Washington Nationals – Ben Revere
With Denard Span now with the Giants, it was thought Michael Taylor would be the new center fielder in DC. However, Mike Rizzo pulled a surprise move by landing Revere in the Storen trade. The Nats were familiar with Revere after facing him when he was with the Phillies.
Revere played the first 96 games of the 2015 season with Philadelphia. He had a slash line of .298/.338/.374 with one home run, 26 RBI’s, and 24 stolen bases. At the trade deadline, the Phillies dealt him to Toronto where he hit .319 over his last 56 games with one home run, 19 RBI’s, seven stolen bases, and a .356 on-base percentage.
While the 27-year-old is mainly a singles hitter, he did have six triples and finished in the top ten in hits in National League last season. He is one of those hitters that are difficult to strike out He led the league in at-bats per strikeout in 2014 (12.3) and was seventh in the majors last season (9.3).
As far as his defense goes, he made drastic improvements in 2015 if you go by defensive runs saved, which went from -18 in 2014 to one run saved in 2015. His UZR also went up dramatically from -6.4 to 2.9.
It will be interesting to see if Revere and Michael Taylor end up being a platoon in center field as the team tries to find Taylor at-bats. However, if Revere is the regular center fielder, he can provide the speed and contact that the Nats lineup needs at the top of the order. He’s not Span, but he can make an immediate contribution.
Next: Number Three