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

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