Washington Nationals bring in Alcides Escobar

The Washington Nationals clearly need infield depth. Trea Turner has been sidelined due to a problem with his finger and may require a trip to the Injured List. Jordy Mercer, the Nationals’ backup shortstop and utility infielder, landed on the IL himself.

With that in mind, the Nationals made a minor deal with the Royals. Alcides Escobar is heading to Washington in exchange for cash considerations.

Washington Nationals hope Alcides Escobar can be useful stopgap

After spending the 2020 season in Japan, Escobar signed a minor league deal with the Royals on May 4. He had produced a .274/.317/.452 batting line in his 133 plate appearances in Triple-A, surprisingly hitting seven doubles and five homers.

The Nationals would be thrilled if he could replicate that production at the major league level. Escobar had been a mainstay in the Royals’ lineup, although he was not there for his bat. Over his 5702 major league plate appearances, he had produced a .258/.293/343 batting line, hitting 41 homers and 224 doubles. In fact, he has never had a major league season where he had more than five plate appearances where his OPS+ was over 100.

However, Escobar does have attributes that would make him attractive to the Nationals. He has been a durable player, appearing in at least 140 games in each of his nine full major league seasons. Escobar is also a slick fielding infielder, even if the defensive metrics do not always indicate as such.

His durability may be the biggest draw for Washington. This acquisition may indicate that Turner is going to be unavailable for longer than the Nationals had thought. At minimum, it is a sign that their depth is being sorely tested, and having a proven veteran that can handle shortstop could make a difference.

The Washington Nationals have acquired Alcides Escobar. This goes to show how thin their infield depth has become in recent days.