Do the Nats sign Bryce Harper? For Victor Robles, we should start there. I don’t think the Nats retain Harper’s services. That might be tinged with how I don’t think they should retain his services. Nothing against Harper. Dot dot dot. Okay, I have a lot against him. He seems like a supreme douchenozzle, but he’s a top 15 hitter in the major leagues when you consider OBP. Maybe top ten. Whatever the Nats do to replace for him, aside from Manny Machado, will be a step down. As much as I like Victor Robles, and I do, he’s not going to be Bryce Harper. However, I think the Nats should lose Harper because they haven’t been able to win with him, so why pay $850 bajillion for a guy who is going to get you into third place? This is so important for Robles, because, if Harper leaves, then Robles is a lock for an everyday job. Sexy Dr. Pepper, Juan Soto will play and Adam Eaton somehow is signed on for yet another year. That leaves one more spot. Yes, I know Eaton is injury-prone. Don’t pretend you’re telling me that. I’ve been telling you that for five years. However, I’d be shocked if Eaton is suddenly a 4th outfielder, so we need Harper gone for Robles to play (and, of course, no other random outfielder signings by the Nats; goes without saying, though, yes, I am saying it). I’m going on the assumption this is what’s going to happen, that Robles will play. Unfortch, when we make an assumption, we make an ass out of an ump. Angel Hernandez and Joe West resemble that remark. Anyway, what can we expect from Victor Robles for 2019 fantasy baseball?
I tried to find a clip that most exemplified what I saw in Victor Robles. You might be thinking, doesn’t every clip of him exemplify him? Interesting, Plato. Philosophically, this makes sense. A guy is who he is in every clip you see of him, but it’s not true. I could’ve pulled a clip of Robles catching a routine fly ball, that’s not who he is. From what I’ve seen of him, he’s Mr. Electric, even if the situation calls for some candlelight. Here’s an example:
He’s motoring right out of the box — to the Victor goes the Pennzoils. Robles doesn’t even look like he cares about finishing his swing before he’s off to the races. I wanna make a bet that says, at some point in his career, he’s swung, missed and ran halfway down the 1st base line before realizing he didn’t make contact. He’s like one of those wind-up toys that just butts its head against a wall and keeps ramming into the wall, trying to get the wall to move. There’s another clip I saw that was almost exactly this with him face-planting a fence — fenceplanting? He has the speed to make this lemming-running-off-the-side-of-a-cliff-type play work.
He’s never stole more than 22 bags in any stop of the minors, but that 22-steal year came in only 47 games, and Robles looks like he could challenge 40 steals with ease. Of course, I also saw him overrun about 15 bags in 17 steal attempts. Robles’s brake line has been cut like he’s Harry Crumb. That clip above is just one example. Never seen a guy treat every bag like they’re trying to beat out an infield single. Yo, Robles, you can’t overrun third base. The final point on that clip, it was two outs. Robles is having a silly goose time! If he didn’t attempt to slide into third, he would’ve ran through the dugout, out the park and still would be going like Forrest Gump. About to start calling him Victor Gump. As for his power, look at him slap a ball the opposite way about 370 feet. His first career home run went 427 feet and was an absolute bomb in Miami. Sitting back and driving the ball isn’t his game, but he can do it when he gets his pitch. Just so you know where my head’s at — “Not on my shoulders?! AHHH!!!” — I’m thinking he could get his pitch at least 15-18 times this year, but likely less than ten times. So, anywhere from 8 homers to 18 homers and anywhere from 20 to 40 steals, depending on if he gets his brakes fixed. Something that I haven’t even mentioned yet is he’s a .290 hitter. Yeah, we’re talking about someone special. Did I bury the lede? He’s likely around a .333 BABIP, 16% strikeout rate, 7% walk rate guy. If all of this sounds familiar, it’s also Starling Marte-ish. I will call Starling Gump. For 2019, I will give him the projections of 78/12/47/.281/29 in 524 ABs with a chance for much more on the steals. When everyone’s taking Adalberto Mondesi in the third round, I’ll be looking at Robles ten rounds later. Run, Starling Gump, run!
