Washington Nationals: Creating the ultimate superstar
Contact: Daniel Murphy
Putting bat to ball is skill number one as a hitter, and no one was better at that for Washington in 2017 than Daniel Murphy. Murphy’s 85.6 percent contact rate led the Nationals last year, and finished 19th in the majors. (Even more impressively, only three players with a higher contact rate also provided a higher walk rate, so Murphy was not just hacking away up there).
Since joining the Nationals in 2016, Murphy has amassed 356 total hits and a .334 batting average, second in baseball during that span.
Check out this MLB Network breakdown here, but specifically the first home run at the 22-second mark. As Sean Casey says, “You cannot teach this.”
Murphy is able to square up any pitch on or off the plate, and drive it to either field. When building the perfect player from square one, begin with Murphy and his incredible bat control and contact abilities.
Power: Bryce Harper
With the home run boom taking baseball by storm in 2017, slugging is no longer an asset – it is essentially a prerequisite. No one provides more power on the Nationals than superstar Bryce Harper, who is ninth in the majors in isolated power (ISO) and 13th in home runs since the start of the 2015 season.
As a lefty, Harper clearly has most of his power to right field, but he is more than capable of driving the ball the other way as well. In 2017, 12 of his 27 doubles were to left or center field, as were 8 of his 29 home runs. Watch Harper take Darren O’Day out to left field:
Harper manages to stay on a fastball at the top of the zone, and instead of rolling over it to the right side, he torches it five rows into the bleachers the other way. That type of power is incredibly rare. And on the off-chance a pitcher attempts to bust Harper inside to avoid the opposite field power, he’ll simply turn on it and do this:
If you want elite power, I’d recommend getting it from the man who is just 10 months from a record-breaking deal.
Eye: Anthony Rendon
If you were going for gusto, you might want Max Scherzer’s heterochromatic ocular pair simply for the intimidation factor. However, if you’re more in the mood for patience at the plate, Scherzer’s 12 career walks likely won’t do you any good.
Luckily, Anthony Rendon has developed an improved batting eye throughout his career, and posted a team-high 13.9 percent walk rate in 2017, good for 10th in baseball. Rendon was also one of five qualified players in the majors to finish with more walks than strikeouts last season.
Even though a great batting eye doesn’t always lead to walks, a double-digit walk rate generally displays elite plate vision and discipline. Rendon swung at just 21 percent of pitches out of the zone last season, which ranked sixth in the majors.
It’s probably no coincidence that in the year Rendon posted a career-high walk rate, he also posted career bests across the board. When a hitter knows what he is looking for and swings only at his pitch, it makes hitting for average and power that much easier.
And at the very least, Rendon’s patience is making the opposing pitcher work that much harder. Rendon saw 4.37 pitches per plate appearance in 2017, fourth in baseball. Driving up pitch counts and forcing managers into their bullpen earlier pays dividends over the course of the long season, and allows other Nationals further down the lineup to face a fatigued or lesser pitcher.
Speed: Trea Turner
When you’re looking for wheels, the Nationals have a couple burners in the middle infield. According to a 2017 MLB Statcast study, Wilmer Difo was the second-fastest shortstop in baseball last year, only to be bested by another Nats’ shortstop: Trea Turner.
Turner covers over 29 feet per second on average, and has swiped 79 bases in 93 attempts in just 171 games since the start of 2016. That is a 75-steal pace over a full 162-game season, which would be the most since Jose Reyes nabbed 78 bags in 2007. It remains to be seen how much the Nationals will run under new skipper Davey Martinez, but Turner’s blistering speed should earn him a permanent green light.
In that video, it never looked like Turner even flipped on the jets. His cruising speed tops almost every other player in the league; his max-effort acceleration is virtually unstoppable.
Arm: Bryce Harper
Bryce Harper, a former catcher, is not an elite outfield defender. He has the athleticism to make plenty of plays, but he still takes questionable routes on fly balls and struggles with line drives in his direction. Though he lacks in certain areas, he still holds up as a credible right fielder because his arm is such a threat. Harper has thrown out 52 runners in his career, which ranks seventh in the game since he was promoted in 2012.
Early in his career, Harper was way too aggressive in his attempts to throw out runners, often handing the opponent additional bases and runs at the expense of the occasional out. But because he has proven so willing to throw (and become slightly more judicious in his attempts), opponents are often hesitant to run and force him to unleash his cannon. But when they do take off, Harper is always ready to strike:
It’s always nice to have triple-digit heat both on the mound and in right field. Harper’s outfield arm and accuracy stacks up with almost any player in the game, and his mere presence can improve run prevention and impact the game defensively.
With his cool, relaxed demeanor, it makes sense that Anthony Rendon is a slick defender at third base. He has range in both directions, the agility to attack a slow roller, and the arm to complete any throw across the diamond. He can make the highlight play or the routine grounder.
In 2017, Rendon finished with just seven errors, including only one fielding error, which were both the fewest among regular third basemen. Check out his 2017 defensive highlight reel.
There is not a play Rendon can’t make. He has every stop and throw in his arsenal, and the creativity to make bang-bang plays from different arm slots. Third base may not provide the same grinding opportunities defensively that catcher and shortstop do each game, but there is a certain level of crazy needed that sets third base apart from the rest of the infield.
You try standing 90 feet from the world’s best hitters while they smack lasers your way. Pretty unsettling.
And somehow, with just fractions of a second of reaction time, Rendon manages to glove nearly every single ball. Rendon is the best defender on the Nationals, and has a claim as one of the top five defensive players in baseball.
While we have compiled all the offensive and defensive tools for a superstar, a player’s character and make-up can make all the difference when the going gets tough. In his 13 years with the Nationals, Ryan Zimmerman has been the one constant who has held steady.
Zimmerman has seen countless highs (a pair of All-Star appearances, 6.0+ WAR seasons, 251 career home runs, four NL East titles) and plenty of lows (lingering injuries, position switches, lost seasons, four NLDS exits), but he has always held his head high.
Thrust into the spotlight at age 20 as the franchise’s first-ever draft pick, he has shattered even the most optimistic expectations. When the team sputtered in anonymity, fans gravitated to Zimmerman as the Nationals’ one beacon of light. He dragged Washington through the lean years and into a new era, patiently waiting as the team slowly surrounded him with premier talent.
Zimmerman handed over the reigns as the face of the franchise to Bryce Harper without so much as a peep, all while remaining in the background as the team’s metronome. As the team’s most-tenured player, Zimmerman’s name dots the Nationals’ record books. He also owns some of the biggest hits in team history. He has made a seamless transition from prospect to star to veteran presence rarely seen from players as they age.
In summary, our composite superstar has:
Daniel Murphy’s contact abilities
Bryce Harper’s power
Anthony Rendon’s eye
Trea Turner’s speed
Bryce Harper’s arm
Anthony Rendon’s glove
Ryan Zimmerman’s make-up
Via Baseball-Reference’s 2018 projection system, our ultimate player will hit .307 (Murphy) with an 11.6 percent walk rate (Rendon) and a .550 slugging percentage (Harper). He’ll also add 36 stolen bases (Turner), elite defense, and a superior locker room presence. Not bad. It’s almost as if taking the best skills of top major leaguers makes roster-building that much easier.
Next: Adam Eaton still on schedule
Statistics courtesy of Fangraphs and Baseball-Reference.