Back when the Washington Nationals decided to trade Curtis Mead to the Boston Red Sox on July 26, it seemed obvious that former top prospect Brady House was going to be recalled as his backfill.
Despite House struggling in the early part of this season -- which caused the Nationals to option him to Triple-A Rochester -- he had shown plenty of flashes that made it hard not believe that he could become a successful third baseman in the majors. What the 23-year-old was sent down to work on was being consistent in the field and finding his confidence once again.
Whatever House and the Rochester coaching staff did during his time in the minors, it seems to have paid off based on how he has performed since he was called back up to The Show on July 26. Through 19 games played, House has slashed .270/.324/.413 with two home runs, six RBIs and a wRC+ of 105. But those numbers don't even tell the whole story, as some advanced metrics paint a much rosier picture of how House has played since he was recalled.
Washington Nationals third baseman Brady House | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
While the .270 batting average and .413 slugging percentage from House are a step in the right direction, his numbers actually could be much better. FanGraphs has his expected batting average at .298 while his expected slugging percentage is at .507.
Those are massive differences, and it shows just how unlucky he's been across these 19 games.
One can only wonder what his actual statistics would look like if he'd been on the more fortunate side of the spectrum. But at the very least, that's a good sign that even more improvement could be coming for House to close out the season.
Washington Nationals third baseman Brady House | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The reason why positive regression should arrive for House is because he is crushing the baseball. During this stretch, he has a hard-hit rate of 57.1%. That puts him No. 7 in the majors behind some notable sluggers like Pete Alonso (66.7%), Max Muncy (58.3%) and Austin Riley (57.9%).
With their hard-hit percentages, Alonso has blasted six longballs with nine extra-base hits, while Muncy has hit four homers and six extra-base hits and Riley has launched three home runs with nine extra-base hits. House, meanwhile, has two blasts and five extra-base hits, which shows that he has been on par with some of the most productive power hitters despite getting unlucky at the plate.
What's even more impressive when it comes to House is the fact that he still generated hard hits while only producing a 14.3% barrel rate. That put him tied for No. 27 in the majors since July 26, which is a stark difference compared to where he was in hard-hit rate.
Washington Nationals third baseman Brady House | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
It hasn't all been positive for House since he's returned, though, but that's part of the development curve for the young third baseman.
He still has his defensive issues at the hot corner, which he needs to improve heading into next season. And he'll never have high-end plate discipline with his free-swinging nature. But lowering his strikeout rate to below 30% -- it was at 30.9% during this stretch -- would go a long way, as it would give him more opportunities to put hard-hit balls into play.
Regardless, the return of House to the majors has to be classified as a positive one. He is crushing the ball and he's quietly been effective. Once he gets some luck on his side so his actual statistics match his advanced ones, House could be on of the biggest storylines to finish this season for Washington.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/nationals/onsi as Brady House Has Quietly Been Good Since He Was Recalled, These Numbers Prove It .
