Ranking The Rockies: 41 Daniel Descalso

We at BSN Denver are running a series where we rank how valuable each of the Rockies’ 51 players was to the team in 2015. Value was calculated by statistics, viewing, and how memorable each player’s contributions were. The rankings will be from last to first, you may view the full rankings (here).

Player: Daniel Descalso

Stats: 101 G, 209 PA, .205 AVG, .283 OBP, .324 SLG, 5 HR, 22 RBI, 43 wRC+, -0.2 UZR (1B), -1.8 UZR (2B), 0.5 UZR (3B), -3.0 UZR (SS), WAR -1.1

Big Moment: May 15th, and 16th, in back to back games playing shortstop spelling Troy Tulowitzki Descalso, who came into the game after the third inning on May 15th after Tulo left with quad tightness, picked up two hits. The following day he started for Tulo against the Dodgers, and once again he picked up two hits. In the first game Descalso drove in three of the Rockies four runs in a 6-4 loss. The second game Descalso hit one of his five home runs on the year. It was a three run shot, that broke a scoreless game and gave the Rockies a 3-0 lead in the 7th inning. That started it for the Rockies who ended up adding four more runs in the 8th and 9th innings to beat the Dodgers 7-1.

OR

Season Recap: Dumbfounding, but true, the Rockies were 26-13 in games that featured Descalso in the starting lineup. Descalso batted everywhere in the order but first, while playing every single position in the infield, and right field. He was the jack of all trades for the Rockies in 2015.

He was brought in by Jeff Bridich in the offseason on a two year guaranteed contract, after the Cardinals non-tenured him. Descalso was dubbed as Mr. Versatile, and a left handed bat bench to bolster an area where the Rockies succeeded in 2014. I think Descalso was initially thought to be a spell for Troy Tulowitzki, Nolan Arenado, and DJ Lemahieu, but Rafael Ynoa‘s struggles as another versatile backup, Wilin Rosario‘s horrible season platooning for Justin Morneau, and later Ben Paulsen, as well as Drew Stubbs‘ bad start forced Descalso into positions that were not suited for him. Certainty Walt Weiss used Descalso very incorrectly in 2015, but Weiss had to work with what he was given with. From the onset I’ve been most critical of the move to bring in Descalso, and I still am.

It didn’t make much sense at the time to acquire the backup infielder because Ynoa, and Cristhian Adames can play infield, and they are switch hitters. In fact Descalso’s left handed bat wasn’t even very valuable because he had reverse splits coming into the year, hitting better off of left handed pitching. And all those positions he can seemingly play, well the defensive metrics say that he can’t.

This season proved all of that. By WAR, Descalso was the 4th worst player in the National League, his wRC+ was the worst in the National League, his fielding percentage at shortstop (the position he played most) was second worst in the National League, and his UZR/150 was third worst among National League shortstops that played at least 200 innings. I could keep going with stats that display his game, but I don’t think it would get my point across any better. Instead let me put Daniel Descalso’s 2015 into words. There perhaps has never been a more frustrating player in Rockies history, without a doubt, I have never up close seen a player have a worse season and spend it all with one club in the big leagues.

The frustration he caused was not entirely his fault, I actually admire his attitude displayed in game. But he represents everything that was bad about the Rockies in 2015. Descalso represents a manager that often put his players in positions where they would not succeed, Descalso represents a GM who didn’t address the team’s core problems, and instead chose to ignore details while looking at the makeup of the club, Descalso represents a team that panicked rather than one that had a well thought out plan, Descalso represents a team that had one foot out one door, and one foot out another one door. For me, his name is a synonym for incompetence.

For a look at my conflicting thoughts as the season went on, just look at my “Daniel Descalso Twitter Omnibus” below.

Daniel Descalso Omnibus

What’s Ahead: Descalso is signed for 2016 on a guaranteed contract of 2.1 Million. He will be hard pressed to find a spot the way the Rockies roster currently shakes out. Jose Reyes, Nolan Arenado, and DJ Lemahieu will be starting, Rafael Ynoa, and Cristhian Adames will likely factor into the Rockies bench, and star shortstop prospect Trevor Story is knocking on the door. Descalso turned 29 today, and very little suggests that he will be better in 2016.