Rick Moranis stars in “Honey, I Blew Up the Glove”
Does anybody remember the uproar over starting the light bat of Nick Allen over Orlando Arcia in the second game of the season? It does seem like a long time ago, or as least a long string of losses ago. The bat hasn’t really shown up, although he’s still outhitting Arcia (66 wRC+ to 44 wRC+) and that’s with Orlando released and hitting in Denver with the vast outfield and thin air. But that’s not really why we’re here, is it?
He’s the tiny guy with the big defensive range. It’s Rick Moranis meets “Honey, I Blew Up the Glove”. There haven’t been a lot of Braves go above and beyond their projections this season (however, Drake Baldwin says hi), but Nick Allen is providing some unexpected value at shortshop.
That’s a mess at the plate. He did have a 94 wRC+ March/April with a .679 OPS and then a 76 wRC+ in June. But there’s not much here. He’s squaring them up, but there’s not much power behind it. But that’s okay, because look at the fielding range.
Here’s your Outs Above Average Leaderboard. It’s unfiltered here, this is it. He’s tops in baseball. Masyn Winn is a decent shout as a National League shortstop at #8, but Nick Allen stands above them all. It might appear that some of Winn’s value may come from positioning. Nick is an absolute beast moving to his right.
Did I watch every ground ball and line out fielded by Allen this season? I think you know I did. At least, I think I did. Statcast search can leave a lot to be desired at times. What I found is a pretty good highlight reel, though.
He can definitely move to his right.
He can handle the short hop.
Let’s see that again.
How about a high hop though?
How about a raggedy hop off the pitcher’s mound? Yawn.
It’s fun watching him range to his left and help out Ozzie.
We used to have Brandon Phillips pointing at an imaginary line cutting through second base to Dansby Swanson. Jokingly, I think. If you could read Ozzie’s thoughts here, it’s “nah, you take it.”
Let’s see him bail out Riley here #groundscrew
Can he handle coming in to grab a speedy runner?
Check, mate.
You want to challenge his arm, maybe?
What about liners though?
Maybe try hitting it over him. Hmm…
He’s not interested in your shenanigans either.
Got some more here, here, here, here, here, and here. There’s probably a few good ones I missed. This is All-Star quality defense, and would fit right in on the bench with the National League in a few weeks. The votes are already received from the players for the pitchers and reserves. I don’t know how popular he is, but he’s appreciated by Matt Olson and every Atlanta Braves pitcher that’s had the good fortune to have him field everything possible. It’s probably a long shot, but he’s an All-Star for me.