him here.”
Jarvis is not a full-time starter, only inserted into the lineup when the opposition starts a right-handed pitcher. And when Ronald Acuña Jr. comes back off the injured list, the Braves could put Mauricio Dubón back at shortstop full-time, Yastrzemski and Eli White into their left field platoon roles and Mateo on the bench as a reserve. That would lead to Jarvis being the odd man out.
Regardless, Jarvis agreed his confidence is pretty high having proved he can hang with the big-league club.
“A little bit, yeah,” he said with a smile. “You know, the tough thing about baseball is, like, you gotta do it the next day and then the next day. So, probably just gonna try to show up tomorrow and repeat the same thing I did today, not get too ahead of myself.”
Yastrzemski’s offensive burst
The 2026 season has not been what Yastrzemski nor the Braves had hoped it would be from an offensive standpoint.
After an outstanding spring training, the Braves’ new outfielder appeared poised to be the team’s everyday left fielder and an unheralded offseason pickup for the club. But Yastrzemski is hitting .229 with a .682 OPS ahead of this weekend’s series in St. Louis against the Cardinals.
There have been some flashes of hope, however, over the last week. Yastrzemski has a four-game hitting streak and is hitting .353 over his last six games. His grand slam in the ninth inning Thursday at PNC Park against the Pirates was a big moment for him and the Braves.
“I feel like I’ve been just trying to put together a good at-bat versus trying to create a result,” Yastrzemski said. “So, slowing things down, getting myself to not try and do too much. When you come to a new team, you want to impact right away. You know you want to do as much as you can, and I think I definitely put a lot of pressure on myself instead of acting on what I preach and passing it to the next guy. That’s what I did early on in the year and all through May, that was the mindset I had.”
Yastrzemski hit .316 in May and drove in 11 runs as part of a Braves offense that was humming on all cylinders. He then was 8-for-54 (.148) in June.
The Elder issue
It wasn’t too long ago that Bryce Elder was trending toward making the All-Star Game, maybe even being a dark horse contender for the Cy Young Award. But the season has gone awry since then for Elder, who is 5-6 with a 4.12 ERA and 1.247 WHIP.
Since May 27, Elder has totaled 34 innings, allowed 32 earned runs (34 total), 10 home runs, 49 hits and 11 walks. His ERA is 8.47 over that span. The opponents’ batting average on balls in play is .345.
Thursday’s outing in Pittsburgh saw Elder serve up three home run balls. Two were solo shots and the last was a two-run blast (it should be noted that one came with two outs and after a catcher’s interference call on Drake Baldwin put a man aboard). Elder threw just 69 pitches in four innings after having not pitched since June 27.
The Braves had hoped skipping Elder’s turn in the rotation last week would do some good. Maybe it will in the long run?
“Yeah, no doubt,” Elder said. “I was grinding pretty good there, and so just appreciate the fellas kind of picking up my slack when I didn’t throw for that week and a half. But, yeah, body felt really good, and so I’ll be ready to roll (moving forward).”
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