Phillies made right decision keeping Cesar Hernandez this offseason
By John Town
There was pressure on the Phillies to trade Cesar Hernandez this offseason to clear the way for Scott Kingery. Keeping him turned out to be a good call.
The Phillies entered last offseason with a major logjam in the middle infield. J.P. Crawford and Scott Kingery were nipping on the heels of Freddy Galvis and Cesar Hernandez. The team traded Galvis to the Padres during the offseason but opted to keep Hernandez in Philadelphia.
Hernandez could have been the key piece in a trade for a starting pitcher during the offseason. Fans viewed Hernandez as expendable with Kingery waiting in the wings after a strong 2017 season. Instead, a trade never happened, the team signed Jake Arrieta, and Hernandez remained with the team. Looking back, it turned out to be a good decision to keep him around.
Kingery has not been the breakout player we all expected him to be. After a hot first two weeks, he has done little at the plate. Kingery has a .213/.263/.333 line with 40 strikeouts and just eight walks in 152 plate appearances. He has just three extra-base hits and two runs batted in since April 16.
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Meanwhile, Hernandez just keeps getting better at the plate. His .811 OPS and 127 wRC+ are both career highs for him. His 15.2 percent walk rate is also a career high and ranks 14th among qualified hitters. Hernandez has reached base 81 times, sixth-most in the league.
Hernandez has started 46 of the team’s 47 games this year, hitting leadoff in every single one he has started.
He ranks among the best leadoff hitters in the league, as he has the third-highest on-base percentage among hitters with 100 or more plate appearances in the leadoff spot. He also ranks fourth in the National League in weighted on-base average when hitting leadoff.
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Hernandez’s ability to reach base on a consistent basis has led to plenty of runs. His 34 runs scored rank fourth in the NL. He has also brought in runs plenty of times with six home runs and 17 runs batted in.
Overall, Hernandez has been among the team’s most valuable players this year. His 1.4 Baseball-Reference wins above replacement rank fourth on the team behind Aaron Nola, Odubel Herrera, and Nick Pivetta. His 1.7 Fangraphs wins above replacement are second-most on the team behind only Herrera. Out of 536 National League position players, Hernandez ranks 13th overall in fWAR and third among second basemen.
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While keeping Hernandez may have seemed like a questionable decision when the season began, it has proved to be the right one this year. He is once again among the team’s best hitters and the best at getting on base from the leadoff spot.