What Makes Cesar So Good at the Plate?

Very little was expected of the rail-thin, 23-year-old Cesar Hernandez when he arrived in the Big Leagues in 2013, the corresponding move to Michael Young being placed on the Bereavement List. In younger Cesar, we had what we thought to be a second-division keystoner who had some speed and decent instincts, but fell just short of being usable at a more valuable position like shortstop or center field, had streaky plate discipline tendencies and faced real concern over possibly ever hitting anything but singles at the plate.

Fast forward to 2018, and Cesar has become one of the 10 best second basemen in the game. Since becoming a full-time starter in 2015, some of Cesar’s numbers easily rank…