It’s almost hard to remember how exciting Juan Arevalo’s start in the big leagues was. Hard to recall how much, in 2028, the team needed a shortstop, and how this kid from La Vega down in double AA showed up at spring training and began to pepper the ball to all fields, and in the process also showed he could pick it with, if not the best of then, well, at least the average of them.
It’s even harder to recall the exact numbers. The 1.9 WAR in 435 at bats, that was at least okay, and the 14 homers and 57 RBI that were valuable to a playoff run. Yes, it’s easier to remember the sophomore slump that followed, and the derision that everyone knew he couldn’t sustain his initial season, but then the following year, a solid 2.6 WAR effort, gets lost in the haze again.
Even at “only” 26, Juan Arevalo’s career has always been like that: Easy to overlook, easy to ignore.
Of course, this year it’s even easier to do that because this is the year that Angel De Castillo has arrived. You know De Castillo, right? The guy with the highlight cameras trained on him every time he comes to the plate. The guy with the big smile, and the conversation going on about whether the 23-year-old might wind up a Hall of Famer, or just the Hall of the Very Good before he’s even put a foot on the field. And it all adds up to a season where Arevalo is earning a bloat-ware $2.6M arbitration decision, but has received only 11 plate appearances, and returned without a hit.
Arevalo can still play. But there’s no hype anymore. No bally-who-ing. No gnashing of teeth about whether he’s the best shortstop in his division. No conversation about the team flying his brother in to see him play.
“It’s hard to concentrate when you’re not playing,” Arevalo says, which is so true as to not need explaining but we’ll do some anyway.
The problem goes deeper than Angel De Castillo, though. There’s also the existence of Lucas McNeill at second, and JJ McQuade, and now of Earl Jackson—all of whom being first round selections are wont to create stirs without much effort. Even with the recent trade of Pedro Hernandez, playing time is hard to come by. This is because Arevalo has always been a natural platoon man, a hitter of right handed pitching, but the fact of the matter is that De Castillo and McNeill are bot switch hitters par excellence, and Jackson, also a switchie, is stronger from the left side of the plate.
The fact also is that he understand the march of time. He knows the club has another set of younger guys at second base in AA and AAA who will be cheaper and might find time with the club in 2032 over him. “I know they won’t want to spend $2.6M on 11 at bats,” he says. “So, no, I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
We don’t either, of course.
No one can tell the future.
Maybe he’ll find another team? Maybe he’ll wind up back in the Dominican, a few million dollars richer. Maybe he’ll play ball with his brother and coach that brother up to become a ballplayer on his on merits.
But we can try to remember that moment when it was at least a reasonable question to ask if Juan Arevalo was the best shortstop in his division.
Yes, we can try to remember that, can’t we?
