Washington Nationals Star Should Imitate Three-Time Batting Champ's Approach

One of the Washington Nationals' young players should look to model his offensive approach after this three-time batting champion.

Sep 29, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Nationals center fielder Jacob Young (30) hits the ball into play against the Philadelphia Phillies during the fifth inning at Nationals Park | Rafael Suanes-Imagn Images

If everything goes according to plan, the Washington Nationals have their outfield of the future.

James Wood is the star in left and Dylan Crews could be their best offensive player in right if he reaches his ceiling. Jacob Young, while certainly not a weapon at the plate right now, is already one of the best defensive center fielders in Major League Baseball after being a Gold Glove finalist this past season as a rookie.

It's a great place to be, especially with them being so young in their careers.

The only thing that could throw a wrench in this plan is if Young continues to be a below-average hitter and gets reduced to just a defensive sub.

Saying Young can't get to the point where he's a contributor at the plate would be shortsighted considering he hasn't had a ton of professional reps even in the minors. But that is in the realm of possibilities, which is something to monitor as he progresses.

On the flip side, just one more hit per week turns him into an All-Star, something that would be massive for this Nationals team going forward.

How can he get there?

In the mind of Andrew Lang of Talk Nats, Young should model his game after three-time batting champion Luis Arraez.

"For someone who hits as weakly (bat speed) as Arráez, he takes advantage of his unpredictability in spraying the ball all over the field. He serves those balls over the infielders like a tennis player's forehand lob. Those balls end up all over the shallow outfield ... Young needs to spray the ball more and keep working on lowering his K% and let BABIP work for him," he writes.

That is an interesting comp.

Arraez is not a gamechanger with power by any means, but he still has a career OPS+ that's 18 points above the league average because he is able to get on base so many times by putting the ball in play.

When looking at some of the advanced statistics, there's a pathway for Young to do the same if he models his game after the reliable hitter.

First, the strikeout numbers have to be figured out.

While Arraez is an anomaly in today's game with a career strikeout rate of 6.8%, the 19.3% that Young possesses is something that will earn him a spot on the bench if it doesn't get fixed.

If he focuses on just making contact like Arraez instead of feeling like he has to be a power hitter, that number could be lowered as he gets more experience facing Major League pitching.

The spray chart is another thing.

Arraez has hit the ball to his pull side 24.1% of the time, to center 53.6%, and opposite field 22.3%.

Young's splits are 18.7% to the pull side, 55.5% to center and 25.8% to the opposite field.

Outside of pulling the ball, those splits look pretty similar which could allow Young to become a hitter like Arraez much easier than another type of player who doesn't mirror those splits.

It'd be a tall task for Young to turn into the type of hitter that Arraez has been during his career, but if he models his offensive approach after the three-time All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger, then there's a good chance he'll become the everyday center fielder Washington is expecting him to be.