Colorado Rockies: Three positives and three negatives from the Mets series

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3) Ryan McMahon has been one of the best players in the NL … for a different reason than home runs

Ryan McMahon has been one of the best players in the National League. Yes, you read that right.

Part of the reason why he has been that is because of his offense and particularly, his power.

He is tied for second in the NL in home runs with six after he had nine in all of 2020. He didn’t display that in the series, though. On the other side of the ball, he has been one of the best defenders in baseball.

Entering Sunday, he already had 6 Defensive Runs Saved, per Baseball-Reference (5 DRS, per FanGraphs). That’s why he was 5th in the NL on Baseball-Reference in WAR at 1.1 entering Sunday and tied for 18th on FanGraphs overall. One of the players that he was tied with is his former teammate: Nolan Arenado.

While there are some other areas that he needs to improve upon (walk rate, chase rate, on-base percentage), McMahon, thus far, he has been the biggest bright spot in the Rockies lineup and, perhaps, the biggest bright spot on the team in general to start the 2021 season.