With the regular season approaching, we’re taking a look at hitters and pitchers from each division who are seeking bounce-back years in 2020. We’ve already covered the American League, so let’s head to the Senior Circuit and begin with 10 NL East hitters hoping to rebound from subpar 2019 showings this year.
Didi Gregorius, SS, Phillies:
With a one-year, $14MM guarantee, Gregorius was one of the Phillies’ highest-profile acquisitions during the offseason, though the former Yankees star landed the contract off a less-than-ideal platform year. After returning from Tommy John surgery on his right elbow in June, the 30-year-old hit a below-average .238/.276/.441 and totaled only 0.9 fWAR over 344 plate appearances. Gregorius also wound up under the league average in several important Statcast categories. Nevertheless, as someone who put up no worse than 4.0 fWAR in both 2017 and ’18, the Phillies are banking on a rebound; otherwise, they can simply move on after the season.
Johan Camargo, 3B, Braves:
The switch-hitting Camargo was a 3.0-fWAR player two seasons ago, but he fell flat last year, turning in a minus-0.5 effort with a dismal .233/.279/.384 line in 248 plate appearances. Despite that, he’s in the running (along with Austin Riley) to start at third base this season for the Braves, who lost previous No. 1 option Josh Donaldson in free agency.
Yan Gomes, C, Nationals:
Gomes earned the lone All-Star nod of his career in 2018, his final season with the Indians, but saw his offensive production dip in Year 1 with the Nationals. A slow start doomed Gomes to a .223/.316/.389 line in 358 PA, though he did experience a major offensive rebound in the second half. Defensively, while Gomes did throw out 31 percent of would-be base thieves, his pitch-framing numbers fell off a cliff. Still, the Nationals brought him back for two years and $10MM to once again team with Kurt Suzuki.
Robinson Cano, 2B, Mets:
Cano was supposed to be the long-term answer at second for the Mets, who paid a pretty penny for him and closer Edwin Diaz in a trade with the Mariners in December 2018. Instead, the longtime star turned in the worst season of his excellent career, batting .256/.307/.428 in 423 trips to the plate during an injury-shortened campaign. Cano recorded far better numbers during the second half of the season, though, and ranked near the top of the league in multiple Statcast categories (average exit velocity and hard-hit percentage). So, it may be too soon to declare the 37-year-old done; at least, the Mets hope that’s the case.
Wilson Ramos, C, Mets:
Ramos was yet another of the Mets’ hyped pre-2019 pickups whose first season with the team didn’t go as hoped. The 32-year-old did notch a respectable batting line for his position, slashing .288/.351/.416 across 524 PA, but it paled in comparison to what he did the previous season. And Ramos wasn’t exactly a strength defensively. He threw out just 15 percent of would-be base stealers and ended up near the bottom of the league in Baseball Prospectus’ Fielding Runs Above Average metric.
Jed Lowrie, INF, Mets:
There may not have been a more ill-fated addition for the Mets last offseason than Lowrie. Signed to a two-year, $20MM contract after back-to-back terrific seasons with the Athletics, multiple injuries limited Lowrie to nine games and eight plate appearances. The 35-year-old isn’t even a lock to participate this season, as he continues to deal with leg troubles. Even if Lowrie does play, he’s not slated to be anything more than a backup right now. Perhaps that will change as the season goes along, but Lowrie will have to get healthy first.
Yoenis Cespedes, OF, Mets:
Hey, another Met! Cespedes is coming off an injury-ravaged couple years – including an ailment he suffered during a run-in with a wild boar – but seems to be making progress now. The talent’s there for a bounce-back campaign, but if your stance is “I’ll believe it when I see it,” you’re not alone.
Brandon Nimmo, OF, Mets:
Maybe we should change the name of this list to “Mets Hitters Who Are Looking For Bounce-Back Seasons.” Nimmo was the most productive of this group last year, at least offensively, but his output fell shy of his coming-out party in 2018. Injuries held the on-base machine to 69 games, 254 PA, a .221/.375/.407 line and 1.3 fWAR. Meanwhile, his hard-hit percentage plummeted by seven points and his expected weighted on-base average dropped from .352 to .330, per Statcast.
Jesus Aguilar, 1B, Marlins:
Aguilar was among the game’s most prolific sluggers as a member of the Brewers in 2018, when he registered a 134 wRC+ and amassed 35 home runs. But he was unable to follow it up during a 2019 divided between Milwaukee and Tampa Bay. Aguilar concluded with an uninspiring .236/.325/.389 line and 12 homers across 389 trips to the plate. However, according to Statcast (.334 xwOBA versus .307 real wOBA), he may have deserved better. The Marlins are banking on that after plucking the 29-year-old off waivers over the winter.
