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.¡±