Entering 2027, there are going to be a few position battles to watch. There should be plenty of competition on the pitching staff in particular. However, one spot that intrigues me is the first base/DH position. It looks like there will be at least three players battling it out for that first base spot and I wanted to break things down.
For most of the season, there has been a lot of rotation at the first base and DH spots. Until he was traded, Luis Garcia Jr. got the at bats against righties. His
platoon partner varied. At one point it was Curtis Mead, before the Aussie grabbed the third base role. Then it was Andres Chaparro, who had a great second half. With Garcia gone, there is now a lot of uncertainty.
Following the Garcia trade, the plan was for Abimelec Ortiz to slide into that role of being the first baseman against righties. However, that has not gone according to plan. Ortiz is hitting just .194 with a .592 OPS in 42 games. Despite having some promising batted ball data, Ortiz has not done enough to take the spot.
I am not giving up on Ortiz, but you also cannot hand him a big role unless he shows a lot next spring. He has really gotten exposed after a hot start. In his last 28 games, Ortiz is hitting just .143 with a .390 OPS. The 24 year old has not been able to make the adjustments after pitchers figured out how to attack him.
However, the Nats have shown that they like to platoon a lot and Ortiz is the only left handed bat in the mix. This could give him a longer leash and put him in the mix for playing time. It also means the Nats could look to go outside the organization for a left handed first base option. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of left handed corner infield profiles set to hit free agency.
That either means they will give Ortiz more runway, or they will give more responsibility to their right handed bats. I think that second option is the way to go. Andres Chaparro has finally broken out of that Quad-A label this second half and has established himself as a big league slugger.
Since the break, Chaparro is hitting .292 with 10 homers and a .962 OPS. The 27 year old has consistently provided clutch hits and a lot of power. He has arguably been the team’s best hitter in the second half. Given his production, I would feel confident in giving Chappy a larger role, much like what the team did with Curtis Mead.
Chaparro has also shown an ability to hit right handed pitching when given the opportunity. In 71 AB’s against righties, Chaparro is hitting .296 with an .888 OPS. His numbers against righties are actually better than they are against lefties. That is impressive for a guy who is mostly known as a lefty crusher.
Obviously, Chaparro has locked down a roster spot for next season. However, I think he has made a strong case for every day playing time. Platooning is part of this front office’s philosophy, but I think the gap between Ortiz and Chaparro is wide enough to ignore that. Unless Ortiz takes a big offseason leap, Chaparro needs to be playing more next season.
There is also a third name that is making his case. For most of the season, Yohandy Morales was dominating in AAA. His surface level numbers in Rochester were better than Ortiz’s. However, some underlying concerns with Morales made the front office hesitant to call him up. Morales chases a lot, whiffs more than you would like and hits the ball on the ground quite a bit.
That is usually a very bad combination. However, Morales made it work in the minors thanks to how hard he hits the ball. The Nats finally gave Morales a shot in September, and he looks a lot like he did in AAA. Morales has yet to draw a walk and he strikes out a lot. He has still been productive thanks to his power though.
In 15 games, Morales is hitting .279 with 4 homers and a .930 OPS. That raw power is making up for some of the holes in his profile. So far, Morales has a 92.5 MPH average EV, a 64.5% hard hit rate and a 16.1% barrel rate.
All of those numbers are elite and his power has been super impressive. The home run he hit yesterday was an example of his truly elite raw power. It is rare to see a righty hit one out the other way in a big ballpark like Comerica but that is exactly what Morales did.
He has put his name in the mix for a roster spot in 2027. The difficult part is finding a way to fit both Morales and Chaparro. Ideally you would want a lefty to be part of a platoon. However, these two right handed bats have looked so much better than the left handed Ortiz.
This creates a bit of a dilemma for Paul Toboni this offseason. It was mentioned on the broadcast that the Nats are working on Morales’ third base defense. However, Brady House also needs playing time and has looked good since being recalled from AAA.
Honestly, this is a position to watch in the offseason. I could see a world where one of Chaparro, Morales or even House get traded this offseason. There is a lot of overlap with their offensive skillsets. Maybe they give Ortiz another shot or they try to find a left handed corner bat.
I don’t necessarily think you have to have a left handed bat in the mix. However, from everything we know about this front office, I am not sure they agree with that. The impressive showings by Chaparro and Morales, combined with Ortiz struggling has put the Nats in an interesting position this offseason. Paul Toboni will have to figure out what he wants to do with these corner bats.
