Another interesting situation is who will be on the bench. Right now we have all RH hitters given the lineup has multiple guys in need of platoon partners. Doyle for sure looks like he’ll be Peters’ partner for the next three years assuming he can get his performance up. He’s also an elite defender and very fast (90th percentile sprint speed per Statcast and was even higher when healthy), so he offers some late game value as a defensive replacement and pinch runner. After that, it’s really hard to say. Quero in theory should be the obvious long term platoon partner for Teel at catcher. However, it doesn’t seem like the organization loves what he’s brings behind the dish. I sort of expect Quero to be the third string catcher to start next season behind Bart. And if he doesn’t show massive improvement next year, I definitely could see them pursuing a better defensive backstop to pair with Teel. Acuna is another young, controllable bench option, but one that is currently negative fWAR on the season. Yes, he’s been hitting a bit better as of late with an improved line drive rate and more power, but the bulk of the improvement is fueled by a normalizing BABIP (.419 since Jun 1st). He does provide late game value with elite speed and some versatility, but the ability to play CF is no longer very important and even the pinch running is a little less critical with Doyle in place. I candidly don’t think he’s shown enough to hold down a spot long term. Looking at the current infield construction, we’d actually be better suited to have a LH reserve infielder. While both are more than startable against RHP, Vargas (154 wRC+ vs. LHP | 120 vs. RHP) and Meidroth (169 wRC+ vs. LHP | 100 vs. RHP) are far superior against LHP. Neither guy gets a lot of breaks, but when they do it would be ideal for it to be against a RHP. To me, that makes Brooks Baldwin a perfect bench option for us. He had a 129 wRC+ against RHP in the second half of last year and I believe would be a 2 to 3 win player if given everyday playing time. That won’t happen with us short of injury, but I prefer him as a bench piece over Acuna hands down. That would leave one bench spot left and honestly it’s hard to say what do with it. In the very short term you need a platoon partner for Benintendi, but I could see Bonemer being called up pretty early next year and pushing Andrew out. Your best bet is still probably RH corner outfielder with some pop. I think the hope is long term Antonacci & Braden don’t require platoon partners, but it couldn’t hurt to have a guy who lets you sit one of them against tough lefties. There is no one in the system who really fits this role (sorry Junior Perez fans), so bringing back Grichuk or signing someone like him in free agency makes a ton of sense. It’s a massive bummer they dumped Pereira at the deadline as he was perfect for this role if healthy and hitting lefties well (126 wRC+)
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