Washington Nationals: Howie Kendrick hits, fields, dances, and drives
By TC Zencka
An Achilles injury put Howie Kendrick’s career in jeopardy at age-34, but he’s become a central part of the Washington Nationals success in 2019.
In his short time with the Washington Nationals, Howie Kendrick has become one of the organization’s most impactful players. After joining the team mid-way through 2017, Kendrick signed a two-year, $7MM deal with the expectation of transitioning to a bench role for 2018 and 2019.
Injuries early in 2018 led the Nats to rely heavily on Kendrick as a regular for 33 starts at second and another 6 in left field. On May 19, when he went down for the season with an Achilles injury, Kendrick was hitting a surprising .303/.331/474.
Losing Kendrick was a blow, not only for 2018 but because it put his 2019 in question.
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Oh, the silly things we worry over. I won’t go so far as to say Kendrick’s injury was a blessing in disguise, but it did prompt the promotion of one Juan Soto, who at 20-years-old is already one of the best and most consistent players in all of baseball.
Concerns about Kendrick returning from an Achilles injury at age-35 turned out to be overblown as well. His impact on the 2019 Nationals, meanwhile, has been anything but.
The now-36-year-old has raked all year long, .330/.382/.563, 14 home runs, 139 wRC+. He’s moved capably between first, second, and third base as needed. He drives with Adam Eaton, he co-chairs the dance committee with Gerardo Parra, and he’s the unofficial team photographer.
Kendrick’s hot bat raged again this weekend against the Cubs. He started all three games in the series, a rarity this year as manager Dave Martinez has very carefully monitored his usage. The Cubs started a lefty in each game of the series, however, and Kendrick kept hitting them.
Even time-managed, Kendrick has accumulated 2.1 fWAR, fifth among position players on the team, behind only the top four hitters in the Washington Nationals order: Trea Turner, Eaton, Anthony Rendon, and Soto.
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If the Nats survive the Wild Card game, Howie Kendrick’s going to play an important role in the postseason. A victory in the WC game would line up the Nats for an NLDS showdown with the Dodgers. With Clayton Kershaw and Hyun-Jin Ryu likely to start two of the first three games for LA, Kendrick’s going to be in the lineup. If the Nats are going to make a run, they’ll need him to be.