2017 Arizona Diamondbacks Review: #31, Chris Herrmann

• Date of Birth: November 24, 1987
• 2017 Line: 106 games, 256 PA, .181/.273/.345 = .618 OPS
• 2017 Value: -0.6 fWAR
• 2017 Salary: $0.9M
• SnakePit Rating: 4.50

2017 Analysis

I was surprised to see Herrmann ranked near a 5 after hearing/reading moans and groans here and on Twitter every time he appeared in the starting lineup. I suppose it’s easy to meet expectations when they are so low. The Herrmannator’s (did I spell that right?) OPS+ of 55 was by far the worst of any D-Back this season with over 250 plate appearances; second-worst was Gregor Blanco at 76. I would think that the 55 OPS+ would rank in the 10 worst offensive seasons in Diamondbacks history.

During the early part of the season, it seemed that Herrmann was putting together good at-bats but just getting unlucky. His first-half BABIP of .189 was crazy low, surely his numbers would pick up later, right? Well… kinda. In the months of August and September the BABIP was up above .300, but his OPS was still below .700. Womp womp. I am a Chris Herrmann fan, but a look at the numbers shows that the only reason he remained on the roster was (probably) his position versatility.

2018 Outlook

Herrmann enters his second year of arbitration this offseason, and MLBTR projects that he will make $1.4M. I would not be shocked if the D-Backs non-tender him and then try to sign him to a minor-league deal.

Editor’s note. Nate’s comment about where Herrmann’s 2017 would rank among our worst offensive seasons inspired me to look that up. Here are the 10 lowest OPS+ by Diamondbacks’ hitters in franchise history, with the same minimum of 250 PA:

                                                 
Rk           Player OPS+ Year   BA  OBP  SLG  OPS
1        Nick Ahmed   46 2016 .218 .265 .299 .564
2    Chris Herrmann   55 2017 .181 .273 .345 .619
3      Chris Snyder   56 2005 .202 .297 .301 .598
4      Chris Owings   57 2015 .227 .264 .322 .587
5    Kelly Stinnett   58 2000 .217 .291 .346 .636
6    Craig Counsell   61 2003 .234 .328 .304 .631
7    Carlos Quentin   63 2007 .214 .298 .349 .647
8       Tony Womack   64 2001 .266 .307 .345 .652
9      Karim Garcia   66 1998 .222 .260 .381 .641
10      Augie Ojeda   67 2008 .242 .343 .299 .642

What IS it about Diamondback players called Chris...?