Nacho cheered despite hitless MLB debut: 'It just didn’t go my way'

ATLANTA -- In early June, Braves second baseman Nacho Alvarez Jr. was playing with Double-A Mississippi.

It didn’t take long for the Braves’ fifth-round pick in the 2022 MLB Draft to ascend to the Major Leagues.

After starting second baseman Ozzie Albies went on the 10-day injured list with a left wrist fracture he sustained on Sunday against the Cardinals, Alvarez, who is just 21 years old, got the call to the big club the subsequent day.

Atlanta selected Alvarez’s contract on Monday morning, prior to the Braves’ 4-1 series-opening loss to the Reds at Truist Park. Alvarez, ranked as the club's No. 5 prospect by MLB Pipeline, got the start as he hit second and played second in place of Albies, who will be sidelined for at least eight weeks.

It wasn’t a banner night at the plate for Alvarez and the Braves, who tallied just three hits. Alvarez went 0-for-4 and was one of many Atlanta hitters to be victimized by Cincinnati starting pitcher Hunter Greene’s velocity.

“It wasn’t the result I wanted, but I just went out there and had some fun,” Alvarez said. “That’s all I can control honestly. I feel like I put some good swings on Greene and it just didn’t go my way today.”

“[Alvarez] was aggressive swinging the bat and got the bat on the ball,” manager Brian Snitker said. “I don’t think he had any plays [in the field]. I thought the first ground ball of the game would probably go to him. It’s a pretty rough ride for your debut. Hunter Greene is a really good-looking starter.”

Greene allowed two hits and struck out seven to go with three walks over seven scoreless innings en route to his seventh win of the year.

“I didn’t feel overpowered,” Alvarez said. “He just got me today. We’ll just go at it tomorrow. He’s an All-Star. He literally pitched in [this year’s] All-Star Game. I felt like I wasn’t overmatched so that’s a positive.”

Alvarez quickly had his first “Welcome to the Majors” moment in the bottom of the first -- his first MLB at-bat. He hit a grounder up the middle and Greene made a behind-the-back play which resulted in a 1-3 putout.

Alvarez struck out swinging in his second at-bat and was robbed of a potential double in his third trip to the plate. With two outs and runners on first and third in the bottom of the fifth, Alvarez hit a ground ball 99.8 mph down the third-base line, but Noelvi Marte made a sliding stop and threw over to first to end the frame.

“I went out there on defense and asked the umpire, ‘Since when is there a guy playing there?’, but I know there’s going to be days where I can’t get hits all the time,” Alvarez said. “It’s the big leagues. Those guys don’t miss that ball too many times.”

Alvarez, who was primarily a shortstop in the Minors, was on the right side of the infield on Monday, but he did not have a ball hit to him in the game.

“I wanted something to happen today,” Alvarez said. “It’s the game of baseball. Sometimes you can not do anything and there’s some days where you’re the hero. We’ll see what happens [Tuesday].”

Alvarez’s parents, who live in his home state of California, attempted to make the cross-country trip to Atlanta, but their 1 a.m. flight on Monday was canceled and they were not present for his debut.

Alvarez said his parents will be on hand for Tuesday’s game against the Reds.

“They just took off right now,” Alvarez said about 30 minutes after the conclusion of Monday’s game. “They’ll be here [Tuesday].”

During Alvarez’s final at-bat in the bottom of the eighth, the announced attendance of 38,779 chanted, “Let’s go Nacho.”

“I’ve experienced [my name being chanted] with 1,500 people, not 40,000,” he said. “It’s pretty cool. I know the fans are passionate so it was great to hear my name.”

Speaking of his name, Alvarez, whose given first name is Ignacio, explained why he goes by Nacho.

“Every Ignacio you’ll ever meet is gonna be Nacho,” Alvarez said. “Every Robert you’re going to meet is going to be Bob. Every Ignacio you meet is gonna be Nacho. I just chose Nacho because Ignacio is kinda hard. Some people butcher it. I’d rather just say Nacho.

“The only time I get called Ignacio is when my mom is mad at me.”