It should be obvious that Atlanta Braves centerfielder Ender Inciarte has not gotten off to a good start in 2018. As of April 13th, Inciarte has only managed a .179/.242/.214 hitting line in 63 plate appearances with a 29 wRC+ and a .213 wOBA. However, due to his defensive prowess and speed, he has managed to tread water with a 0.0 fWAR, even with his minimal offensive contribution.
The question is: is this merely a slump or is it a sign of something deeper?
Looking back to March and April of 2017, Ender had four of his eleven home runs for the season during this time but still only managed a .230/.267/.400 batting line with a 69 wRC+ and a .280 wOBA. Ender did manage to build his performance to .302/.350/.407 for the first half of the season with a 99 wRC+ and a .326 wOBA His performance in the second half nearly matched that of the first half with a .306/.349/.412 line with a 101 wRC+ and a .330 wOBA. After his sub-par first few weeks of the season, Ender’s performance was, in a word, consistent.
A year earlier, in 2016, Inciarte missed nearly a month early in the season due to an injury, which conceivably affected his first half production. In the first half, he batted .227/.294/.306 with a 60 wRC+ and a .264 wOBA. However, he had a significant uptick in performance in the second half with a .341/.396/.440 line with a 125 wRC+ and a .362 wOBA.
As an Arizona Diamondback in 2015, Ender Inciarte again had a stronger second half of the season than the first half. In the first half, he had a .287/.316/.371 line with an 82 wRC+ and a .300 wOBA as compared to .319/.358/.443 with a 115 wRC+ and a .348 wOBA in the second half.
Even in his rookie season of 2014, Ender had similar half splits. After his MLB arrival in May, Inciarte had a .235/.266/.271 line with a 45 wRC+ and a .243 wOBA for the first half in 176 plate appearances while improving to a .306/.352/.417 mark with a 112 wRC+ and a .341 wOBA for the second half.
Looking back at the past four seasons, there appears to be a pattern of Ender Inciarte being a notoriously slow starter, whether it be from limited plate appearances, injuries or performance. The best thing the Atlanta Braves can do now is be patient with Ender since he has an established history of improving his performance over the course of the season, and usually in a big way.
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