Nationals manager Davey Martinez stopped to chat at the edge of practice field No. 3 the other day in West Palm Beach, Florida, and behind him, coaches swung fungo bats to generate ground balls at Washington infielders. The perfect backdrop for a conversation that began, of course, with a reporter's mention of Bryce Harper, but shifted to Martinez's discussion about the Nationals' improved defense.
Harper is one of baseball's best home run hitters and without him, the Nationals' power will be diminished. There's no getting around that. But the strengthening of Washington's run prevention -- the glove work, behind a line of excellent starting pitchers -- could be staggering, and difference-making in one of the best divisions in baseball.
As Sarah Langs noted on our podcast Thursday, Washington rated a minus-55 in defensive runs saved last season, among the worst in the majors. Daniel Murphy continues to be an excellent hitter, but at second base, he struggled, and the Nationals ranked 28th in DRS at this critical position. With Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg, Washington generates a lot of strikeouts, but when the ball was put in play, Murphy and the other second basemen didn't generate extra outs -- for example, the Nationals' second basemen turned just 66 double plays, third lowest in the majors.
Harper's defense was atrocious in 2018, to the degree that it affected how some rival evaluators assessed him as a free agent. Some teams fret over how diminished his range might be four or five years into a 10-year deal, in the same way that the Dodgers were concerned about Giancarlo Stanton's defense when they had a chance to acquire Stanton last winter. Last season, Mookie Betts scored the highest among all right fielders in DRS, by far, at plus-20, and Harper was the second worst among the 218 players who manned the position, at minus-16.
The Nationals' center fielders ranked 23rd in DRS. The catching was a problem, which is why the Nationals worked to attempt to trade for J.T. Realmuto last summer, ultimately refusing to give in to the Marlins' demand for center field prospect Victor Robles.
But the defensive production will likely change dramatically this year. Robles takes over in center field, a wide-ranging speedster whom Martinez compared to a young Andrew McCutchen, in the smooth manner in which he runs. Adam Eaton moves from left field to right field, where he has been a dominant defender in the past -- in 2016, he rated a plus-22 in DRS, or 38 better than Harper last year. Juan Soto is regarded as a subpar outfielder now, but he's 20 years old and through Soto's acumen and drive to get better, the Nationals expect improvement this season.
Brian Dozier was signed as a free agent to play second base, and at the very least, he will make plays that Murphy could not. Besides the $140 million signing of Patrick Corbin, the Nationals' greatest expenditures were for two excellent catchers -- free agent Kurt Suzuki, and Yan Gomes, acquired in a trade with the Indians.
Last year, Scherzer ranked third in the majors in strikeout rate among pitchers with at least 100 innings, at 12.24 per nine innings; Corbin was ninth at 11.07, and Strasburg was 18th. On a lot of days, generating contact against the Nationals may be more difficult than against any other team.
But when the ball is put in play, Washington appears to be much better suited to respond. Scherzer, Corbin, Strasburg and the others on the staff should have a lot more help than they had last season.