New Everyday Players — Aug 21, 2023

I totally thought last week marked the temporary end to discussing new everyday players, but I was wrong. Instead, a flurry of callups have been made, which means more new faces to get acquainted with!

Nolan Schanuel | LAA 1B

After recently being acquired from the Rockies, the Angels’ temporary new first baseman C.J. Cron hit the IL, as the team continues to deal with an insane multitude of injured regulars. That resulted in the team recalling their second ranked prospect who they shockingly immediately installed as their leadoff hitter. Even with a watered down Angels lineup behind him, I’m still going to want to dive into a guy now hitting atop a lineup.

Amazingly, the 21-year-old was selected 11th overall in this year’s draft and yet the team was already willing to have him jump to the Majors…after just 84 minor league PAs and nary a PA at the Triple-A level. That’s either some serious confidence or a move out of desperation given the number of injuries they have suffered through! Obviously, it’s quite difficult to evaluate his skills with such a tiny professional sample to go by.

Looking at his scouting grades, he seems to be a potential high batting average guy with his 35/60 Hit grades, with upside of average power. At Double-A, over just 75 PAs, he walked an astounding 21.3% of the time, versus just a 12% strikeout rate. That’s 16 walks and just nine strikeouts. Oh, and he posted a microscopic 3.9% SwStk%. That’s some elite plate discipline! He hit a high rate of grounders and low rate of fly balls, which suggests he’s not going to be much of a home run contributor. However, the high GB%, combined with a high LD%, should inflate his BABIP, and make him a real batting average asset, especially given his excellent contact skills.

In an OBP league, he’s an obvious pickup, but he might not be much of a counting stat contributor, outside of runs scored. He’ll be fun to follow though.

Richie Palacios | STL OF

The Cardinals have also dealt with their fair share of injuries, which has opened up a starting outfield job. Palacios ain’t a prospect, but he looks to be on the strong side of a platoon now in center field. With 50/60 Hit and 60/60 Speed grades, I’m definitely interested in learning more.

He debuted with the Guardians last year, showed good contact ability, but absolutely no power, failing to hit a single dinger and posting a weak maxEV of just 104.7 MPH. In the minors, he never posted a double digit HR/FB rate until his time at Triple-A while with the Cardinals organization this year, but that came after just a 6.7% mark at the same level this year while still with the Guardians. His maxEV didn’t increase with the Cardinals, so I doubt his power actually improved. Perhaps he just barrreled a higher rate of balls, but there’s no way of knowing.

He did steal nine bases in the minors, to go along with eight home runs. I think his speed will translate much better, so perhaps he’s a 10/15 guy as his upside. That’s not exciting, but useable in deep leagues. It’s also worth nothing that he has been a walk machine in the minors, so his value gets a nice bump in OBP leagues. That makes him a pretty decent add in those formats, despite not starting against left-handers.

Masyn Winn | STL SS

Another of the Cardinals’ trades and injuries is Winn, the team’s second and 47th overall ranked prospect. He has made good contact in the minors, keeping a single digit SwStk% throughout the majority of his minor league stints, except for his time at High-A in 2021. He posted his best strikeout rate at Triple-A this year, backed by his lowest SwStk%. That’s a good sign as he has climbed the ladder.

Also exciting is his growing home run power. After posting low-to-mid single digit HR/FB rates at Single-A and High-A, something suddenly clicked beginning at Double-A last year. His HR/FB rate jumped into double digit, and that mark rose again at Triple-A this year. His maxEV of 110.1 MPH is solid and perhaps supports an even higher HR/FB rate.

He has also stolen bases, swiping 17 this season at Triple-A, while only getting caught twice. Last year, he stole 43 bases across two leagues, after 32 steals in 2021. His newfound power makes him a potential power/speed guy, but I think the stolen base upside is higher right now.

Outside of his second stint at High-A, he hasn’t been a big BABIP guy, as his batted ball profile looks pretty league average. That means he might be a batting average detractor and since his walk rate slipped back into single digits after jumping into double digits at Double-A last year, he won’t enjoy any sort of OBP format boost.

I think there’s enough speed potential here, combined with a touch of power, to be worth a pickup in deeper leagues. He’s clearly a better fantasy bet than Palacios.