Message #1223966

[hammondsnats]

The Nationals have given their young second baseman plenty of rope, but how much more can they afford to offer. As the season reaches the quarter pole tonight, Espinosa is sporting a .175 batting average, .206 on-base percentage and paltry .531 OPS that ranks 171st out of 175 qualifying major-league hitters.

Perhaps most alarming about Espinosa's start to the season: He's not drawing any walks. He's got only three of them in 126 plate appearances, a pathetic 2.4 percent rate. (For comparison's sake, Espinosa's career walk rate is 7.4 percent, while the major-league average is 8.2 percent.)

One reason the Nationals have been able to stick with Espinosa during his prolonged slumps over the past couple years is his ability to still draw walks even when he's not recording base hits. But with that ability severely diminished so far this season, the rationale for continuing to play Espinosa on a daily basis is growing thin.

http://www.natsinsider.com/2013/05/how-much-more-rope-for-espinosa.html