Standout Players on Cellar-Dwelling Teams

My husband and I were listening to the post-game show on the radio after the Giants’ loss to the Brewers on Sunday when Dave Flemming did his usual “What’s On Deck” segment. He announced that the Washington Nationals were coming to San Francisco for a three-game series against the Giants at Oracle Park, starting Monday night. My husband turned and said, “Who’s even on the Nationals now?” “At least CJ Abrams,” I said, “who the Nationals got from San Diego in the Juan Soto trade. Oh, and Joey Meneses, who played well for Team Mexico in the WBC.” Then I searched for the rest of the active roster on Baseball-Reference.com.

I’m a baseball writer, so I should know more than two guys on every team’s active roster. But the Nationals—the team that won the World Series less than four years ago—had escaped my consciousness so far this season. I just haven’t thought about them at all.

When I looked at the Nationals’ Baseball-Reference page, I found a team with a 14-20 record, consistent with their expected record with 132 runs scored and 159 runs allowed.

That got me thinking. Why are Nationals fans showing up this season for games at Nationals Park? The team is obviously rebuilding (or saying they’re rebuilding). Is there anyone playing baseball well enough in Washington, D.C. to attract notice? I have the same questions about the Colorado Rockies, the Oakland A’s, and the Kansas City Royals.

Yes, the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Yankees are in last place in their divisions. But the Cardinals are loaded with star players and are third in attendance in the National League. That may start to tail off if the losing continues, but there’s still plenty of reasons to go see Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado play baseball.

Despite their last place position at the moment, the Yankees have a winning record and are trying to hold on until Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton come off the IL. Plus, they’re the Yankees, so despite the tepid start the season, the Yanks are first in attendance in the American League.

I return to my original question. Who’s attracting fans to go see the Nationals, Rockies, Royals, and A’s this season?

MacKenzie Gore, Washington Nationals

I don’t know why I remembered that CJ Abrams was part of the package of players the Padres sent to the Nationals for Juan Soto but didn’t remember that MacKenzie Gore was shipped off to D.C., too. Probably because Abrams was pressed into duty as the everyday shortstop for the Padres last season after Fernando Tatis Jr. broke his wrist, reportedly in a motorcycle accident. (A few days after the trade, Tatis was suspended 60 games for using performance enhancing drugs).

When he was drafted in 2017, Gore was considered one of the top pitching prospects in the game. But his ranking dropped year after year as he struggled with mechanics and control. Gore finally made his MLB debut with the Padres on April 15, 2022. In 13 starts and 15 overall appearances, he accumulated a 4-4 record and a 4.11 ERA.

Gore started out strong, but things started to fall apart in June. After he gave up 8 runs on 8 hits to the Giants in 3.1 innings on July 10, the Padres moved Gore to the bullpen before shutting him down entirely with an elbow strain in his pitching arm. Then the Padres traded him to the Nationals.

Gore’s turned it around this season.

As of today, Gore is 14th in fWAR (FanGraphs WAR) among starting pitchers in the National League. He’s striking out 11.68 batters per 9 innings, 4th best in the NL. Control remains an issue, as he’s walked 4.62 batters per 9, but he’s also stranding runners at a higher rate than in 2022, so those walks are leading to fewer runs.

Gore throws a 4-seam fastball, a slider, a changeup and a curve. He’s averaging 95.3 mph on his fastball, up about .5 mph from 2022—a nice improvement for a pitch he throws about 60% of the time.

Gore’s best pitch is his curveball, which has a Whiff Rate of 42% (meaning batters swing and miss at his curve 42 percent of the time).

If you find yourself on Washington, D.C. on his pitch day, go see MacKenzie Gore. A bright spot in a dismal season for the Nationals.

Elias Diaz, Colorado Rockies

Am I really telling you that the best player to see on the Rockies right now is a 32-year-old catcher? Yes. Yes I am.

For a team that plays its home games at Coors Field—the place all ERAs go to die—Elias Diaz is one of only two players hitting at or above .300. The other is a rejuvenated Kris Bryant. In 110 plate appearances, Diaz is batting .343/.391/.495 with 6 doubles and 3 home runs. These numbers are so outside the norm for Diaz that the last time he post a wRC+ (weighted runs created plus) above 100 was 2018, when he was with the Pirates. It does make you wonder.

But Diaz is doing more than hitting. He’s playing excellent defense. With stolen base attempts and successful stolen bases up this season (thanks to the pitch clock, disengagement rules and bigger bases), Diaz has raised his caught stealing rate to 60% from 24% in 2022 and 43% in 2021, according to Statcast. And while he’s not considered a particularly strong pitch framer, the Fielding Bible has calculated that Diaz has already saved 2 runs with his defense (DRS). FanGraphs gives Diaz a 3.1 fWAR for his defense so far, fifth best in the majors.

Vinnie Pasquantino, Kansas City Royals

On a recent episode of The Chris Rose Rotation, Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino revealed that he idolized Evan Longoria while growing up and used Longoria3 as his password on everything when he was a kid (obviously, he’s changed his passwords). Then Evan Longoria came on the show to surprise Pasquantino. It was a pretty sweet moment.

In his second season in Kansas City, Pasquantino is batting .276/.372/.504 with 11 doubles and 6 home runs. First base around the majors is stacked with great hitters—Yandy Diaz, Paul Goldschmidt, Vlad Guerrero Jr., Matt Olson, and Freddie Freeman to name a few. Yet Pasquantino is tied with Anthony Rizzo for 8th in the league with a 136 wRC+. His defense at first is nothing to write home about but if you like watching power slugging lefties, go see Vinnie Pasquantino.

Brent Rooker, Oakland A’s

If Brent Rooker slugs over .600 for the season but no one is there to see, does it count?

Listen, what’s happening with the A’s is terrible and unforgivable. Owner John Fisher has gutted the roster, slashed payroll, and announced he’s moving the team to Las Vegas. Honestly, I don’t know how the players on the roster show up for work everyday under those conditions. They want to be professional baseball players, so I guess they’ll do what they need to until they’re traded.

Brent Rooker is definitely showing up to work everyday ready for action. The outfielder/designated hitter is slashing .319/.434/.692 with 10 home runs. Those are some gaudy numbers, particularly for a guy who had limited playing time in the majors last season with the Padres and the Royals.

Kansas City waived Rooker at the end of the 2022 season and the A’s swooped in. Sure, guys make adjustments but Rooker is raking under pretty awful circumstances, so you have to wonder what the Royals were thinking when they let him go. Rooker would look pretty good in a lineup with Vinnie Pasquantino.