Plugging the Leaking LF Hole

As mentioned I mentioned in the last post, the Nationals are hitting .103/.218/.132 out of the left field position in this young season. It’s bad when you’re LF OPS is just under your OPS from your pitchers. While I made the case that this offense is not as bad as people think and will get better anyway, LF is something that should be addressed while waiting for the return of Mike Morse.

Tyler Moore

The talk is that Tyler Moore will be the guy to take the position. I don’t disagree that he has the best bat for the job in AAA (he’s hitting .299/.360/.597 at the moment) but he’s played LF all of 2 games in his pro career, having always been a 1B. I think he will get an opportunity this season, but I’m not sure if it’s going to happen in the next 2 weeks or so, given Rizzo’s commitment to defense. As reader @Sultan_of_Stat pointed out over Twitter, it’s not like the Nats have had good defensive left fielders the last few years, although I’d caution relying on UZR/150 in such short timeframes. So if Moore is ambulatory in LF at all, yes, he’ll probably get called up to do it at some point. But Moore has still only played 2 games in his entire pro career out there, so I have a hard time believing Rizzo thinks he’s ready to do it just yet.

The Other Guys

The Nats just finalized their roster this week, and there were few questions remaining. We knew at this point that Mark DeRosa, for example, was going to make the team, and he’ll probably even start with all the early season injuries. But a few guys made this team that we didn’t even notice before spring training. And you may not notice them that much this season, other than an occasional start or pinch hit appearance.

Brett Carroll

Brett Carroll hasn’t hit much in the major leagues. Almost all of his plate appearances have been with Florida, and he’s only hit .203/.281/.322 in his career. His best season, and the one in which he played the most, was 2009. He had 158 PAs and hit .234/.306/.383, which isn’t particularly good for any position, let alone a guy who really only plays corner outfield. He is a righty, and in his career, he’s shown much more power against lefties, although his AVG and OBP have been pretty much the same. In that extended appearance in 2009m he hit with significantly more power against LHPs, and better OBP against RHPs.

Last year, at 28 years old, Carroll spent basically the entire year in AAA, where he hit .275/.345/.447. Nice numbers, if he wasn’t a 28 year old. The Nats can expect decent power off the bench against lefties, but probably not much more than that. Still, that isn’t the worst thing to do with a bench spot.