Francisco Cervelli, C, Marlins:
Like Aguilar, Cervelli’s production dropped precipitously in 2019. The 34-year-old’s longtime concussion problems came to the forefront again, holding him to 160 PA of replacement-level production. But Cervelli was a very good contributor just two seasons ago, and for $2MM, Miami’s hoping he’ll serve as a solid complement and mentor to Jorge Alfaro.
How is Rhys Hoskins not in this article?
And why is Ramos on it? Most teams would love to get .767 OPS out of their backstop.
Ramos production with the bat is definitely above board for a catcher. I really wanted the Angels to get him last year.
Ramos hit just fine last year. His defense was a different topic of discussion however.
.416 slugging.
107 OPS+. Down from 135 in ;18, 129 in ’17, 130 in ’16.
.416 SLG down from .483, .488, .487
HENCE the need for a BOUNCEBACK.
A .767 OPS from a catcher who cant catch is not very good.
One more reason that there is no team in Nebraska.
If you get an OPS of .650 or more from your backup backstop, then you be all thank you’s. Sign me up for a Gomes, Ausmus, or Avila type backup six days a week and twice on Sunday.
dwightgoodenspinkynail
You completely missed the point of the article. We are looking at bounceback candidates. Wilson Ramos’s offense may be good for a catcher but it wasn’t nearly as good as it used to be.
OPS
’19 .768
’18 .879
Hence the need for a BOUNCEBACK.
Some people you just can’t reason with.
Or Buster Posey?
NL East article.
Right. I just realized that.
East is least…Nationals WC..lol!
All good Pete. Every one of these article’s have had someone mention a player from another division wondering why they were excluded.
hes not a met. see how many mets r in this article. and they think the mets r going to win the nl east. pathetic. it’s like the mets team needs a bounce back year. smh
Didi is 0-22 this spring. Should we be concerned?
Yes and no but who cares the phillies will go 81-81 or 80-82 and go another season without being better than 500. I think they are going on 7 or 8 straight seasons like this
yeah, we’ll see about that
People are sleepin on the Phils
Not really. They’re not a very good team and their major addition this offseason is a slightly above average starting pitcher. I don’t really see how they’ve improved much.
Last year their #2 was not a slightly above average pitcher. So that’s a major improvement. Didi is an improvement over Hernandez. 99% of the bullpen not veing injured will be real nice. Cutch returning is also huge. The Phils were playing pretty well before all the injuries in 2019. I am not saying they will win the very tough NL East, but everyone keeps counting them out and I love it.
People do not want to be fooled a third consecutive year. Expectations are tempered when it comes to the Phils.
They had expectations on 2018?
Acuna about the same. should the Braves be?
It’s a looooong season and he wasn’t 100% through the playoffs, but still one of the hottest hitters. He says he feels good and he’s not stressing it. Make it through ST healthy is the goal, not hitting bombs off fringe prospects and SPs working out some kinks. Let Chris Davis keep stroking his ego. He deserves it.
No. Only 4 K’s says otherwise. After watching him as a Yankee, he’s a pretty streaky hitter.
I’m expecting a big comeback season from Chet Stedman
Lou collins should of been given a shot at 1st.
Is that Timothy Busfield’s character from LBL?
Didi is 0-22 this spring with 2 walks. That’s rough.
So…the Mets?
What’s wild is the Mets as a team were near the top of the NL offensively in 2019. McNeil, Alonso, JD Davis, and Conforto all raked and Rosario was a league average hitter at SS. If healthy, that team is going to have strong offense this year while still putting up some of the worst defense in the Majors.
I find it hard to believe in Camargo can bring the bat around, he never hit in the minors and one year out of 8 in pro ball isn’t a good sign to come imo
Many teams would love to have a 3.7 WAR at the hot corner in his first season, regardless of what he did in the minors. He continues to prove that if he gets consistent ABs he’ll hit. His glove is good enough to get him through dry spells. No, I don’t think he’ll be better than Riley, but he’s a darn good floor that deserves playing time, after everyone continues to write him off.
Also, it wasn’t until the off-season before his last minor league season that Camargo underwent a substantial swing makeover.
