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

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