Ketel Marte & Richie Shaffer: Deep League Wire

For a change, it’s no longer about injuries! As we hit the final two months of the season, teams who are already throwing in the towel on a playoff run are looking to the future. That means reducing the playing time of disappointing veterans and giving the youngsters a shot.

Ketel Marte | SS SEA | CBS 10% Owned

Let’s just discuss the elephant in the room first. Yes, Ketel is an awesome first name and it instantly makes Marte a player you want to root for. Just consider all the pun opportunities — Ketel is heating up, Ketel is steaming hot, Ketel is on fire! Okay, I’m done. Marte was recalled from Triple-A last week, initially to play second base as Robinson Cano was recovering from an abdominal issue and limited to designated hitter duties. But Cano is back at second base, which begs the question of where will Marte find playing time. Manager Lloyd McLendon was quoted as saying the following:

“I’d like to play him as much as I possibly can and get him in at a lot of different positions,” McClendon said.

On Monday, Marte started in center field, giving Austin Jackson a rest. I should note that Jackson has posted a pathetic .290 wOBA this season. Those “days of rest” might become more and more frequent if Marte proves he could handle center field reasonably well. Then of course there’s Brad Miller at Marte’s natural position, where McLendon has assured us he is going to start Marte at every so often. Though Miller has posted just a 103 wRC+, that’s actually sixth best in baseball among qualified shortstops. So Miller doesn’t really deserve to get benched, but it could happen anyway.

So with the playing time questions out of the way, let’s talk Marte’s fantasy potential. He has posted good strikeout rates throughout his minor league career, sporting a career mark of 12.1%. He hasn’t walked a whole lot, with just a 5.7% rate, but he’s been a bit better than that during his two stints at Triple-A. He has little power, with a sub-.100 ISO and just nine career homers in 1,671 minor league at-bats. But he has speed, as one might suspect. He has stolen 95 bases, though had been successful at a mediocre 74% clip. In all four games he has started, he has hit lead off. Of course, that won’t continue if he doesn’t hit. But if he could stay there and garner enough playing time, he could be a nice contributor in both deeper mixed and AL-Only leagues the rest of the way.

Richie Shaffer | 3B TB | 6% Owned

With the Rays starving for offense, the team decided to call up Shaffer a couple of days ago, even though he’s a third baseman, a position manned by one Evan Longoria. He did play 11 games at first base this year though, which suggests he could steal some playing time away from James Loney, the first baseman with a gruesome .284 wOBA. It seems fairly certain that Shaffer will spell Loney against southpaws, but it’s not so obvious what the Rays will do against righties. The team has faced two straight left-handers since Shaffer was recalled, so it will be interesting to see. John Jaso is their DH against righties and has posted a .398 wOBA since returning from his strange injury. So he’s unlikely to lose any playing time. Does Loney become a true bench player?

So Shaffer’s playing time potential is just as dicey as Marte’s, but his bat is completely opposite. On Monday, our own minor league guru and KATOH projection system creator Chris Mitchell discussed Shaffer and his future outlook. He mentioned the adjustments Shaffer had made which have led to a breakout performance in the minors, but noted that his system was rather pessimistic.

Shaffer strikes out a lot, but not an absurd amount for a power hitter. At least he offsets some of those strikeouts with good plate patience, as he has typically walked in over 10% of his plate appearances. Unfortunately, he has posted just a .300 BABIP in the minors, which suggests a below league average mark in the Majors. Coupled with lots of strikeouts, there’s great risk he hurts you in batting average.

But he has displayed some serious power. A career ISO of .203 looks respectable, albeit unspectacular, but his power surged at Triple-A, as he posted a gargantuan .330 mark there with 16 homers in just 185 at-bats. Any free agent with that kind of power potential and some opportunity for playing time is worth a grab if you have a roster spot to fill.