Washington Nationals Trade Target: Charlie Blackmon

With center field a weak spot for the Washington Nationals, could they look to acquire Charlie Blackmon from the Rockies?

Throughout our trade target series, we have focused mainly on relievers. Today, I wanted to focus on one of the Washington Nationals biggest needs, which is in center field. That position needs an upgrade due to the disappointing seasons that Ben Revere and Michael Taylor have had.

One of the names that has been rumored out there is Colorado Rockies center fielder Charlie Blackmon. Yesterday, Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports and MLB Network tweeted that the Washington Nationals have shown interest in adding Blackmon, who is under team control until after the 2018 season:

Also, William Ladson of MLB.com wrote last night about the recent Blackmon rumors:

“The baseball source said to not discount the rumors that the Nationals have interest in Rockies center fielder Charlie Blackmon.”

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This season, the 30-year-old has a slash line of .307/.370/.484 with 12 home runs, 43 RBI’s, and ten stolen bases. Anytime you look at a player on the Rockies, it is always interesting to look at their home/road splits.

At Coors Field this season, Blackmon is hitting .333 with seven home runs and 17 RBI’s. Meanwhile, on the road, his average drops to .284 with five home runs and 16 RBI’s. But, he is hitting over .300 in each of the last three months, including .317 in 63 at-bats this month.

Blackmon might be getting hot at the plate for the Rockies at the right time. After last night’s action, he has 20 hits this month, which is third in the NL behind the Marlins Christian Yelich (21) and the Dodgers Howie Kendrick (23).

When you look at the Washington Nationals needs, they do need an upgrade at the leadoff spot in the batting order. Out of hitters who bat leadoff, Blackmon’s 98 hits are second in the National League behind Jean Segura of the Diamondbacks (113).

In terms of leading off an inning, Blackmon is hitting .297 (38 hits) with six home runs, six RBI’s, and a .343 on-base percentage. Also, if the Nats ae looking for power out of that spot, Blackmon’s 12 home runs are fourth in the NL and three home runs behind the league leader, Zack Cozart of the Reds (15).

So far this season, there has been a defensive improvement from Blackmon. He had -8 defensive runs saved in 2015, but that number is up to two this season (according to Fangraphs).

Right now, as you saw in the Morosi tweet, the Washington Nationals need an upgrade at the leadoff spot because they need to give Daniel Murphy, Bryce Harper, and Wilson Ramos more opportunities to drive in runs.

While I would want the Washington Nationals to get the extra bullpen piece, it’s becoming more and more clear that they need to upgrade at center field as well. Blackmon isn’t the perfect candidate, but he is an upgrade over what they have at the leadoff center fielder now in Revere.