{"id":1416,"date":"2011-05-20T10:40:13","date_gmt":"2011-05-20T14:40:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=1416"},"modified":"2011-05-20T10:40:13","modified_gmt":"2011-05-20T14:40:13","slug":"what-to-do-when-ankiel-comes-back-from-the-dl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=1416","title":{"rendered":"What to do when Ankiel comes back from the DL?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Bernadina's 5\/13\/11 catch has to be one of the plays of the season. Photo: Masn TV Screen shot via dc.sbnation.com<\/p><\/div>\n

(I swear I had this post written over the weekend; i’m not copying my fellow bloggers’ ideas \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

The Nats have an OF problem<\/a> coming.\u00a0 Rick Ankiel<\/strong> (season slash line: .221\/.302\/.288<\/a> mostly out of the #2 hole) has been ably replaced in the lineup and in center field by Roger Bernadina<\/strong>, who is now trying to live up to the billing that the team had hoped for him all off-season (when most pundits and bloggers had annointed him the starting left fielder despite a relatively mediocre 2010 slash line of .246\/.307\/.384<\/a>.\u00a0 In his first 10 games and 38 at bats he had a .344\/.447\/.406 slash line hitting leadoff, to go with 4 SBs without being caught.\u00a0 And he’s clearly playing lights out defense in center, with some highlight reel catches and adequate enough defense from an UZR\/150<\/a> perspective.<\/p>\n

Is Bernadina’s performance sustainable?\u00a0 Probably not; his BABIP was an unnaturally high<\/a> .407 (though frequent bunters will have an maintain higher BABIPs than the MLB average in the .290-.300 range).\u00a0 An OBP of .450 was also not sustainable.\u00a0 Sure enough, as of 5\/19’s game he’s returned to a more typical .273\/.360\/.318 line (though I like the .360 obp from the leadoff spot).<\/p>\n

So, if Bernadina is staying up and continuing to play, who makes way on the 25-man?\u00a0 Ankiel’s return would give the team 5 outfielders on a team that can only really carry 4. Here’s some relevant contract and options details of our 5 OFers:<\/p>\n