#25. Andre Ethier, Los Angeles Dodgers
2015 WAR: 2.7
2014 WAR: -0.1
WAR Improvement: 2.8
After posting a career-worst .249 batting average in 2014, Andre Ethier rebounded with aplomb in 2015, hitting .294 to secure his best mark since 2008. Now, the question is whether the 33-year-old outfielder will move firmly in either direction or split the difference.
Ethier will likely fall in between the two extremes, but expect him to come far closer to the better end.
Nothing about 2015’s performance screamed that it was fluky — not his .330 batting average on balls in play (BABIP), which was only slightly higher than his career average of .323, and certainly not his eye at the plate. It’s 2014 that was the significant aberration, thanks to this Los Angeles Dodger forgetting how to draw walks, dribbling out to the opposing shortstop far too often and seeing a remarkably low percentage of his contact at the plate result in hard hits, per Fangraphs.
Pure replication of 2015 remains unlikely, especially because the Los Angeles outfield is crowded with Joc Pederson, Carl Crawford, and Yasiel Puig. However, there should be little doubt Ethier will once more be a positive presence in the Dodgers lineup.