Diamondbacks Player Spotlight: OF Ender Inciarte
By Blake Benard
Leadoff men are the bread and butter of any offensive team. They set the table for the cleanup hitter, steal bases, keep innings alive, or simple wear down starting pitchers.
If you want an example of that kind of player look no further than Ender Inciarte.
2015 Stats:
.288 AVG .319 OBP .689 OPS 72 H 39 R 2 HR 21 RBI 9 SB
Inciarte has been one of the best leadoff hitters in baseball. He’s scrappy and gets on base when you need him to and his arm and defense in the outfield has earned respect across the league.
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Coming into 2015, the Diamondbacks outfield was crowded. AJ Pollock, Yasmany Tomas, Mark Trumbo, and David Peralta all needed and deserved playing time after putting together solid springs. But one thing was never in question and that was Ender Inciarte leading off and he quickly showed why.
April solidified the Diamondbacks confidence in Ender. He hit .306 with an on-base percentage of .357 and was a catalyst as the Diamondbacks got out to a very impressive start considering their preseason expectations. And you can take his benefit to this team even further and examine the impact it’s had on Paul Goldschmidt who is putting together a potential Triple Crown season.
Think about it. When Inciarte broke into baseball last year in May it took him a couple months to get acquitted into the leadoff role and build his offense to a point where he hit consistently. Things started clicking for Inciarte more or less after the All-Star break. Post break, he hit .306 with a solid .356 OBP which ultimately led to a fifth place voting in the Rookie of the Year award.
But just when Inciarte started to play better, Goldschmidt went down to injury. So 2015 is really the first year Goldschmidt has had the blessing of a top-notch leadoff man and how has that turned out for him? Just simply leading the league in average and among the league leaders in RBI’s. He’s getting on base and giving Goldschmidt more opportunities to drive in runs and give this team greater chances to win games.
Obviously there’s more to a star-hitter like Goldschmidt that premier leadoff hitters, but they sure do help. And let’s not forget the injuries to AJ Pollock and his contributions since retiring and being inserted into the two-hole. But ultimately, the point comes down to this: with Inciarte in that leadoff spot good things happen for the Diamondbacks.