Washington Nationals Editorial: Is Anthony Rendon The Best Third Baseman In NL East?

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We begin our NL East preview for 2016 by looking at who are the best players at the hot corner in the division

With the month of February beginning today, we are a little more than two weeks from pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training. Before you know it, it will be Opening Day and the Washington Nationals will be looking to try to get the NL East title after watching the New York Mets win it in 2015. Fifth place gets one point with first place receiving five points. At the end of our rankings, we will tally up the points to make our NL East predictions for the season.

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So, for the second consecutive season, we are going to preview the division here at District On Deck by ranking each position on the diamond to see which teams have the best players at each spot. To start our preview, we will take a look at third base.

For me, when I look at the third basemen in this division, the first word that comes to mind is health. Last season, players such as David Wright of the Mets and the Nats’ Anthony Rendon missed a good portion of the season due to injuries. Normally, those two players would be guaranteed the top two guys at the position in this division.

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However, there were some new faces that joined the division in 2015 at third base. Martin Prado had his first year in South Beach after being dealt from the Yankees to the Marlins, Maikel Franco rose onto the scene for the Phillies in his rookie season, and the Braves had a then 29-year-old rookie man the hot corner in Adonis Garcia.

With that being said, here is my list of the top third basemen in the NL East right now, starting with number five:

Next: #5 - Adonis Garcia

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#5 – Adonis Garcia – Atlanta Braves

Garcia was one of the new additions to the Braves last season after spending his minor league career with the New York Yankees. The 30-year-old played in 58 games in 2015 and had a slash line of .277/.293/.497 with ten home runs and 26 RBI’s. He took over the job in the second half of the season when Juan Uribe and Alberto Callaspo were both traded to the Mets and Dodgers respectively. His .791 OPS was 12th and his ten home runs were tied for fifth among all third baseman in the National League during the second half of the season.

The right-handed hitter did show off some power, especially at Turner Field. In his home ballpark, Garcia hit .316 with eight home runs and 19 RBI’s. While he did have two games of three RBI’s, his best game in terms of power occurred on October 4 when he hit two solo home runs in Game 1 of a doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals.

As for his defense, that still appears to be a work in progress. He made ten errors in 42 games, which was the most of any Atlanta third baseman. According to Fangraphs, his defensive runs saved in 2015 were -3.

While Garcia looks to be the favorite, Atlanta does have some players who can compete for playing time in spring training such as Kelly Johnson and even Gordon Beckham. It will be interesting to see what Garcia does if he wins the job out of spring training. He has shown some good power, but there is still a significant gap between Garcia and the rest of the third baseman in this division.

Next: #4 - David Wright

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#4 – David Wright – New York Mets

In most years, we would see the Mets’ third baseman near or at the top of this list. Wright, who is the captain of the Mets, did not see much action in 2015 because of a back condition called spinal stenosis. He played in only 38 games and had a slash line of .289/.379/.434 with five home runs and 17 RBI’s.

Even though Wright didn’t make that much of an impact on-the-field, he was a leader in the clubhouse, which was valuable for a young team. Everyone can remember the story in spring training when he got in Noah Syndergaard’s face for eating lunch in the clubhouse during an intrasquad game.

With Yoenis Cespedes back in New York, there will be less pressure on the 33-year-old Wright to get back to his form from 2012 when he hit 21 home runs. Nevertheless, the seven-time All-Star can still be a contributing player to the Mets when he’s healthy. Defensively, Wright has made 19 errors in the last two seasons, but he did have 13 runs saved in 2014 (tied for third in the league). Last year, however, he had -8 runs saved, but how much of that was because of the back injury?

With the addition of Asdrubal Cabrera at shortstop, the Mets can also use Wilmer Flores at third base. Flores is a good offensive third baseman as evident by his 16 home runs last season, but can he fix his defensive issues after making 14 errors at shortstop last year? In the end, the Mets have more questions at third base coming into the year, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Wright has a bounceback season.

