Friday, October 14, 2011

A Few Good Men: 4 - Nix

Today is Part 4 of our 44 part series examining each player that suited up in a Curly W this year. Yes, this is probably a fool's errand and the worst CapBall move since Joe asked us to take over this blog - but it's also fun.

So sit back, relax, grab a nice cup of (Irish) coffee and enjoy the ride.

Laynce "The Daynce" Nix

How he became a Nat: Signed a minor-league contract with an invite to spring training February 3rd.

The Raw Numbers:

Slugging Percentage: .451

Extra Base Hits: 32

Go Ahead Hits: 6

oRAR: 8

Key Stats: 124 games played with a 0.8 WAR for $700k. Simply put Laynce Nix was a stop gap for the Nats in every way. He helped carried a stagnant offense early in the year (let’s not forget he supplanted Beastmode in left field at one point). And at such an affordable price, he helped the Nats bridge the gap to a younger generation of stars.

Best Game: August 30 against the Braves. Nix went 2-4 with a HR, 2B, and 2 RBI. Nix doing what he was signed to do, be a left handed power hitter.

Worst Game: May 5th against Roy Halladay and the Phillies. 7-3 loss. Nix was 0-3 with 3Ks. That’s a tough assignment but you have to put the ball in play, at least once.

Capball Grade: C+ Would have been higher but he was hurt by platooning and injuries. But for the price he did a yeoman’s job for the Nats this year. He provided key at bats and was a big left handed bat for a team without much on the left handed side. He also was a veteran voice in the clubhouse for a team just starting to establish their identity. Besides, who would've guessed that Laynce Nix would've made the team out of Spring Training?

2012 Nats Status: Doubtful he will return for 2012. I feel like the Nats and Laynce Nix are simply heading in different directions. But, if he did return it would likely be on a similar deal to his current one, which would be a team friendly contract.

3 comments:

  1. Would you consider adding each player's age and time in mlb? -- He just seems awfully beat up to me - don't know much about him. Is he at the end of a good career? Or never got off the ground?

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  2. Let's not forget his June 1 game against the Phillies. He hit a home run and made a game saving, diving catch.

    Nix really petered out in the last few months (hampered by injuries), but I agree with you that we definitely got our money's worth from him. I can't say I hope he's back next year, but he's an example of dumpster diving paying off in comparison to.... STAIRS.

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  3. gonatsgo: you are right about his fragility. it is interesting to think about his talent level and career path. if he had been played 150 games a year for his whole career (never played more than 137 and that was in the minors) would he be more durable. are players today more injury prone because teams are being "more careful"

    222: you are right about June 1. it was a microcosm of the nats season. riggs misspells lannan (for the second time in 2011[lannon???]) who is basically 0 for his life against the prohibitive national league favorite. nats beat roy oswalt 2-1 thanks to laynce nix?! good catch sec222!!

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