As the 2016 Washington Nationals roster takes shape, there is still the question of depth of starters, on the bench and the back of the bullpen.
Since Mike Rizzo hasn’t said he’s finished with the 2016 roster, it is not fair to assume he is done with moves to strengthen this team.
The many faces of AJ Cole pic.twitter.com/NZEe2N16QL
— First Week of Summer (@1stWeekOfSummer) April 29, 2015
Starting pitching depth could look like this:
- Scherzer
- Strasburg
- Gio
- Ross
- Roark
- AJ Cole
- Taylor Jordan
- Giolito
- Voth
The bench depth looks like a choice of:
- Lobaton C
- Espinosa/Turner MI
- Drew MI
- Clint Robinson 1B/OF
- Matt den Dekker OF
- Michael Taylor OF
- Tyler Moore 1B/Of
- Chris Heisey OF
- Reed Johnson OF
- Jhonatan Solano C
- Wilmer Difo MI
Back of the bullpen:
- Felipe Rivero
- Shawn Kelley
- Jonathan Papelbon
While the bench has many candidates, how good are any of them at coming off the bench and at being pinch-hitters? Let’s put pinch hitting career BA/OBP next to their names:
- Lobaton C .095/.208
- Espinosa MI .148/.343
- Drew MI .324/.425
- Clint Robinson 1B/OF .205/.327
- Matt den Dekker OF .250/.323
- Michael Taylor OF .100/.182
- Tyler Moore 1B/Of .121/.183
- Chris Heisey OF .282/.338
- Reed Johnson OF .272/.328
- Jhonatan Solano C .286/.286
- Wilmer Difo MI .100/.100
The #Nationals' bench needs serious work. I love Clint Robinson. Everybody else is questionable. #Nats #MLB
— William Ladson (@washingnats) January 11, 2016
