Replacing Bryce Harper's Production with... Howie Kendrick?

The Bryce Harper saga continues to churn forward to the dismay of baseball fans everywhere, only this time it seems to be moving forward without the Washington Nationals, the home for Harper for the past seven seasons. This past week Nationals owner Mark Lerner said that the Nationals had “moved on” from Harper and that the team had not heard from the former MVP in months.

So with this news coming from the Nationals side, I began to think about how the Nationals would replace the production that the team loses as Harper moves on. There are easy answers to that question and the first name that most Nats fans would think of is second-year play Juan Soto who is coming off of a fantastic rookie campaign where he finished second in the NL ROY race. Of course, there are other players such as Trea Turner, Anthony Rendon and Ryan Zimmerman who will play critical roles for the Nationals as they begin ‘life after Bryce.’ But easy answers are for suckers, and I’m no sucker. So as I continued to think about an abstract player that could step in and fill the Harper void my mind settled on one player, Howie Kendrick.

PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THAT I AM NOT ARGUING THAT KENDRICK IS AS GOOD OR BETTER THAN BRYCE HARPER.

Yes, Howie Kendrick is one of my top-5 favorite players of all time. Those 2008/2009 Los Angeles Angels teams that featured Vladimir Guerrero, Torii Hunter and Howie Kendrick were some of my favorite baseball teams of all time. So while I may have a bias towards Kendrick and any former LA Angels, it’s not too crazy to think that Kendrick could play a major role in moving on from Haper in Washington.

For starters, both Harper and Kendrick have been MLB All-Stars. Sure, Harper has earned the honor six times compared to Kendrick’s one-time appearance, but Kendrick is a former All-Star nonetheless.

When it comes to batting Harper is one of the best. The Vegas native has 184 career home runs opposed to Kendrick’s 108, but when it comes to advanced stats and the quality of hits, Kendrick isn’t too far behind the 2015 NL MVP. In slugging percentage (which takes into account total bases hit; doubles, triples, etc.; and divides it by at bats) Kendrick comes in .090 behind Harper, not bad for being compared to one of the best hitters of this generation. In fact, Howie Kendrick’s .474 slugging percentage in 2018 was well above the .409 MLB average. Additionally, Kendrick’s .756 OPS and .331 OBP averages (just more fancy baseball numbers), while both just behind Harper, were both well above the MLB average in 2018.

But when it comes to getting hits, it was Kendrick who held the advantage over Harper. Before suffering a season-ending achilles injury, Kendrick held a batting average of .303, which was well above Harper’s average of .249, and even comes in higher than five of Harper’s seven season averages.

When it comes to fielding, while Harper plays outfield and Kendrick the infield, it’s Kendrick who holds the advantage. Kendrick has eclipsed the MLB average fielding percentage is every one of his 13 career seasons, while Harper has failed to eclipse the league-average in any of his seven seasons.

Again, I’m not claiming that Kendrick is anywhere near the level of player that Harper is. There is a reason that Harper is a six-time All-Star. There is a reason that Harper is a former MVP. And there is a reason that Harper is going to make more in the next two seasons than Kendrick has made in his entire career. (Another plus for Kendrick is that he is on a cheaper deal?) But what I am saying is that Kendrick can play a crucial role in Washington’s success despite losing Harper in free agency.

Howie Kendrick isn’t going to take the Nationals all the way to the pennant himself, in fact, the Nationals more so than any other team will have to rely on a full team effort in order to make a postseason run. But if there’s a team that can do it it’s the Nationals. Washington boasts what could be one of, if not the best, rotations in baseball with Max Scherzer, Patrick Corbin and Stephen Strasburg coming to the mound. The Nats also have talent across the board to make some noise. Sure, they lack a true superstar, although Juan Soto could very well be on his way to that point, but the balanced attack on the part of Washington is impressive. I’ve already named Soto, Turner, Kendrick and Rendon as key contributors to the 2019 Nationals, but I haven’t even begun to mention Victor Robles (the fourth-ranked prospect in all of baseball), Adam Eaton or Michael A. Taylor.

Long story short: the Nationals should be just fine, with or without Bryce Harper.