He implemented that new swing his final MiL season to very solid results, and it helped Camargo hit for significantly more power than before. He continued to get fully comfortable with that swing come 2018, and Camargo continued to show significant gains at the plate. Come the next off-season, he made some minor adjustments to continue getting the most out of his swing, but with a lack of consistent opportunities, and due to injuries, he just couldn’t put anything together.
Once he finally got healthy in 2019, the Braves sent him back down to AAA. There Camargo was able to continue to adjust to his new mechanics, find his groove, and after he was called back up to Atlanta, Camargo actually did very well to end the 2019 season.
Everyone wants to point to his subpar season last year, but just like Inciarte, everyone forgets he ended the season hitting extremely well…!!
Now, refocused, humbled, and in the best shape of his career, Camargo is a man on a mission to prove it was the early 2019 showing that was the fluke..With added strength, another year with his new swing, and with a renewed focus and determination, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Camargo put up another 3.0+ season..
Lol’d so hard at the Mets taking up half the list
What’s even funnier is they actually had a great 2019 on offense with McNeil, Alonso, and Conforto absolutely raking.
I hate the Mets but why on Earth did you put Wilson Ramos on this list. He was arguably a top 5 hitting catcher last year and saying Nimmo had the best offensive season out all of the Mets you have listed is absurd. He probably had the worst out of all the Mets that were not injured. Where on earth are you coming up with this stuff. You really need to change what you have written or please explain your justification for the Mets you have listed. Part of this article is good and the rest is awful. Please re write or explain what is your logic behind this. If you can’t then maybe I should have your job because this is bad just flat out bad
Reading your comment I can say you would never qualify as a writer for MLBTR.
Hate to admit it, but that was a quality ripping of an idiot like WAH. Gave you an upvote for it.
Dude chill. It’s not like the reporter screwed
your sister.
Do you know that for certain?
Not really. Just talked to her over a Corona.
and now she’s in quarantine
To be fair, he was off duty at the time.
Sounds more like dump on the Mets… how much more could anyone expect from Ramos? Anyone would sign up for those same numbers this season. Gregarious, Lowrie and Cespedes had lost seasons due to injuries.
Lost seasons due to injuries… hence the need to bounce back.
Bounce back is applied to someone who played but under performed. If they didn’t play, it’s not really fair to say they need a bounce back year.
“how much more could anyone expect from Ramos?”
How about his previous levels of performance. Could we expect that? How about OPS+ in the 130-135 range instead of 107? How about SLG in the .483-.488 range instead of .416? He was much better hitter 2016-2018. Is that too much to expect?
Yes, for a 31 year old catcher with a history of knee issues, that is too much to ask. You have to be realistic
Wilson Ramos was a stud and wasn’t hurt. Who writes this stuff. A 14 yr old in his parents basement
.416 slugging. Let me say for a fact that, having read your comment, you couldn’t write this stuff so I guess you’re lower than a 14 year old in his parents’ basement.
^^this guy sheesh….I’d guess you’re a 40+ year old still living in your mom’s basement…’Mom i said Don’t Disturb Me when I’m cleaning my room!’….bwhahaha
A stud? I guess that’s why they were looking for someone to take his contact last summer.
Hoskins totally should be here
One of these things is not like the others. Ramos had the highest bWAR he’s had in 4 years.
His OPS+ and SLG are WAY OFF.
107 OPS+. Down from 135 in ;18, 129 in ’17, 130 in ’16.
.416 SLG down from .483, .488, .487
HENCE the need for a BOUNCEBACK.
Reading this list you’d think the Mets were at the bottom of the NL in scoring.
They just happen to have four hitters looking for a year to bounce back to previous levels of performance.
Camargo had s killer year and the Braves screwed him with Donaldson signing. He has a right to be pissed off.
Agree, stupid 6 War Donaldson
And where did it get them? Would the Braves have gone further addressing other needs instead of Donaldson at 3B? Maybe.
Geez thats a real slippery slope there….let me get my rain boots on before trying to tackle that one-
I guess they coulda gotten a guy like Hamels? Ton of possibilities really>…
I think Mo4ever is Connor Byrne’s alias handle
No, just a guy who can see that Wilson Ramos has significant room to bounce back to prior levels of performance.
haha yeah or for any other writer that can’t comprehend other people’s opinions exist….Mo4ever seems like an auto-naysayer on the defensive. Almost every comment disagrees with the post of another regardless of what it is lol♂️
Mo is right.
The Ramos bounce back is about how his numbers dipped in 2019. That makes him a candidate based on his production prior to 2019. He’s the only one understanding the process. Everyone else is resigned to Ramos continuing the downward trend because of his age and his position. You might be correct.
