After a difficult first full season at the big league level in 2018, Amed Rosario entered spring training this year with a lot of questions about his long-term role on the team. The former top prospect in baseball was coming off of a season in which he hit just .256/.295/.381 with a well-below-average 85 wRC+ in 592 plate appearances and posted just 1.5 fWAR despite playing in 154 of the team’s 162 games.
Perhaps most disappointingly, Rosario’s defensive performance did not live up to the scouting reports. While he was billed as having all of the tools needed to develop into a stellar defensive shortstop throughout his time in the minor leagues, Rosario generally struggled defensively in 2018, ranking second to last in both DRS and UZR among qualified shortstops.