Washington Nationals: Grading the offensive players

Utility – Howie Kendrick

Among the raft of injuries the Washington Nationals have suffered this season, Howie Kendrick‘s gets passed over a lot. It could turn out to be a huge one given how he was playing beforehand.

With Daniel Murphy starting on the disabled list, Kendrick was regularly at second base or in left field. And was holding the team together when the likes of Anthony Rendon and Adam Eaton missed time.

In the 40 games he played, the veteran hit .303 with 17 runs, 12 RBI, and four homers. It was slightly fueled by a somewhat high .350 BABIP and the BB/K percentage was a mere 17 percent.

However, even with some regression overall, it’s a more than serviceable stat line for someone who was expected to be a valuable bench bat.

However, his season took a sour turn when he injured his Achilles running down a fly ball in the outfield. This injury ruled him out for the rest of the 2018 season, a crushing blow.

This did end up being the injury that caused the Nationals to hurry up Juan Soto. However, there are certainly several more favorable ways we would’ve rather seen the young star make it.

Kendrick likely would’ve scored top marks if he were still healthy and producing at the rate he began at. However, the injury knocks it down slightly, through no real fault of his own. A