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Atlanta Braves NL East positional rankings: third base

By Alan Carpenter

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - JULY 08: TWO OF THE FEW LEFT... Justin Bour #41 of the Miami Marlins is congratulated by Martin Prado #14 after Bour hit a solo home run against the San Francisco Giants in the top of the fourth inning at AT&T Park on July 8, 2017 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - JULY 08: TWO OF THE FEW LEFT... Justin Bour #41 of the Miami Marlins is congratulated by Martin Prado #14 after Bour hit a solo home run against the San Francisco Giants in the top of the fourth inning at AT&T Park on July 8, 2017 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /
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There’s still room for change… but you gotta admit that there might not be a change at this point; thus third base may already be decided for the teams we’ll see the most of in 2018.

I was hoping to do these positional posts once every 2-4 days leading up to the point that the Atlanta Braves pitchers and catchers start to report.  But then third base lingered… and was rumored… and now is lingering again.

Overall, not much is happening… thus we’re just gonna go with what we have around the dugout.

Truth be told, if the Braves do end up signing Eduardo Nunez, not much would change in this ranking, though the Braves would definitely benefit from the advantage of additional depth – not only at the hot corner*, but also around the rest of the infield.

* – Ed. note: that’s the obligatory insertion of ‘hot corner’ required for any discussion of third base, those who play third base, or related matters.  This applies for any media medium – TV, blog, print, radio, etc. – per US Code.  I think.

Here are the current best bets for NL East third basemen:

For the first base and catching position rankings, I went with 5 slides apiece.  I’m going to forgo that today because of the specific need to compare all of these players with one another.

First, here’s the the relevant Steamer numbers, which projects a full season per player:

  • RENDON:  .282/.375/.855 OPS w/123 wRC+, 22HR.  Offense: 17.9, Defense: 8.7, fWAR 4.6
  • FRAZIER:  .227/.318/.754 OPS w/101 wRC+, 28HR.  0.2, 3.6, fWAR 2.3
  • FRANCO:  .264/.319/.796 OPS w/104 wRC+, 28HR.  2.3, 0.1, fWAR 2.2
  • PRADO:  .274/.327/.727 OPS w/93 wRC+, 12HR, -7.9, 1.8, fWAR 1.3
  • CAMARGO:  .272/.311/.711 OPS w/84 wRC+, 11HR, -11.9, -1.6, fWAR 1.2

Several comments to make here, but first a couple of bullets:

  • Rendon is the clear leader at his position.  He is unquestionably the best in the division at third base, and if you buy these numbers, he would lap the field as both best hitter and best defender.
  • Frazier is probably a solid choice for 2nd best.  The reasons are fairly clear, too:
    • He’s comfortable being in New York
    • He’s got his favorite position… and for 2 years
    • He will get to hit in Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Citi Field a lot… with the former pair of parks.  That 28 HR total may be underdone.
  • The rest of this?  That’s going to be subject to some debate.  Here goes…well… maybe a couple of slides.
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