Washington Nationals: Wilmer Difo underwhelms in extended opportunity

We fire up our next 2018 report card as we analyze Wilmer Difo, who got an extended opportunity while starting over 100 games but underwhelmed in 2018.

We take a look at our first position player during our 2018 Report Card series at District on Deck. Wilmer Difo had a prolonged opportunity to impress for the Washington Nationals but failed to grasp the chance with both hands.

The young infielder ended up starting 104 games in 2018 and looked to build on a positive 2017 where he slashed a respectable .271/.319/.370. He was able to open the year seeing a lot of time at second base with Daniel Murphy out, and then at third when Anthony Rendon missed time early on.

Then with the team’s season rapidly running out of steam in the playoff hunt, he had the chance to lock down the starting job in 2019 and beyond. Unfortunately, he didn’t make a particularly compelling case for that gig.

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The Positives for Difo

The obvious positive was that he was fantastic on defense at numerous positions. He played most of his games at second base and provided some much needed defensive prowess the team had lacked when Murphy manned the keystone. He also played shortstop and third base when Rendon and Trea Turner weren’t playing, as he showcased excellent defensive versatility.

Difo was also able to add a little more power into his game in 2018, as previously he had been considered a light-hitting infielder. The infielder’s ISO jumped all the way up from .099 last year to .120 this year, as he recorded a career-high seven home runs in 2018. This was perhaps some of the Kevin Long effect, who preaches launch angles, and we saw it spike mid-season while showing progress in that area.

Areas for Improvement

While Wilmer Difo upgraded in the power department, it seemed to come at the cost of some batting average. After hitting .271 in his first full big league season last year, he dipped down to .230 in 2018. Some of that can be put down to bad BABIP luck as it fell from .332 to .269, but it’s possible some of this is down to weak fly balls causing outs, instead of groundballs with eyes.

Last year, it seemed that Difo excelled when he was able to get prolonged spells as a starter. However, in 2018, he was far too streaky which caused his batting slash line to fluctuate and finish low. While he had a nine-game hit streak at one point in the year, he also had nine games without a hit and two other occasions where he went five hitless games in a row.

The Final Grade

It felt like 2018 just went to prove that Wilmer Difo profiles as an extremely useful utility player in the long-term. He can play multiple positions well defensively and can do a job if he needs to fill in for an injured starter. But it’s not a good idea to have him penciled in as an undisputed starter.

The suddenly lower BABIP should be factored into a grade, as he may have been unlucky at times with the bat. So while taking that into account, the 2018 season wasn’t overly bad for Difo, but it also wasn’t all that great either. C

Remember to keep an eye out for more Washington Nationals 2018 Report Cards during the upcoming weeks here at District on Deck.