5 Middle Infielders That Posted Surprisingly Strong 2018 Seasons
It’s an exceedingly quiet day on the transactional front, which affords an opportunity to look at some higher-level developments around the game as the 2018 season comes to an end. My perusal of the stat pages revealed that there are several interesting middle infielders — by trade, if not always by use this year — who have posted surprisingly strong campaigns.
There are obviously other shortstops and second basemen who have likewise excelled beyond expectations — e.g. Scooter Gennett and Trevor Story — but it feels as if they’ve received proper recognition and examination already. It’s worth taking a closer look at this handful of players:
- Jurickson Profar, Rangers: Yes, folks, the former top overall prospect in baseball has finally arrived … at the ripe old age of, um, 25. Through 567 plate appearances this season, Profar has produced a .255/.337/.457 slash with 18 home runs and ten steals. He has gone down on strikes just 79 times while drawing 52 walks. While the defensive work hasn’t been valued as highly — whether due to frequent position shifts, Profar’s shoulder issues, short-sample blips, or otherwise — he has made up for that with highly valued work on the bases. All said, it’s the sort of campaign that was once envisioned for a player who debuted at 19 years of age. He’ll remain arbitration eligible for two more campaigns and could step in at third base if Adrian Beltre departs, though Profar’s capabilities in the middle infield still help buttress the Rangers’ options (including in potential trade scenarios).
- Johan Camargo Braves: While Camargo has been handling third base this year, and doing so with aplomb, he spent most of his time in the minors at short and could still factor there in the future, so he gets a spot on this list. Interesting young infielders abound in Atlanta, but this one has come from way off the radar to turn in a season every bit as impressive (if not moreso) than those of his more celebrated brethren. If his 2017 results suggested some likelihood of regression, Camargo’s 2018 follow-up indicates that he has made serious strides. Through 499 plate appearances, he owns a .273/.353/.457 slash with 18 home runs. He’s drawing free passes in ten percent of his trips to the dish (double his rookie rate) while strikeout out twenty percent of the time. Only a surprisingly poor baserunning grade (-3.4 BsR) has held him to an even 3.0 fWAR on the season.
- Joey Wendle, Rays: Entering his age-28 season, Wendle had appeared in just 36 MLB contests. Thus far in 2018, he has contributed 521 plate appearances of .301/.356/.439 hitting with seven long balls and 15 steals. Wendle may struggle to sustain those numbers, given that he’s relying upon a hefty .355 BABIP and isn’t quite supported by Statcast (.341 wOBA vs. .320 xwOBA). Still, he offers value in the other facets of the game and at worst seems to be quite a useful, affordable asset for the surprising Rays. It’s all the better for Tampa Bay given that Wendle was acquired out of DFA limbo over the winter.
- Marcus Semien, Athletics: We can probably stop waiting for Semien to break out at the plate. He’s yet again firmly ensconced between the 90 and 100 wRC+ range — smack dab in the middle, in fact, at 95. He might finish with only about half the dingers he smacked in 2016 (27), but is reaching base at a palatable enough clip. So … his inclusion on this list is almost entirely dependent upon what one thinks of his glovework. Semien is humming along at +8 DRS and +7.8 UZR after mostly posting poor metrics in past seasons. He hasn’t entirely eliminated the errors that once plagued him, though with twenty this year he’s still well shy of the 35 he recorded in 2015. What he is doing is earning big marks for ranging to balls and converting them into outs. The result? 3.6 fWAR and 4.0 rWAR.
- Jose Peraza, Reds: There isn’t a ton to get excited about with Peraza, who has posted solidly average marks in most regards while providing an extra boost on the bases. Still, that makes him a potential regular player — much more than he seemed capable of after his first full MLB run in 2017. At 24 years of age, he’s youthful and controllable. Peraza has made clear strides in the power department, where he has socked nearly as many dingers (13) as he had at all levels in the prior three seasons combined (14). He’s also converting his frequent contact into a high-enough batting average (.290) to support a reasonable on-base percentage (.328) despite a piddling (albeit still-improving) 4.4% walk rate. Though the defensive metrics aren’t in love with the glove, it’s good enough to hold down the position. The overall package is sufficient to induce the Reds to pencil in Peraza at short for some time, giving top prospect Nick Senzel a look in the corner outfield this fall rather than exploring other potential infield configurations.