Next: #3 - Martin Prado

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#3 – Martin Prado – Miami Marlins

Last offseason, the Marlins acquired Prado along with pitcher David Phelps in a deal with the Yankees for Nathan Eovaldi and Garrett Jones. During the 2015 season, Prado gave Miami a veteran presence they needed in that lineup. Over the course of 129 games, Prado had a slash line of .288/.338/.394 with nine home runs and 63 RBI’s.

After hitting .272 in the first half of the season, the now 32-year-old had a .305 batting average in the second half with five home runs and 39 RBI’s. He was fourth among all NL third baseman in RBI’s in the second half behind only Matt Carpenter, Kris Bryant, and Nolan Arenado.

His .338 on-base percentage was fourth in the NL behind Carpenter, Bryant, and then Nats’ third baseman, Yunel Escobar. While Prado won’t put up the power numbers, he is one of the better contact hitters at the position. Plus, he is an excellent defender. His nine runs saved were third among all NL third baseman, trailing only rookie Matt Duffy of the San Francisco Giants (12) and Arenado (18)

Against the Nats last season, Prado hit .333 with two home runs and six RBI’s. One of those home runs came against ace pitcher Max Scherzer. If the Marlins are going to stay in the race in the NL East in 2016, they are going to need Prado and second baseman Dee Gordon to provide a good 1-2 punch at the top of the order to set up power hitter Giancarlo Stanton. While Prado may not get a lot of hype, he is still one of the more consistent contact hitters in this division, which puts him at number three on this list.

Next: #2 - Maikel Franco

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#2 – Maikel Franco – Philadelphia Phillies

In a year where rookies were able to burst onto the scene in the National League, Franco’s season might have been overlooked. After playing in 16 games in 2014, the 23-year-old made an impact on a struggling offense in his first full season. In 80 games, Franco had a slash line of .280/.343/.497 with 14 home runs and 50 RBI’s.

During the month of June, Franco hit .352 with eight home runs and 24 RBI’s to win NL Rookie of the Month. He had the second most RBI’s of any third baseman in the NL that month (Arenado – 33) and was third in home runs behind Todd Frazier (9) and Arenado (12).

If you look at how Franco’s numbers stacked up amongst other NL rookies, he was top ten in home runs, RBI’s, on-base percentage, slugging percentage (fourth), and .OPS (.840). Among third baseman, he was tied for eighth in home runs, ninth in on-base percentage, and sixth in slugging percentage.

If there is one area where Franco does need to improve, it’s his defense. Last season, he had 11 errors and -8 runs saved. Nevertheless, there is a lot of buzz around Franco after a good rookie season, which could have been even better had he not been out from August 11-October 3 because of breaking his left wrist when being hit by a pitch. While you can never predict a sophomore slump, Franco is number two on this list, which when you think about it, might be the highest spot a Phillies’ player finishes on any of these top five rankings.

#1 – Anthony Rendon – Washington Nationals

Just like Wright, Rendon is coming off an injury-plagued 2015. It all started in March down at spring trainingwhen Rendon sprained his MCL while making a diving play at third base. He ended up being out till June after he injured his oblique while rehabbing at double-A Harrisburg.

Rendon would briefly come back to the lineup for a month, but he could never get into a rhythm in 2015. In 80 games, the 25-year-old had a slash line of .264/.344/.363 with five home runs and 25 RBI’s. All five of those home runs occurred in August and September.

The one thing that could help Rendon bounce back in 2016, besides health, is the third baseman returning to the hot corner. With Yunel Escobar now in Los Angeles due to the Trevor Gott trade, Rendon will be back at third base this season. In 2014, despite making 15 errors, he had 12 defensive runs saved that season, which was third among third baseman in the NL and one behind Wright.

If Rendon can return to his 2014 form where he finished top five in the NL MVP voting with 21 home runs, 83 RBI’s, and a 6.6 WAR, he will be another key addition to the Nationals’ offense, especially if he can get on-base and give Bryce Harper more run-scoring opportunities.

Next: District Daily: Will Nats Upgrade At The Catcher Position?

We want to hear from you. How would you rank the third baseman in the NL East and where does Rendon rank on your respective list?

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