Jayson Werth went to the city where he got his World Series ring and rung up some digits on his HR total and every part of his BA, OBP, SLG, and OPS too.
Jayson Werth: 2nd multi-HR game in his last 3 games (he had 2 in his previous 536 games)
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) September 17, 2015
Every time a discussion is started on Werth and his future as a Nats starter, he reminds the fanbase that the rumors of his demise are greatly exaggerated. Jayson’s offense is on the rise and Werth’s defense certainly isn’t as bad as it was early in the season unless you ask FanGraphs who continue to downgrade Werth with every game he plays it seems. His overall OF UZR is a -7.6 and his LF UZR is -7.1 and only Gomes, Asche, and Hanley are rated lower. Werth has no stolen bases this year but he is a smart baserunner when you watch him run the bases. Jayson seems to make up for his deficiencies on offense and defense and baserunning using baseball “smarts”. Werth is contributing now in a variety of ways and continues to be a strong voice of team leadership.
The leadership and intangibles of Jayson Werth as spoken by Bryce Harper:
“He’s unbelievable inside the clubhouse and unbelievable out on the field. He brings a lot to the table. I’m very thankful to have him.”
Jayson Werth is now batting .234 with a .316 OBP and a strong .410 SLG for a .726 OPS. Werth’s WAR is improving although still negative at -0.9 and that is a vast improvement from where it was for the 36 year old outfielder when his slash exactly a month ago was .184/.261/.270/.531, but consider that he has raised that OPS 5 points shy of 200! That is simply incredible, and is the largest OPS increase for players with over 250 at-bats this season after the All-Star break.
Bat speed is back as backed up by this #Statcast
https://twitter.com/statcast/status/644388280029417472
The jury is still out on Werth’s future, and it’s open for debate as Werth will be 37 years old next year and should enter 2016’s Spring Training healthy. If you’re on the jury, what say you?
