Washington Nationals Editorial: Where Does Danny Espinosa Rank Among Shortstops In The NL East?

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Our NL East rankings for 2016 continue as we look at the shortstop position

Throughout this week, we have begun our preview of the National League East in 2016 by seeing which players are the best at each position. Keep in mind, if a player is fifth on a list, the team gets one point and if the player is first, that team gets five points. We have already looked at third base and center field, so let’s look at another position on the left side of the infield, shortstop.

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If you go solely by .OPS last season, this division had four of the ten lowest totals in the league (Braves, Phillies, and Marlins). Washington’s shortstops were 14^th in OPS (.724). In 2016, the NL East will have three new shortstops that didn’t take the field with their respective team in 2015. Ian Desmond is still a free agent, Andrelton Simmons was traded to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and Wilmer Flores is now on the bench for the Mets.

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Instead of those three players, the Nationals have Danny Espinosa with Stephen Drew on the bench and Trea Turner likely in the minors to start the season, the Braves have Erick Aybar, who they acquired in the Simmons trade, and the Mets signed Asdrubal Cabrera, who used to play for the Nats. The two players that are the same from last year are the Phillies’ Freddy Galvis and the Marlins’ Adeiny Hechavarria.

So, without further ado, here is my list of how I would rank the shortstops in the NL East, starting with number five.

Next: Number Five

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Freddy Galvis – Philadelphia Phillies

In 2015, Galvis got to be the everyday shortstop after Jimmy Rollins was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers that offseason. In 151 games, he had a slash line of .263/.302/.343 with seven home runs and 50 RBI’s.

While Galvis didn’t show a lot of power, he was still able to rack up the hits. His 147 hits were second among shortstops in the National League (Jhonny Peralta – 162). However, out of those 147 hits, 121 were singles (tied for ninth with Ender Inciarte). The problem for the 26-year-old shortstop was in the field. His 17 errors (career-high) were the fifth most of any shortstop in the NL.

His defensive runs saved went down from -4 in 2014 to -6 in 2015 (according to Fangraphs), was toward the bottom of the league among shortstops. The only four shortstops behind Galvis were Asdrubal Cabrera, Jimmy Rollins, Peralta, and Jose Reyes.

In the end, Galvis is the number eight hitter in this Phillies order and his job is to get singles and allow the pitcher to sacrifice bunt him over to second base. But, he was one of the team’s main run producers last season.

His 50 RBI’s were tied with Maikel Franco for second on the team (Ryan Howard – 77) and he was tied with Odubel Herrera for the team lead in hits. While he hasn’t had a WAR above 0.6 in any of his four seasons, he means more to Philadelphia’s lineup because the offense does struggle to score runs.

Next: Number Four

Danny Espinosa – Washington Nationals

Last season, amidst all of the Nationals’ injuries, there was one player who surprised everyone with his consistent offensive performances and that was Danny Espinosa. Espinosa became the everyday second baseman due to Yunel Escobar having to play third base because of Anthony Rendon being injured.

In 118 games, Espinosa had a slash line of .240/.311/.409 with 13 home runs and 37 RBI’s. His .311 on-base percentage and home runs were the third highest he had in a single season. However, ten of those home runs came in the first half of the season (.254 batting average). In the second half, with all of the injured players returning, Espinosa only hit .206 with three home runs and nine RBI’s in 107 at-bats.

As a second baseman last year, Espinosa, who will turn 29 in April, had ten runs saved, which was the highest of any player on the Nationals. The question will be whether or not that defense translates over to shortstop. Espinosa has never played more than 36 games at shortstop in a single season and his best season in terms of defensive runs saved was 2012 (four runs saved).

While it will be good for Espinosa to not have to worry about trying to hit exclusively from one side, like he had to do last year in Spring Training, it will be interesting to see how Espinosa does as an everyday player while Trea Turner is at triple-A Syracuse. I do expect Stephen Drew to play some, but Drew hasn’t hit higher than .250 in a season since 2010.

