New Everyday Players — Aug 23, 2023

Are you a Yankees fan? Are you a fan of picking up players that could potentially boost your fantasy team’s stat totals? If you answered yes to either of these questions, then today’s new everyday player introductions are for you!

Oswald Peraza | NYY SS/3B

After debuting last year, Peraza has been up and down with the big league club this season, only accumulating 64 MLB PAs. Since he has only posted a .262 wOBA over that tiny sample, the Yankees have continued to search for alternatives as they have dealt with injuries. But Peraza was last ranked as the team’s second best prospect and 44th overall, so clearly he deserves an extended look. With the Yankees perhaps acknowledging the writing on the wall and a playoff spot is highly unlikely, word is he’ll be recalled again before last night’s game (or tonight given when I’m typing this). He figures to take over as the team’s regular third baseman, as it would be silly for Isiah Kiner-Falefa to be blocking his path.

Peraza possesses what us fantasy owners salivate over — both power and speed. He has posted mid-to-high teen HR/FB rates at each minor league stop since 2021, including a professional best mark at Triple-A this year of 19.2%. That was driven by a strong 112.1 MPH maxEV, which completely matches the HR/FB rate. His ISO also jumped above .200 for just the second time, and it wasn’t higher because he hasn’t been much of a doubles hitter in the minors. The concern here is some of those minor league homers end up becoming doubles in the Majors and he doesn’t have a high rate of doubles we would hope turn into MLB home runs. That said, Yankee Stadium does boost home runs from hitters on both sides of the plate, so that should help mitigate some regression.

On the speed side, he stole 16 bases at Triple-A this year after swiping 33 last year and only getting caught five times. In 2021, he stole 38 bases combined between three levels. So he has been a consistently willing basestealer.

His BABIP hasn’t been very good since Double-A in 2021 and before, as he has hit a lot of pop-ups in the minors. That means it’s unlikely he’ll help in batting average, but a reasonable strikeout rate means he also shouldn’t kill you.

Given his power/speed combo, I’m interested in all but the shallowest of formats.

Everson Pereira | NYY OF

The Yankees are really dipping into their farm system, as they are also expected to recall their current second best prospect in Pereira. The expectation is that he’ll play left field, likely pushing Jake Bauers to the bench.

Pereira’s calling card is his power. He has posted HR/FB rates above 20% multiple times, including an outrageous 45.2% mark at High-A in 2021 (he hit 14 homers in just 108 ABs there!). He had also just posted his second highest HR/FB rate of 28.6% at Triple-A this year, during his first taste of that level. It was supported by an elite 114.5 MPH maxEV. The only negative here, at least in terms of home runs, is he posted just a 29.2% FB%. That’s a surprise, as he posted a 43.6% FB% at Double-A earlier this year, so it’s curious why his FB% plummeted. His home run potential will highly depend on where his FB% lands.

Regardless of where his FB% has sat, he has routinely posted massive BABIP marks. It’s definitely not clear from his batted ball distribution how he’s doing it, so I would be slightly skeptical he maintains such skills in the Majors. But it does suggest at least an above average BABIP. He’ll need that to offset his high strikeout rate, driven by lots of swings and misses, as his SwStk% has consistently been in the mid-to-high teens. It means that depending on where his BABIP falls, there could be some serious batting average downside, as those SwStk% marks often result in strikeout rates over 30%.

He does steal some bases too, as he had swiped 11 in around a half season’s worth of PAs in the minors this year, and stole 21 last year. That sounds like a full season pace of 20-25 homers and 10-15 steals. Of course, it might come with a .220 average, but batting average is so random over a small sample, so I’m not as worried about that.

Given the power potential here, with some steals sprinkled in, he’s definitely worth grabbing in deeper leagues. I prefer Peraza right now given that the steals should translate better and he’s less likely to slump due to better contact ability, but Pereira still makes for a savvy pickup.