Seaver King is not knocking on the door of the big leagues, he is banging down the door. King is on the type of heater that should be impossible for Paul Toboni to ignore. At this point, there are no baseball related reasons for Seaver King to be in Rochester.
In King’s last 11 games, he has 8 home runs, tearing the International League to shreds. After a very difficult first pro season, the former 10th overall pick has emerged as a top 50 prospect in the sport. The combination of power, speed and
contact skills are just undeniable.
For the season, King is hitting .325 with a .970 OPS between Double-A and Triple-A. The 23 year old has 18 homers and 13 steals on the season, showcasing his dynamic traits. Honestly, his profile reminds me of a right handed CJ Abrams. With the Nationals offense sputtering badly thanks to trades and injuries, the Nats desperately need a spark.
When the offense was rolling, the Nats could afford to have Nasim Nunez in the lineup because things were fine even with a weak bat. However, Nunez just sticks out like a sore thumb when the offense is slowing down. Nunez has just not been an MLB caliber hitter for most of the season, and things are reaching a boiling point now.
In August, Nunez is 7 for 56 with a .335 OPS. That would be bad even for a pitcher back when they hit. Nunez has played 16 games in August and has not scored a single run. That is just not sustainable and not something you can have in your lineup. For the second half as a whole, Nunez is hitting just .178 with a .435 OPS.
Even if King does not completely hit the ground running, it would be tough for him not to be a massive offensive upgrade over Nunez. With James Wood and now CJ Abrams out, this team needs all the offense it can get. We are also at the point where King can retain his rookie status heading into next season. There is genuinely no baseball related reason for King not being the starting shortstop.
The only possible explanation for the Nats not calling up Seaver King this season is fear of a lockout. If King does get added to a 40-man roster, he will not be able to play in minor league games. The calculation here is how long do the Nats think the lockout will last? Unless it cuts into multiple months of the season, I think the right move is to call up King.
With how he is hitting right now at AAA, I honestly don’t think he would gain that much from bullying the opposition there for a month or so. However, if the Nats really think this could be a season ending lockout, maybe the right move would be to keep King down.
One thing that should absolutely not be an explanation though is anything to do with Nunez. Sure, King probably won’t be as good defensively at shortstop, though Nunez has struggled in his small sample size at short this season. However, the offensive gap is going to be so big that it will make up for any defensive drawbacks.
For context, in Nunez’s only stint in AAA, which was last season, he hit .254 with a .652 OPS. King is just blowing those numbers out of the water with a .318 average and .956 OPS. These players are just on a different planet offensively. King may not be the defender Nunez is, but he does provide speed on the bases and improving defense.
Funnily enough, Spencer Nusbaum put out a sourced column about how King should not be expected anytime soon on August 16th. Since that article came out, King has gone nuclear. In the 4 games since then, King has a homer in every game and hit two last night. He has also racked up 10 RBIs and 26 total bases. I don’t know about you, but I think the kid is ready.
This has been a step forward season for the Nats so far, but it is really teetering. The team has been leaking oil badly this month. I wrote about how King is a guy who can provide a spark a couple days ago. The former Wake Forest star has only made that case stronger in the last few days.
For the first time all season, the Nats need a spark offensively. There is a very easy solution to their woes and that would be to call up Seaver King for Nasim Nunez. Whether or not the Nats do it is a different story though. If they do not call up Seaver King, the reason will not be baseball related because the numbers are just slapping us in the face.
