NL East Position by Position Preview: Third Base
One of the biggest question marks for the Atlanta Braves this spring is who will play third base this season. How exactly will it shape out?
For the Atlanta Braves, it is a good problem to have. There are two worthy candidates to be the Opening Day third basemen: Johan Camargo and Austin Riley.
Neither has exactly separated themselves this spring, as both are having productive at-bats and proving they can be efficient, if not explosive parts in the batting order.
But at some point, manager Brian Snitker will have to decide how he wants his roster to look when the team opens in Arizona in two weeks.
There was no more disappointing player on the Braves roster last season than Johan Camargo, who came into camp overweight, which clearly impacted his performance.
His final line in 2019 was .233/.279/.384 and a WAR of -0.7. He hit 7 home runs with 32 runs batted in.
He was eventually demoted on August 15th.
Steamer projects Camargo to hit .269 with a .766 OPS. They also project 12 homers, 20 doubles, and 42 RBI.
So far in Spring Training, he has hit .304 with a home run and five runs batted in.
While Camargo could certainly be the everyday third basemen, his versatility makes him a better option as a utility man.
We all remember how encouraging and exciting Austin Riley was when he debuted last May. In his first 43 games, Riley hit 14 homers with 37 RBI and 58 strikeouts. His line was .273/.326/.582
But over his last 37 games, he hit a putrid .156/.210/.303 with just four homers and 50 strikeouts.
Much has been made about Riley’s adjustments this spring and the numbers certainly show. He is hitting .304 with two homers and four runs batted in.
Steamer projects Riley to hit 15 homers and 43 RBI, while batting .250 with 84 strikeouts in 71 games.
If Riley were to play 142 games that’s 30 homers, 86 RBI and 168 strikeouts — sign me up for that.
This is a no-brainer decision for Snitker and the Braves.
Austin Riley needs to be the Opening Day third basemen, with Camargo coming off the bench as a super sub.
Outside of the top four in the batting order, there is not a ton of power left. Riley would undoubtedly bring that. Plug him into the five-spot in the order and let’s go.
Camargo is too good to be sent down to Triple-A to be the starting third basemen there. The 26 best players need to be on the big league roster and Riley and Camargo are just that.
Riley provides the most upside, while Camargo is the security blanket in the event of Riley struggling or getting injured.
Washington Nationals
This time last year, the Washington Nationals had one of the best third basemen in the game, Anthony Rendon, manning the hot corner.
But now Rendon is in Los Angeles with the Angles and the Nationals are left to piece together multiple players in order to have production.
According to their team’s website, Carter Kieboom sits atop the depth chart at third base, with others in the mix right behind him.
Kieboom has logged only 43 plate appearances in his big league career, with just five hits (two of which were home runs).
Interestingly enough, Kieboom is actually a shortstop by trade but is being forced to third base kind of out of necessity.
He spent most of his 2019 season in Triple-A, where he had a line of .303/.409/.493, with 16 home runs and 79 RBI. He played 62 games at shortstop, 41 at second base and 10 at third base.
If Kieboom cannot cut it at third base, the Nationals will likely fall back to Asdrubal Cabrera, who resigned a 1-year, $2.5 million dollar deal in the offseason.
Cabrera split time between Texas and Washington last season, slashing .260/.342/.441 with 18 homers and 91 RBI.
Neither of these guys is going to be Rendon, obviously. But Cabrera can be serviceable and if they get production from Kieboom — who is their top prospect — then that appears to be a bonus.
Philadelphia Phillies
Nothing is more Phillies-ish than trying to fit a square peg into a round hole and that is pretty much what the Phillies are doing at third base this year.
Jean Segura, who is a two-time All-Star AS A SHORTSTOP, is being moved to third base so Didi Gregorious can take over at short.
Listen, Segura is one of the best fielding shortstops in the game, which makes even less sense to move him from that spot.
In his 10-plus years in the majors, Segura has never played third base. Additionally, he never started a game at third base in the minor leagues, as well.
Offensively, Segura will be fine. He slashed .280/.323/.420 last year with minimal power (12 homers).
Gregorious has started just two games at third base, so that is not much to go on either.
Many teams were rumored to be involved in the Kris Bryant and/or Nolan Arenado discussions this past winter, but the Phillies always seemed like the team who needed to get involved more than any other.
Now they are stuck with two shortstops on the left side of the infield and hoping that it works out. If it doesn’t, then I am guessing those Bryant and Arenado rumors will start up again sooner rather than later.
New York Mets
With Robinson Cano locked in at second base, Jeff McNeil is entrenched at third base and honestly, this might be the best situation in the division as of Opening Day at the hot corner.
McNeil was an All-Star last season. He slashed .318/.384./.531 with 23 home runs and 75 runs batted in, before getting injured in September.
Last season McNeil played 71 games in left field, 42 games in right field, 37 games at second base and 31 games at third base, and even at the Minor League level, third base was the position that McNeil played the least.
While the sample size is small, McNeil was four runs above the defensive runs saved average. He also made just one error in 154 innings.
The Mets really don’t have much of a choice here, even though it is a good player (McNeil) to have.
Cano is making too much money to not play him, and outside of McNeil, they have Jed Lowrie, who played just nine games last season due to injury.
It would be risky to think Lowrie could rebound to the 2018 version that was an All-Star.
So McNeil is the guy and the Mets could do much, much worse.
Miami Marlins
Let’s give credit where credit is due: the Marlins have at least brought in some competent players who can make Miami a competitive bunch.
And one of those players is Jonathan Villar, who was non-tendered by the Orioles over the winter.
It was surprising because Villar hit 24 home runs with 73 RBI last season for the worst team in the league.
He slashed .274/.339/.453 with 4 WAR.
That’s pretty solid, no?
But the problem is, Villar has not played third base since the 2016 season with the Brewers. He played the majority of his time last year at second base (111 games) and shortstop (97 games).
In 2016, he played 42 games at third base and then in 2015 with the Astros, he played 12 games at third.
The offense will undoubtedly be there for Villar, but can the defense be okay? That’s the big question for Miami.
Conclusion
The NL East has two teams with competent third basemen (Mets and Marlins), two teams that have significant questions (Nationals and Phillies) and one team that is kind of in a wait and see mode (Braves).
So if I were to rank the teams as of right now: 1. Mets, 2. Marlins, 3. Braves, 4. Phillies, 5. Nationals
Next. JD Speaks. dark
But if things progress for Austin Riley like he has shown this spring, then the Braves could be No. 1 in these rankings very soon.