What To Expect: Orlando Arcia

Brewers general manager David Stearns has made no secret that, from the moment he took over as GM last September, Milwaukee was a teardown project. Stearns turned over half the 40-man roster by spring training, and the rehab work continued Monday with the trades of Jonathan Lucroy and Jeremy Jeffress to Texas and Will Smith to San Francisco.

Now comes part of the rebirth as the Brewers will call up top prospect Orlando Arcia from Triple-A Colorado Springs. Arcia, the No. 14 prospect in the Midseason Top 100, will start at shortstop in San Diego. Jonathan Villar, who has done a fine job at short, will slide to third.

“The thinking is, it’s time to get him started,” manager Craig Counsell told reporters.

SCOUTING REPORT

Arcia, who turns 22 on Thursday, immediately becomes the youngest player in the National League, and at times that immaturity showed at Triple-A, where he was more than five years younger than the average player.

Scouts noticed a discernible change in his attitude since he started moving up the prospect ranks, not unlike brother Oswaldo during his ascent. Despite that, he was still one of the top 15 prospects in the game, thanks to his sterling glove work, for which he gets unanimous strong reviews.

The Brewers would like him to work on lengthening his at-bats and working deeper counts, and his walk rate (5.4 to 6.6 percent) and strikeout rate 13.2 to 17.5 percent) have both climbed since last season at Double-A Biloxi . They expected he’d continue to show extra-base power, especially in Colorado Springs and the Pacific Coast League, but his slugging percentage has dropped back to his career norm following last year’s surge.

At his best, Arcia is a Gold Glove-caliber shortstop who can impact the ball at the plate and who can also be a threat on the bases at any time. He has yet to be at his best in 2016, though players generally regard Colorado Springs as one of the minors’ tougher stops as a ballpark and playing environment.

WHAT TO EXPECT

The Brewers want to know what they have in Arcia going forward, so this won’t be a short-term audition unless the maturity issues crop up and force their hand. Villar, who leads the National League with 39 stolen bases, moves to third grudgingly, according to reports. Getting the most out of Arcia and Villar will be a key task for Counsell and his staff.

Arcia is supposed to be part of the foundation of Milwaukee’s rebuild; the Brewers will start to find out now.