Washington Nationals Rapid Reactions: Danny Espinosa’s Value Unparalled
By Matt Weyrich
The Washington Nationals beat the Milwaukee Brewers to the tune of 9-5 Sunday afternoon thanks in part to a three run double by Nats’ second baseman Danny Espinosa with two outs in the third inning. Espinosa, who is now hitting .248 on the year, has played much more than manager Matt Williams or the rest of the Nationals organization had anticipated coming into the 2015 season. Filling in for injured starters, Espi has taken the super utility man role by storm, playing in whatever position the team needed in order to earn more playing time. Second base, third base, shortstop, first base, left field… you name it, Danny Espinosa has played it, which has led to some comparisons to the model utility man Ben Zobrist of the Oakland A’s,
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Espinosa’s stellar glove work and rocket of an arm has kept him on the field consistently while the players around him have rotated on and off the disabled list. Only having made three errors all season and just one on the right side of the infield, he made the “competition” for the back up second baseman’s job between himself and Dan Uggla a no contest as the season has progressed.
At the plate, the revitalized switch hitter has held his own, hitting .241/.309/.427 with 10 home runs from the left side of the plate and .268/.341/.390 with two homers from the right. As you can see, while Danny doesn’t hit for as high average from the left side, he has a lot more power. Meanwhile, when he hits from the right side, he collects more hits, but loses some of his form.
With over 170 more at-bats from the left side than from the right, some may point to his lack of chances as the reason for his right-handed power outage. However, the numbers say different. Sporting a 25.3 HR/AB ratio against righties vs. his 41.0 against lefties, the case is certainly there. None of this takes away from his indisputable contributions to the team this season, however, and the Nats will undoubtedly take switch hitting Danny over any other bench player.
For a team that has struggled down the stretch, a player with Danny’s versatility and dependability has been more valuable to the Nationals’ playoff hopes than most would think. With 39 games left in the regular season and a healthy roster filling up the lineup card, his playing time may be running thin. But, one cannot forget what got the team to this point, and his name is Danny Espinosa.
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