New Everyday Players — Aug 17, 2023

You thought my adventures into new everyday players was over, but the fresh faces keep coming! Let’s review another trio.

Lawrence Butler | OAK OF

The youth movement is truly upon us in Oakland! Though I’m not sure why 31-year-old Tony Kemp continues to draw the lion’s share of starts in left field. Anyhow, Butler, the team’s third ranked prospect, was recalled last Friday and has started every game since. However, he’s left-handed, so we’ll see if he ends up in a platoon when the team faces a left-handed starter next.

The 23-year-old was slapped with 50/60 Game Power and 60/70 Raw Power grades, along with decent enough 55/50 Speed, which has me salivating, even if he’s on a weak offense and plays half his games in a pitcher friendly park. So far during his minor league career, he has shown above average power, but not quite strong enough to match his scouting grades. He only reached a 20% HR/FB rate once, back in 2021 at Single-A, and posted just a 12.8% mark at Double-A this year, before a small sample 16.7% mark at Triple-A before his promotion. His ISO marks have hovered around .200, sometimes finished a bit below and sometimes a bit above. He also posted a maxEV of 109.6 MPH at Triple-A, which is above average, but again, there’s room for upside. The sample was small though, and he has already posted a 111 MPH mark in the Majors.

His FB% marks have been up and down, from the mid-30% range to as high at nearly 47% during his short time at Triple-A. So it’s hard to get a read on how fly ball happy he may be in the Majors. He significantly improved his strikeout rate this year, bringing it down from over 30% to over 20%. That’s a massive improvement! It didn’t help his overall offense and wOBA at all, but certainly helped him reach the Majors, as it’s doubtful he would have been promoted while toting a strikeout rate over 30%.

He had stolen 21 bases this year, after 13 last year in about a half season’s worth of PAs. So he steals bases too, to go along with his power. I love to see that power/speed combo! That mix alone should put him on deep leaguers’ radars, even if he ends up a batting average killer, which is up in the air depending on both his FB% and how much of his strikeout rate gains he holds.

Nicky Lopez | ATL 2B/3B

The Braves acquired Lopez before the trade deadline, but he hadn’t made a single start until last Saturday. Then Ozzie Albies got injured and hit the IL and he has now made two straight starts at second base. The last start on Tuesday came even after the team recalled their 2022 top prospect, Vaughn Grissom. Obviously, it’s anyone’s guess right now if the team is viewing Lopez as their regular starter and Grissom just a bench bat or if Grissom is expected to take over starting duties, regardless of how Lopez performs. Let’s assume now that Lopez controls his own destiny.

The 28-year-old enjoyed a strong breakout-ish year in 2021, posting a .329 wOBA, while batting .300 and stealing 22 bases to make fantasy owners happy. He then disappointed at the plate last year, sliding to just a .251 wOBA. He has rebounded somewhat this year, but a .299 wOBA shouldn’t really cut it as an everyday player.

Lopez makes good contact, keeping his SwStk% in single digits throughout his career, while maintaining a low-to-mid teen strikeout rate. This year, his walk rate has spiked into double digits for the first time, which should be really helping his offensive potential, since BABIP has been an issue. He was strong there in 2021, posting a .347 mark, but hasn’t produced anything above this year’s .282 mark during any other season. That’s surprising considering his batted ball profile, which is heavy on grounders, light on flies and pop-ups, and includes an LD% above 21% every year since 2020.

A lack of power clearly hurts, as he has only socked six homers over about three seasons worth of PAs. Despite a much improved OBP this year, he’s on pace for right around the same number of steals as last year, which is well below his 2021 mark.

I do think there’s some BABIP and batting average upside here, which would raise his OBP and give him more stolen base opportunities. But stuck at the bottom of the order, even if it’s on the league’s best offense, will cut into all his counting stats. He’s really only a deep league play if you’re in dire need of steals and a couple here and there would gain you several points.

Wade Meckler | SF OF

What’s a Wade Meckler? This is what I asked myself when I discovered that he was just recalled a couple of days ago and has started two straight games in center field for the Giants. Not only that, but he batted second each time! But man, this is one interesting skill set.

The 23-year-old was ranked as the tema’s seventh best prospect and whizzed through the minors after being selected in the eighth round of last year’s June Amateur Draft. He ended up with just 33 PAs at Triple-A, and rose from High-A to the Majors all this year.

The plate discipline here is incredible. He has taken a walk at significant rates at each stop, except for his short time at High-A at the beginning of this year. He also posted mid-single digit SwStk% marks at each stop this year, resulting in low-to-mid double digit strikeout rates. Overall, he ended up walking exactly as often as he struck out.

To go alone with the better than average strikeout rate, he has posted absolutely crazy BABIP marks. His lowest BABIP at any minor league stop was .407! None of his stints represented large enough sample sizes, but his batted ball distribution supports a high BABIP guy. He has posted strong LD% marks, sub-30% fly ball rates, and low pop-up rates.

Unfortunately, he hasn’t shown much power or speed, as he has knocked just six home runs and stolen eight bases over his 402 pro PAs. That’s a pace of about nine homers and 12 steals in a 600 PA season. With the limited power, but high OBP potential, he does look like a classic leadoff guy. Staying at the top of the order could make him useable in deep leagues, but with his lack of power and speed, he’s not going to be any help in shallower formats.