GDT 8/8/18 Philadelphia Phillies (Velasquez) @ Arizona Diamondbacks (Corbin)

[Austinfan]

Hernandez still has a .370 OBP and his decline is due to his injured foot, that's when his slump started.

[LoneStarPhan]

FWIW, Hernandez went 2 for 3 with a walk in the final game in Arizona. We can hope he has a hot streak and improves his hitting numbers over the remaining part of the season. He does still have a decent base on which to build improvement. One of the problems is that I don't think there was a shortage of second basemen last off season. The Phillies will have to make an evaluation this coming off season as to whether or not they plan to make Hernandez a part of the 2019 team. I suspect they will try to trade him but I don't know that his value will be as much as what they value him.

[EDmuch]

After Kingery's performance this year, I am not sure how hot they will be to trade Cesar. The only other viable lead off hitter they have is Quinn and he does not fit in as a regular in the outfield as of yet.

[Austinfan]

If Crawford hadn't been injured, I think Kingery is in AAA the day they traded for Cabrera.
In fact, if Florimon was healthy, Kingery might have been sent down a long time ago.

[zambonir]

Cesar was bad in July (post-injury): .346 OBP, .289 SLG.

But he wasn't that good in June either: .377 OBP, .333 SLG.

Whereas in April and May (and even last season) he looked like an .800 OPS player who'd finally grown into some power (I believe you argued as much). That doesn't seem to be the case, he may be no more than the light-hitting, high-OBP, defensively neutral 2B he's always been.

Still a lot better than Kingery though. It's hard to imagine them just throwing him in as the starting 2B if this team makes the playoffs and comes in with higher expectations but everything still really depends on Machado and the other infielders too.

[julio]

Cesar was bad in July (post-injury): .346 OBP, .289 SLG.

But he wasn't that good in June either: .377 OBP, .333 SLG.

“Bad”?

OK. OPS not good. But those OBPs aren’t “bad” in any rational world. Cesar isn’t a “complete” hitter; you don’t want him in the 3-hole. But a leadoff hitter who “only” manages a .346 OBP while recovering from a foot injury?

[zambonir]

Bad relative to his own high standard. But .635 OPS just isn't that good, period, even if the OBP end is nothing to sneeze at. You could mount the same defense about Freddy G (except his redeeming quality was defense not on-base skills).

My point is, the player we saw in April and May was a guy with an OBP as high as .400 and a SLG to match. On June 1 we could at least argue about whether he deserved to be an all-star. You can't really do that anymore, and it's not because of the injury.

He just had a week that good though!

[Austinfan]

Cesar's upside is probably .370-380 OBP and a .375-400 SA, or OPS around .750-.780.
I think he lost some BA to both bulking up and focusing on walks, and may have some more adjusting to do.
But Kapler wants him to take a lot of pitches, both to run up pitch counts and in the 1st inning, showcase the pitcher's arsenal.

[zambonir]

In other words his "upside" is exactly the player he was last year, when his trade value was lower than his value to the team. But his value to the team remains considerable.

And things will probably remain exactly as they were, unless or until Kingery is clearly better and you just unload Cesar for a spare part or prospect depth.

[Austinfan]

Or a contender develops a hole at 2B/leadoff hitter.
Sometimes it's a matter of luck, have the right player at the right time.