Next: Number Three

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Erick Aybar – Atlanta Braves

As mentioned earlier, Aybar is new to the NL East after being dealt from the Angels to the Braves in the Andrelton Simmons deal. Last year, with Los Angeles, Aybar had a slash line of .270/.301/.338 with three home runs, 44 RBI’s, and 15 stolen bases in 156 games.

Even though Aybar didn’t drive in many runs last season, his .270 batting average was second among American League shortstop (Xander Bogaerts – .320) and he was fifth in stolen bases. While his batting average dipped from .287 in the first half to .249 in the second half, he was a better hitter away from Angel Stadium (.281 road average compared 50 .257 at home).

If you look at Aybar’s defense from a sabermetric standpoint, he is far from the Gold Glove shortstop that he was in 2011. Last season, Aybar had -3 runs saved for the second straight season. Plus, his 17 errors were the third most among AL shortstops. Only Elvis Andrus of the Rangers and Marcus Semien of the A’s made more errors than him in the season.

It will be interesting to watch in 2016 how Aybar transitions to playing in a new league. His 2.3 WAR last season was ranked tenth among shortstops in baseball and he should be a good veteran presence in the Braves clubhouse. Plus, if Aybar can have a strong season, it will help him towards his next contract since he’s a free agent at the end of the 2016 season.

Next: Number Two

Adeiny Hechavarria – Miami Marlins

Last year, Hechavarria was number three on our list behind Ian Desmond and Andrelton Simmons. In 2015, the 26-year-old shortstop had a slash line of .281/.315/.374 with five home runs and 48 RBI’s in 130 games. Hechavarria isn’t a power hitter by any means and he might be hurt a bit by his ballpark. On the road last season, he hit .298 with a .336 on-base percentage. Meanwhile, at home, he hit .264 with a meager .293 on-base percentage.

The strength of Hechavarria’s game is with his defense. He made a big improvement last season as his defensive runs saved went up from -3 to 9. That total was fourth among all shortstops in baseball and third among shortstops in the NL behind Nick Ahmed of the Diamondbacks and Brandon Crawford of the Giants (20).

If he had enough bats to qualify, he would have had the highest batting average by a NL shortstop, but he is showing improvements at the plate from the mere .227 batting average he had his first year in Miami (2013)

The problem for Hechavarria last year was injuries. He missed the final 28 games of the season due to an injury to his hamstring. While his offensive numbers are not what people want them to be, he is still arguably one of the best defensive shortstops in the game, if not the best in the NL East. With the turnover among shortstops in this division, if he improves his offensive game, he might not just become number one on this list in the future.

Next: Number One

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Asdrubal Cabrera – New York Mets

This offseason, the Mets signed Cabrera to a two-year deal for $18.5 million with a team option for a third year. With the Rays last season, Cabrera had a slash line of .265/.315/.430 with 15 home runs and 58 RBI’s in 143 games. His 15 home runs were the third highest he has hit in a single season. But, his low on-base percentage of .315 was the third lowest of his career.

Even though his on-base seems low compared to his past years with Cleveland, he still had the third highest .OBP among shortstop in the American League. Only Didi Gregorius of the Yankees and Xander Bogaerts of the Red Sox had higher on-base percentages. His .OPS of .744 was the second highest among AL shortstops (Bogaerts – .776) and he was tied for second in home runs.

The problem for Cabrera has been his defense. While his defense is up from the -16 runs saved he had in 2013 with the Indians, he still had -7 runs saved last season in Tampa Bay.

Cabrera does make the Mets better offensively, but the question is going to be whether his defense will cost New York in some games. But, he is a better fielding shortstop than Wilmer Flores. That being said, Cabrera’s offense is what puts him at number two on this list. Plus, the Nats will see Cabrera 19 times after he was on their team at the end of the 2014 season when Washington acquired him from Cleveland for shortstop Zach Walters.

Next: District Daily: How Deep Is The Nats' Starting Rotation?

We want to hear from you! How would you rank the shortstops in the NL East and where would Danny Espinosa go on your list? Let the debate begin.

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