Atlanta Braves: What version of Johan Camargo will we get in 2020?

Comparing 2018 to 2019

Let’s take a quick look into what changed between the two seasons and how we can use that to project what Camargo will accomplish in 2020.

Offensively is where the biggest drop off happened between each season for Johan and is likely the area of focus he has had this offseason.

2018: .272/.349/.457, .806 OPS, 27 doubles, 19 home runs, 76 RBI, 3.3 fWAR

2019: .233/.279/.384, .663 OPS, 12 doubles, 7 home runs, 32 RBI, -0.5 fWAR

There is a hefty drop in production between those seasons. However, the correlation is also way less playing time. Camargo seems to benefit from being on the field each and every day.

His defense at third base dropped off a bit as well between the two seasons. In 2018 Johan had 7 defensive runs saved (DRS) and an Ultimate Zone Rating per 150 games (UZR/150) of 8.9, which are fairly good numbers and show his range and effectiveness at third.

That effectiveness dropped a bit in 2019 as his DRS dropped to -2 and a -18.3 UZR/150. Now, he did play less third base in 2019 so there is a small sample size there, but his numbers weren’t that great at secondary positions either, especially at shortstop where he played the most often.

His offensive approach changed a bit toward the end of 2019 as he slashed .455/.500/1.182 in 12 plate appearances. So, not a huge sample size but enough to show he had figured something out as he had 2 homers and 3 RBI in that stretch.

Unfortunately, this ended prematurely with Camargo fouling a ball off of his right shin causing a fracture and putting him out for the rest of the year.

It was a shame because he was a big piece of Atlanta’s bench and would have been great to have through the playoffs.

So, as you see, there wasn’t a lot of success in 2019 to be found for Camargo but when you look back at 2017 and 2018, it isn’t hard to see why Atlanta is okay running him out there every day if they decide to.