HOWEVER, Mo is 100% right. Ramos, based on this article and his history, is a bounce back candidate.
I keep getting my comments booted. Guys on here must sensitive. Good luck with the coronaviris. I’m going to finish my 12pk of Corona and go to sleep.
bunch of Comment Board Hall Monitors running around here….welcome and enjoy!…
Good luck at the unemployment office tomorrow.
I think it is a pretty simple filter setting they have: if nobody cares what you have to say, then let’s not waste our time on you. Life’s too short to deal with morons. The internet is a big place; we hope you find someone who listens to you.
Seems like the Mets have to hope a lot of things to right…
Which can make them a competitive team to contend if these guys can return to form. I will write Lowrie off as he doesn’t sound like he wants to play.
Not really if you followed the Mets you would know that cano is the only one that is important on that list.
Ramos was still a respectable hitter for the Mets and Ces and lowrie are bench players for us. If they ever even get on the field
Nimmo was injured last year so I’m not going to say it’s a down year like the guy who wrote the article. He will have a 800+ ops if healthy. I really don’t have to “hope” for it.
Lamb, Posey, Hoskins are more meaningful
yea, Hoskins truly needs a bounce-back season if the Phils have any hope to make the playoffs. Harper is gonna Harper, and that’s all good; if he had a dangerous R-handed bat behind him, however, he’d be even better. The plan last year was to have Hoskins be that guy, but he just wasn’t. I really think that offense hinges on Rhys, as just about everyone else is gonna contribute a decent amount no matter where they hit in the order (Segura, Gregorius, Realmuto, and (hopefully) Cutch), so Hoskins really needs to be a threatening hitter behind Harper.
that there are not more Phillies and less Mets here actually wouldnt bode well for the Phillies. that suggests the Mets underperformed and the Phillies did not last year…dont know what to think about that honestly.
Hoskins certainly underperformed, but the main problem with the 2019 Phillies were injuries. So they will improve with health rather than bounceback players.
That being said, I do think the Mets have more potential than the Phillies.
There should be a spot for the entire Phillies outfield
Okay, I can always love a good knock on the Mets or any of the NL East division rivals, but I will follow with the others that question how the heck does Ramos make this list? Ramos can’t do much more than he did, and not too many catchers can match Ramos’ offense. It makes no sense for him to be on this list.
Now if he had been Mike Piazza, Johhny Bench, Gary Carter, Buster Posey (in his prime), or Ivan Rodriguez, then I can see Ramos’ numbers being seen as needing a bounce-back. But this is Ramos, not any of these other catchers I mentioned.
As for the rest, for sure. The reality is that some of these may be on a downward spiral.
And my defense of Ramos makes me feel I need to balance out with a Mets knock. Yes, Nimmo needs a bounce-back, but how likely is that now that the league figured out that all you have to do is throw strikes against him and avoid using wild pitchers against him? When your OBP is that high and your batting average is that low, it’s clear that you need to keep the bat on your shoulders because you aren’t doing much when you are forced to swing.
I finally agree with you! Ramos will only get worse from here on out. Not much bouncing back from a slightly above average (?) hitting catcher who can’t play defense.
Agreed on Nimmo as well. For some reason he is a metrics wet dream which I still do not understand. He is a below average player all around.
This is refreshing!
Yeah, metrics people tend to ignore some of the traditional stats too much or don’t understand what they represent or are too stubborn to admit that they are useful. Us traditionalists know that batting average measures how successful you are at getting on base when a pitcher makes you swing.
Nimmo is without a doubt a mediocre player whose only weapon is keeping the bat on his shoulder against pitchers that can’t find the strikezone. Against pitchers that make him swing, he shows no real threat. Gus like that don’t help teams in the postseason because all of the top teams have stud pitchers that throw strikes.
I don’t know if there is a stat, but there should be an accepted stat from the measurement of your percentage of getting on base solely by dividing walks by plate appearances or perhaps the opposite of removing walks. That would give an additional picture of what is really happening with a batter when you look at this new stat, batting average and OBP.
It seems Jed Lowrie can only stay healthy when playing for Houston or Oakland (twice each). When playing on the East Coast (Boston and NY Mets) not so much. He will probably get as many at bats as Dustin Pedroia this year. LOL
I stand corrected Pedroia had 20 at bats in 2019 vs Lowrie only 7.
Lowrie made $1,428,571 per at bat.