OF Jayson Werth, Washington Nationals
After two very good seasons with the Nationals in 2013 and 2014, Jayson Werth really struggled as a 36-year-old last year when he hit .221/.302/.384. Along with his struggles with the stick, he was limited to 88 games because of injuries. The Natinals still owe Werth $21 million for each of the next two seasons, so they were really hoping he would bounce back.
Through May 28, Werth had not bounced back. In fact, he was even worse than he’d been in 2015. His strikeout rate was up to 23.3 percent, which would be his highest rate since 2011, and his walk rate was down below 10 percent for the first time since 2004. He had a .254 BABIP, which was almost identical to his career-low .253 BABIP of 2015. When he hit well in 2013 and 2014, Werth had a hard hit percentage of 39.9 percent and 39.2 percent. Through May 28 of this year, Werth’s hard hit percentage was 35.5%, which was closer to last year’s 34.4 percent than the higher mark he’d had in the two previous seasons.
Since May 28, Werth has looked much more like his old self. He’s still striking out more than he had in 2013 and 2014, but he’s also walked 14.3 percent of the time and his BABIP has been .397. That will likely come down, but Werth’s career suggests his BABIP should be closer to .325 than the .250-ish mark he had in 2015 and the first couple months of this season. He’s hit .325/.418/.542 since May 28 and he’s had a hard hit percentage that is in the top five in baseball over the last 30 days.
Next: Jose Abreu