Is Difo better as a regular or in a utility role?

Throughout the offseason, Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo has alternately professed satisfaction with the tandem of Wilmer Difo and Howie Kendrick, who could share second base in 2019, and been in regular contact with the agents for a slew of free agents capable of taking over at the keystone.

Through this complicated dance, I've wavered on whether second base is best turned over to someone who has played the position on a regular basis in recent seasons or whether the Difo/Kendrick duo can suffice. Look, there's little question about Difo, 26, an energetic presence who has committed only five errors in 148 career games at second base and whose .989 career fielding percentage at the position (not to mention his range and speed) make now-departed Daniel Murphy look like the defensive liability that he was and is.

Kendrick, 35, is another question entirely. To ask Kendrick - who is coming off surgery to repair a ruptured right Achilles tendon - to play a position he hasn't manned regularly since 2015 is asking a lot. First baseman Ryan Zimmerman isn't as nimble as he once was, and putting he and Kendrick on the right side of the infield would compromise defense. Kendrick is a heady veteran capable of playing multiple positions and able to come off the bench to get a big hit. But he's miscast as a regular at this stage of his career.

Which brings us back to Difo and a question that's been bugging me: Is Difo better as a regular or would be be better suited to flourish in a utility role?

Based on my own eye test over the past couple of seasons, Difo hasn't exactly seized every opportunity given to him, especially last year, when he backslid offensively to a .230/.298/.350 slash line, unable to improve on his .271/.319/.370 log from 2017 despite increased playing time. But the stats don't back up my anecdotal belief that Difo tires when asked to play regularly, a move that costs the Nationals a useful utility presence.

For his career, Difo is a .260/.316/.378 hitter in 192 games as a starter, as opposed to a .179/.273/.226 hitter in 126 games as a substitute. In 73 plate appearances as a pinch-hitter, Difo slashes a paltry .156/.250/.172.

Last season, he held to his career numbers, slashing .236/.300/.360 as a starter to .179/.283/.256 as a sub. He played second base regularly early on while Murphy recovered from microfracture surgery, and late in the season after Murphy was dealt to the Cubs. Difo's best stretch came from April 11 to May 9, when he went on a .282/.374/.385 tear. But after Murphy was traded on Aug. 21, Difo slashed only .202/.294/.375 the rest of the way.

Difo has sneaky power, but has to shake his focus on the longball and get back to being a guy who sprays the ball around the field, shoots line drives into the gaps and makes use of his speed to turn singles into doubles. More than once last season, manager Davey Martinez bemoaned the fact that Difo was swinging for the fences rather than just trying to make contact. Maybe that will come with age and experience.

But unless the Nationals go out and get a better second baseman, Difo has probably earned the chance to play the position on at least a semi-regular basis. The Nationals have to find out what they have in Difo, who is entering his final season before arbitration and made $557,900 in 2017.

You can't fault Rizzo for doing his due diligence on guys like DJ LeMahieu, Josh Harrison, Brian Dozier and Marwin Gonzalez, the top second base options in a crowded free agent market. Each brings something different to the table - LeMahieu is a good hitter, Dozier offers power, and Harrison and Gonzalez boast versatility. But signing any of those players likely bumps Difo back to a utility role and Kendrick back to the bench.

And the numbers say Difo is much more valuable offensively when he gets the chance to play regularly.