Despite a mostly poor showing this season with the Atlanta Braves, Johan Camargo hasn’t let it impact his performance with Triple-A Gwinnett.
It wasn’t supposed to go this way. This past winter when Atlanta Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos made the decision to deploy Johan Camargo as a part-time/super-utility player — a trendy new job title that has gained popularity these days — the hope was that he could still build from an excellent 2018 season.
However, that hasn’t been the case.
In 89 games of major league action, the 25-year-old Camargo has struggled in 2019. But we already know this.
The dropoff in numbers that he has experienced this season is remarkable, as he went from a .272 hitter with 19 home runs in 2018, to a .222 hitter with just 5 home runs this year.
FanGraphs says Camargo was a 3-win player last season (3.3 fWAR), but in 2019… he’ll finish as a below-replacement player, currently worth minus-0.9 fWAR.
Who knows if this is just a fluke season, or if the inconsistent playing-time is to blame for his struggles. Heck, Camargo’s performance last season could’ve just been a lucky year. He may have fooled us all!
Anthopoulos can’t put his finger on exactly what happened to Camargo this season, either:
"“I wish I could tell you (what’s gone wrong). There are a million things I could tell you. We can craft all kinds of narratives. Was it not playing during the winter like he did the year before through late January? Was it not getting regular reps, playing time here? Was it trying to press when he was playing and did get those starts? Hard to say. But like anything else, we talked to him about going down, getting his regular at-bats and getting his timing back. He’s still a young man with all the ability in the world. He should get back to what he was.”"
I’m not really interested in diving into the hows and whys, regarding Camargo’s struggles this season with the Braves. I’m more concerned with what lies ahead, though we can speculate about his future with the Atlanta Braves another time (there are lots to talk about regarding that).
What’s interesting right now is what Camargo is doing down in Gwinnett, which I’m sure you’ve read about by now. If you haven’t, well… you may want to pay attention. Camargo is absolutely raking in Triple-A.
In 11 games so far (through Tuesday), Camargo owns a video game-like slash line (.522/.560/.717) with a home run and 6 doubles. Even more impressive is his 33 total bases in that span, with the Stripers. The man will not stop hitting. Plus, he’s been Mr. Clutch with Gwinnett.
Here’s Camargo helping lead a late-game comeback for the Stripers last week:
BUCKLE UP Y’ALL WE’RE MAKING A COMEBACK pic.twitter.com/ZOoYqAE492
— Gwinnett Stripers (@GoStripers) August 24, 2019
A great week of hitting wouldn’t quite be great without the long ball. Last Wednesday, Camargo went 3-for-5 at the plate, belting his first home run with the Stripers. Don’t you miss that beautiful swing?
https://twitter.com/GoStripers/status/1164323994012721153?s=19
This week has been no different than last week, so far. Tuesday night was Camargo’s third consecutive game with 3 hits. He has five 3-hit performances in his last 10 games, slugging 5 doubles in that span. This is like some early-2019 Austin Riley stuff.
Someone commented on my most recent Farm Report (Week 21), published on Tuesday, noting that Camargo seems to have developed a mighty big chip on his shoulder. That commenter couldn’t be more right.
There’s no doubt that the way this season has played out has impacted Camargo. He’s human and we humans tend to get disappointed when we don’t perform the way we know we can.
With the early-season surge of Riley and this current MVP-like play from Josh Donaldson, you can’t really fault the Atlanta Braves’ decision-makers for demoting Camargo. There just wasn’t room.
But despite his poor performance in the majors this season and the fact that he lost his full-time and part-time job with the Atlanta Braves, Camargo continues to push on, seemingly unaffected by his fall from a breakout player to a below-replacement now-minor leaguer.
I’m not sure what’s more impressive: his recent success in Gwinnett or the fact that he didn’t give up or get discouraged once optioned to Triple-A.
Either way, it says a lot about what kind of person Camargo is. He could’ve easily taken his demotion in a far more negative way.
Looking at his type of situation, who could really blame him if he was discouraged? One season he’s the starting third baseman for the Atlanta Braves, expected to become an All-Star, then the following year he finds himself in the minors. That’s a hard pill to swallow.
But current minor leaguer or not, I would almost bet that we’ll see Camargo with the Braves in September when big-league rosters expand. His past performance should still carry plenty of weight when it comes to the Braves deciding who to add as reinforcements for the postseason.
Who knows, Camargo could get some meaningful at-bats in September or in the playoffs. And what better time to turn a poor year around than an October playoff run? Nope, Camargo isn’t done yet.