Cory Spangenberg & Tomas Telis: Deep League Wire

At this time of year, it’s easy to find a number of September call ups to write about. The trick is to find those who might actually garner enough playing time to earn some actual fantasy value. Here are two of those fine gentlemen.

Cory Spangenberg | 2B SD | CBS 3% Owned

What a spankin’ cool name. And I have the honor of penning the first post mentioning his name in 2014. Spangenberg was ranked by Marc Hulet as the team’s 15th best prospect heading into the season, which wasn’t all that impressive in an unexciting farm system. Hulet questioned Spangenberg’s ability to be a big league regular, which isn’t exactly what you want to read about a player you’re considering picking up. Third base was somewhat opened up when the team traded Chase Headley. Sure, they got back Yangervis Solarte, but he’s not really the long-term solution at third base. And the Padres are going nowhere so you figure they’ll give the younger guy a look.

Spangenberg has started at second base and third base and even appeared in left field. In the minors, he also played some games in center field, so he has some serious defensive versatility. Unfortunately, the 23-year-old hasn’t sniffed the Triple-A level and it’s typically more difficult for offensive prospects to make the leap from Double-A to the Majors than it is for pitchers. And although on the surface it would appear he performed quite well at Double-A given his .376 wOBA, those results were propped up by a ridiculous .421 BABIP.

He has shown limited power and oddly strikes out too frequently given his lack of pop. So yeah, he’s not someone to get too excited about in the long-term. But, he does have some speed, and might net you a couple of steals by the end of the season. That’s really all you should count on, to go along with whatever runs scored and batted in he accumulates as he plays all over the diamond.

Tomas Telis | C TEX | 1% Owned

Surprise, surprise, the Rangers have suffered from another injury, this time behind the plate…again. With Robinson Chirinos down, Telis has started the majority of games over the last two weeks. One of Telis’ greatest strengths is his ability to make contact. He has posted excellent strikeout rates throughout his minor league career, and he struck out just 8.2% of the time while at Triple-A. Of course, strong contact ability also means an allergy to the base on balls. With poor walk rates, he’ll need to hit for a good average to avoid posting a hideous on base percentage. But that strong contact rate should lead to a pretty good batting average for a catcher.

While Telis doesn’t possess zero power, it’s not exactly his calling card. His career high ISO came during his professional debut back in 2009 in the Rookie league, when he posted a .148 mark. It declined since then, but rebounded to a .144 mark during his stint at Triple-A this year. Still, that translates to like a homer or two at best a month.

He does own a hidden skill — speed. He’s by no means a speed demon, but he did swipe eight bases in the minors this year and has stolen high single digits everywhere he’s played. A full season might yield something like six homers and steals, which is none too exciting, but does have value in deep leagues.