Atlanta Braves: What does a super-utility season look like for Johan Camargo?

With the addition of former MVP Josh Donaldson at third base, the young Johan Camargo will be employed as a super utility player. What kind of season could this look like for him and the Braves?

Before the signing of free-agent Josh Donaldson (1 year, $23MM), there was a growing attraction among Atlanta Braves fans that just sticking with the 25-year-old Johan Camargo at third base was the best plan for 2019.

Camargo is coming off of a big 2018 season, where he hit .272 with 19 home runs over 134 games. Compared to the available players on the 2018 Free Agent market, Johan Camargo looked to be the least of the teams’ worries when it came to improving the upcoming 2019 roster.

But on November 26, 2018, at 7:27 p.m., things changed. The young Camargo was no longer the 2019 Atlanta Braves third baseman.

The part where Jon Heyman quoted the comment “Our Marwin Gonzalez”,  initiated the fan-wide debate of whether this development called for excitement or more of a disappointed reaction, as usually the position-title “Utility” isn’t necessarily a good thing in baseball.

Most utility players in the Majors aren’t really considered that great, hence the reason they’re being used in a part-time role. But these days, a utility player means something a little different, especially when the word “super” is sitting in front of it.

The Meaning

Back in 2014, writer Matthew Lottice of FanSided tackled this growing trend of super-utility players in Major League Baseball. In his write-up, he went into great detail of the former players that have been utilized as super-utility players.

Here a few from his 2014 article:

• Ben Zobrist (TB) and (CHC)
• Justin Turner (LAD)
• Marwin Gonzalez (HOU)
• Josh Harrison (PIT)

There are even more nowadays. The difference between just “utility” and “super-utility” is that the regular old utility title was meant for bench-type players. For instance, when a manager had already filled his roster with starters, but needed a guy who could come in due to injury or give a starter a day off.

These regular utility guys weren’t meant to really contribute a great deal of value to the team. They were simply, for lack of a better term, warm bodies on the bench in case of an emergency.

Don’t get me wrong, not ALL regular utility guys are poor baseball players. Some have gone on to have very successful Major League careers as useful players, even in today’s game.

But super-utility players aren’t just fringe-type MLB players on the bench. No, these players are expected to perform well. Usually these super-utility characters are what I would call positionally-diversified. That’s not a real term, but you get my drift.

The best definition for super-utility, as a baseball term is:

“A player that can not only play multiple positions on the field, but play multiple positions on the field at a high level.”

In Johan Camargo’s case, he will be expected to to fill in at several infield positions as well as in the outfield. With his above-average athleticism and strong arm, Camargo should see playing-time at literally any position on the field, with exception to catcher, pitcher, and most likely centerfield – he doesn’t have the range for center.

To predict the type of season Johan Camargo could possibly have as a super-utility player, a good comparison would indeed be to look at a player like Marwin Gonzalez, a current Free Agent and former Houston Astro. He’s been a super-utility player for most of his entire career, up until the last two or three seasons.