Quick Hits: Judge, Seager, Rays
Yankees sophomore sensation Aaron Judge is still feeling pain when he swings a bat, per a tweet from Marc Carig of The Athletic. Certainly there’s still time for him to regain his health and strength in advance of the postseason (we still have three weeks until October, after all), but the news has to be disconcerting both for the Yankees organization and for Judge himself. The outfielder has been out of commission since July 26th after sustaining a chip fracture in his wrist, and though it was reported as recently as yesterday that he could be nearing a return after he was able to participate in on-field drills, the news that his pain level (still describes as a “4” on a 1-10 scale) casts some doubt on the notion that he could be back on the field within the next week or so.
- Corey Seager expects to play shortstop for the Dodgers next year, as he tells Ken Gurnick of MLB.com. Seager has had massive misfortune this year in regards to injuries; he suffered a UCL injury early on in the season that required the infamous Tommy John procedure, and had to undergo a second procedure on his hip soon thereafter. Recently, though, he’s expressed confidence in his recovery from these surgeries. Seager is already off of crutches, and he looks forward to resuming a throwing program next month. “Based to this point, I’ll be ready to go,” Seager said. “I should, ‘quote unquote,’ have a pretty normal spring. It will probably be a little slow in the beginning, but should be pretty normal.”
- In light of the Rays‘ success with creativity this season, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times details some of the most interesting aspects of the club’s strategy in 2018. Carig explores various aspects of the club’s advances back to contention, highlighted by the purging of veterans in order to bring focus to a new, young core. The coming out parties for players like Jake Bauers and Joey Wendle have been fun to watch, to be sure. But equally interesting has been their improvements in much broader aspects of the game: a few mentioned by Carig include the team’s improvement on the hard contact and line drive front, trimming of strikeouts, spike in batting average, and, of course, the adoption and implementation of the “opener” strategy.
Athletics Acquire Jonah Heim From Rays
The A’s have acquired minor league catcher Jonah Heim from the Rays as the player to be named later in last week’s Joey Wendle trade, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (on Twitter).
Heim, 22, spent the entire 2016 season in Class-A Advanced but struggled greatly, prompting the Rays to drop him back to Class-A to open the 2017 campaign. Heim spent most of the year in that Class-A Midwest League before moving back up to High-A for the final 16 games, hitting a combined .260/.317/.402 with nine homers across the two levels. He caught 45 percent of would-be base thieves in 2017 and is at an excellent mark of 38 percent throughout his minor league career to date. Heim did not rank among Tampa Bay’s top prospects, but he’ll give the A’s some depth at the position and could seemingly find himself in Double-A at some point in the 2018 campaign.
Rays Acquire Joey Wendle
The Rays have acquired second baseman Joey Wendle from the Athletics for a player to be named later, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com was among those to report (Twitter link). The A’s jettisoned Wendle from their 40-man roster when they designated him for assignment last Thursday.
Tampa Bay is the third organization for Wendle, who entered the pro ranks as a sixth-round pick of the Indians in 2012. They shipped him to the A’s in 2014 to acquire slugger Brandon Moss. The lefty-hitting Wendle ended up making his major league debut in 2016, and he hit a combined .266/.305/.339 in 118 plate appearances with the A’s between that year and last season. Wendle, 27, spent nearly all of the 2017 campaign with the A’s Triple-A affiliate and batted .285/.327/.429 in 510 PAs. With an option remaining, he could head back to Triple-A with the Rays and serve as depth.
Athletics Designate Joey Wendle For Assignment
The Athletics have designated infielder Joey Wendle for assignment, according to an announcement from the team. Oakland jettisoned Wendle to make room on its 40-man roster for newly signed reliever Yusmeiro Petit, whose deal with the club is now official.
Now 27, Wendle has been a member of the Oakland organization since December 2014, when it acquired him from the Indians for slugger Brandon Moss. Wendle has spent the vast majority of his A’s tenure with their Triple-A affiliate and slashed .285/.325/.441 across 1,654 plate appearances at that level. He made his big league debut in 2016 during a 104-PA showing and added another 14 plate trips last season. All told, Wendle has hit a less-than-stellar .266/.305/.339 as a member of the A’s, with whom he has lined up solely at second base.