Signed early in Spring Training, Paul DeJong joined the Washington Nationals as a stopgap third baseman and veteran presence. The plan was presumably for DeJong to man the hot corner until top prospect Brady House was ready to debut.
DeJong’s tenure as a National got off to a respectable start. He was decent offensively, providing a much-needed right-handed bat in a lefty-heavy lineup, and played phenomenal defense. Through the first month of the season, DeJong was the third-best defensive third baseman in baseball by Outs Above Average, tied with two-time Platinum Glove Award winner Matt Chapman.
Of course, DeJong’s season was derailed in mid-April when he was hit by a pitch that broke his nose, among other bones in his face, and required surgery. During DeJong’s two-month absence, the Nats have used a platoon of Jose Tena and Amed Rosario to cover third base, and recently promoted House to make his highly-anticipated debut.
After a long road to recovery, DeJong has finally begun a rehab assignment. In six games with Double-A Harrisburg, he has slashed .412/.524/.647, signaling he is just about ready to rejoin the Nationals. With House entrenched at third base, though, DeJong’s role isn’t as clear as it once was.
House hasn’t dominated in his first week as a major leaguer, but he has certainly held his own, consistently producing quality plate appearances and playing a smooth third base. On a team whose playoff aspirations have all but vanished, House should remain the everyday third baseman and be given the opportunity to develop at the major league level.
With third base spoken for, where else could DeJong find playing time? Right now, the Designated Hitter position seems to have the most available at bats.
Josh Bell has served as the Nats’ primary DH but has disappointed mightily, producing career-lows in virtually every offensive category, and looks overmatched. Upon further inspection, though, most of Bell’s struggles have come against left-handed pitching. Bell has slugged all nine of his homers against righties and has produced a 93 wRC+. Those numbers aren’t great by any stretch, but he’s not far below league average. Against lefties, on the other hand, Bell has a -18 wRC+. That puts him 118 percent below league average, making him the third-worst hitter in baseball against lefties this year.
Andres Chaparro was recently promoted to split time with Bell at DH, but he could be sent down to clear a roster spot for DeJong. In this instance, the Nats could choose to platoon Bell and DeJong, with Bell playing against righties and DeJong against lefties. The hope, then, would be that DeJong can build enough trade value to be dealt at the deadline and Chaparro could return for the season’s final two months. That seems to be the most logical way to utilize DeJong.
DeJong could also see some time at second base. Dave Martinez has been hesitant to play Luis Garcia Jr. against left-handed starters, creating an opportunity for DeJong. A natural shortstop, DeJong has only played 22 games at second base, almost all of which came in 2017. While this is less than ideal, he had never played third base before last season yet has ranked as one of the best defensive third basemen in baseball in his limited time there. It would be an adjustment, but DeJong could almost certainly hold his own at the keystone. This isn’t the most natural solution, but would allow the Nats to utilize DeJong’s spectacular defense.
For now, we can read the tea leaves of DeJong’s rehab assignment to try to predict what the Nats have planned for him upon his return. In six games, he has three appearances at third base, two at DH, and one at shortstop. If the Nats planned for DeJong to learn second base, we would almost certainly have seen him start there at some point during his rehab assignment.
Demoting House after a productive first week would be a grave mistake, and the Nats seem inclined to see what he can do as an everyday third baseman in the majors. With this in mind, DeJong will likely see most of his playing time as a Designated Hitter while also spelling House, CJ Abrams, and Garcia Jr., assuming he is not traded or designated for assignment upon the conclusion of his rehab.
Wherever DeJong fits in, his imminent return is an encouraging development after he faced every hitter’s nightmare.