Throughout this season, Jorbit Vivas has not exactly been a fan favorite. The 25 year old utility infielder has come under fire from the fanbase for several reasons. Between his struggles with RISP early in the season and his occasional lapses in focus, Vivas has become a target. However, I think some of the criticism Jorbit Vivas gets is a little bit unfair.
Vivas is not some extraordinary player by any means, but I think he has been a perfectly capable utility infielder this season. His offensive
numbers will not blow you away, but Vivas has not been overmatched either. On the season, Vivas is hitting .242 with a .662 OPS. Crucially, Vivas has a .335 on base percentage, which is quite good.
One thing I will say is that Vivas does not really pass the eye test. He does not have great physical tools. Vivas does not have much power, is surprisingly slow and is not a flashy defender. He will also make some really bone-headed plays at times. That is a big reason why he has drawn a lot of scrutiny.
However, when you dive into the numbers, they will tell you that Vivas has been solid. On the season, he has 1.1 fWAR and 1 bWAR. Vivas has also graded out well on the defensive side of the ball, with 4 outs above average. Between his contact skills, plate discipline and defense, Vivas is a useful bench piece.
Vivas has been having really good at bats lately, and I think he is finally getting some credit for that. His approach at the plate is really sound. The 25 year old swings at a lot of pitches in the zone while chasing less than average. He also makes a ton of contact. On the year, Vivas is striking out 14.8% of the time and walking 11.4% of the time. Both of those numbers are really strong.
Those walks are well earned as well. It is not like many pitchers are going to pitch around Jorbit Vivas. He usually works his walks with extended battles that tire the pitcher. These are the sort of traits you want in a scrappy utility man.
For the first half of the season, Jorbit Vivas was brutal with RISP. He was 0 for 24 with runners in scoring position at one point this season. It honestly felt like he was cursed. With his contact skills, he should be pretty good at driving in runners, especially with fewer than two outs. However, that was just not happening.
These struggles got on fans’ nerves. I know that I was definitely frustrated. So many rallies were getting killed by Vivas’ inability to get things going with runners on base. The calls for Vivas to get DFA’d were growing.
There was also a time where Vivas got benched by Blake Butera for poor effort. He did not run out a play and the manager saw enough. Since that moment at the end of August, I think Vivas has been playing much more inspired ball. The effort has been better and he has gotten some big hits.
I am not going to sit here and pretend that Jorbit Vivas is some All-Star player. However, I do think he has been better than Nunez and Tena even though he takes more criticism. You may be able to do better than him, but you can also do a lot worse.
Vivas provides quite a few things honestly. He plays quality defense at second and third, he gets on base a lot and provides competitive at bats. That is why he has been a 1 WAR player this season and is likely to be back in 2027. Jorbit Vivas is a perfectly solid utility infielder.
