Washington Nationals: Matt Wieters will bounce back
Coming off of a career-worst offensive season, here’s why Washington Nationals fans can expect a rebound from Matt Wieters.
By just about every offensive statistic one can find on Washington Nationals catcher Matt Wieters, it shows he stunk last season. A .225 batting average, a .344 SLG and a .632 OPS are all career-worst marks for the 31-year-old catcher (counting seasons in which he played in at least 120 games). His 20.2 strikeout percentage was also the worst of his career.
With the Baltimore Orioles, Wieters racked up four All-Star nominations, most recently in 2016. While he might not return to his all-star form, Nationals fans shouldn’t worry about him returning to the Nationals’ starting lineup.
The one thing Wieters brings every single day to the ballpark is solid defensive play behind the plate. While Nats fans might remember his defensive blunder in the 5th inning of the 2017 NLDS, it is not representative of his actual abilities.
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Last season, Wieters posted an 8.6 DEF rating (Fangraphs.com’s way to measure players’ defensive value), which ranks average to slightly above average, depending on how one cherry-picks the qualifications.
Former skipper Dusty Baker talked about Wieters and the importance of having a good catcher during a pre-game press conference last season:
“You can’t make it without a good catcher…. That’s where you start. The catcher is my field general…. A good catcher is worth his weight in gold.”
Fans (and Wieters) can expect a bounce back on the offensive end. Wieters is a career .245 hitter with a handful of 20+ home run seasons. He started to show this potential early in the 2017 season, tallying a .301 batting average with 12 RBI’s during April before teetering off in the summer months.
Wieters should regress back towards his career numbers, especially in the power department. He only hit ten home runs last season, but he can be counted on to 15+ in most seasons.
Wieters had 30 extra base hits (XBH) in 2017. In the early 2010s, he consistently hit over 50 per season. If he can get back to around 40 XBH’s in 2018, both him and Nats fans will have no complaints.
Next: Predictng where the Nats FA's go
Jose Lobaton is a free agent and Pedro Severino is not ready to handle the everyday catching duties. Because of this, Matt Wieters will be locked into heavy playing time. The question that remains is if he can produce enough to justify his 10.5-million-dollar player option. Does he have the potential to justify it? Absolutely. Will he do so next season? Only time will tell.