Washington Nationals: something holding Victor Robles back

Washington Nationals Outfielder Victor Robles had a solid rookie season on his way to a World Series victory. Robles is perhaps a tweak away from stardom like teammate Juan Soto.

Washington Nationals outfielder Victor Robles became a bit overlooked in Washington DC with the emergence of Juan Soto. The top prospect got cups of coffee 2017 and 2018 but failed to secure every day ABs.

With Bryce Harper leaving for Philadelphia, Robles finally had a path to everyday at-bats in CF. He acquitted himself well in his rookie year, hitting .255/.326/.419 for a 91 wRC+ while being an incredible +25 DRS on his way to a 2.5 fWAR season.

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A great rookie season especially considering Robles turned 22 during the season, most hitters his age are facing college pitching and failing Spanish class. The fact that Robles was able to approach a league-average line shows how talented he is as he had one of the worst exit velocities in baseball.

Among all qualified hitters, Robles had the second-worst exit velocity at a mere 81 MPH only beating out Billy Hamilton. Robles has more offensive upside though than his poor exit velocity leads on, however. His max exit velocity was 110.5 which was the same Cody Bellinger, Charlie Blackmon, and new teammate Eric Thames.

There are other things holding Robles back from unlocking more offensive potential. Robles was a primary ground ball hitter with a 40% ground ball rate.

His flyball and line-drive rate 37% and 23% respectively but Robles has a distinct issue with his batted balls. Robles hit balls in the air at 88.6 MPH compared to only 73.7 MPH on the ground. That difference of 14.9 MPH was the largest difference of any hitter in baseball.

So there are a few changes Robles could make that could turn him into a better hitter. The first one is trying to get more balls in the air. Sure Robles is fast but infielders can shift against him and will get him out a majority of the time. More line drives would allow him more speed and turn him into a doubles and triples monster.

The second change is to be more patient at the plate. The average MLB player swings at the first pitch at a 28% rate. Compare that to Robles who in 2019 who swing at the first pitch swung 9% more than average.

Sure you can ambush pitchers being aggressive but eventually, they use it to their advantage.

If Victor Robles can see more pitches and get better pitches he can do damage with, the sky is the limit and the Washington Nationals would have one of the best outfields in baseball with Soto and Robles controlled for years to come. The Nats already have a good player in Robles but if he can add more offense they’ll have one of the top 40 players in baseball.