New Everyday Players — Aug 25, 2022

You thought there couldn’t possibly be more new everyday players for me to review, right? Wrong. Here are four more.

Alex Call | OF WAS

Congrats to Call who was last ranked as the White Sox 24th best prospect all the way back in 2018, but has since joined the Indians, and now the Nationals. Finally, at age 27, he has made his MLB debut and has started four straight games, switching between batting leadoff and hitting second. That’s quite the lineup slot for a rookie who wasn’t a prospect!

Call appears to own a touch of power and a touch of speed, with low teen HR/FB rates and ISO marks around the .200 level, along with a handful of steals. His power output has been boosted by his extreme fly ball tendency, as his FB% has stood above 40% for the majority of his professional career. That’s a good thing for someone with middling power as it could possibly get him to be at least neutral in home runs. However, all those flies, in addition to a penchant for popping up, has hurt his BABIP at times, and will likely hamper him even more at the MLB level.

But Call’s calling card (yes, I did that) is his plate discipline. He has walked at a double digit clip at his last three minor league stops, including a robust 16.1% mark at Triple-A this season. Furthermore, he has reduced his strikeout rate into the mid-teens, backed by a 6% SwStk%. It really looks like he became a new hitter beginning last year, as he improved both his power and plate skills to make himself into an interesting hitter.

Because of his low BABIP, he’s likely to struggle to hit for average, but his potentially high walk rate gives his value a big boost in OBP leagues. I wouldn’t expect significant contributions in home runs or steals, though, but it will be enough to be worth gambling on in deep OBP leagues and NL-Only leagues.

CJ Abrams | SS WAS

Shipped to the Nationals from the Padres as part of the Juan Soto blockbuster, Abrams has become the team’s starting shortstop, starting eight straight games since his recall from Triple-A. The top prospect was ranked first among Padres prospects and 11th overall, suggesting the Nationals should stick with him even if he slumps.

The 21-year-old hadn’t shown much power heading into the season, but his HR/FB rate shot up to 17.9% and ISO to .193 at Triple-A while still in the Padres system this year, suggesting the power has arrived and validating his power grades. While he doesn’t hit a ton of fly balls, he hits enough to be at least a neutral home run contributor from a middle infield spot.

His speed is what makes him such an exciting fantasy asset. He stole 14 bases in the minors this year, for a full-season pace of over 40. He also owns 80 grade speed, which is pretty rare. Oddly, he has only attempted four steals so far in the Majors, and has been caught twice. Some of that is due to a weak .269 OBP, so obviously he can’t attempt a steal if he fails to even make it to first base to begin with. You have to figure he’ll start to run more when he does get on base, and he’ll get on base more, also increasing his attempts.

Finally, he’s had a history of huge BABIP marks, likely fueled by a better than average LD%, lower than average IFFB%, and his blazing speed. It’s a good sign for his batting average potential. I would bet the over on his rest of season BABIP forecasts, which are all sub-.300. While it’s not ideal to see him near the bottom of the order, I think he’s worth speculating on in most formats, especially if you’re desperate for stolen bases.

Kyle Stowers | OF BAL

For the life of me, I still can’t figure out what the Orioles are doing. Running out Rougned Odor (.274 wOBA, 0.0 WAR) every day remains baffling, but at least now they are giving their seventh ranked prospect a chance and not bringing Chris Owings back. Stowers has started three of four games since his recall, but as a left-hander, might end up sitting against southpaws. We’ll find out when the team faces its first left-hander since his recall.

Stowers’ power has been consistently strong throughout his minor league career, as he has delivered double digit HR/FB rates everywhere he’s gone, including a mark over 30% at High-A back in 2021. His batted ball profile is interesting and not something I’ve seen very often. It fully takes advantage of his power with a mid-to-30% FB%, but he has also hit line drives and posted a better than league average IFFB%. That means that even with an above average FB%, his BABIP might actually sit above the league average. He has posted some inflated marks throughout his career, though just a .317 mark during his latest stint before his promotion.

The biggest question mark is his contact ability. While he improved his strikeout rate to 25.6% at Triple-A this year, it had sat above 30% during each of his previous three minor league stops. That’s all come with mid-to-high teen SwStk% marks, so there’s lots of swing and miss in his game. He’ll need to continue hitting for a high BABIP to avoid posting a weak batting average.

Given his walk rate, and potential for a poor batting average, he, too, gets a nice boost in OBP leagues. Since he’s only really good for power speculation though, his value right now is limited to either deep mixed OBP leagues or AL-Only formats.

TJ Friedl | OF CIN

Since his recall in mid-August, Friedl looks to be on the strong side of a platoon in left field. The 27-year-old isn’t a prospect and was ranked just 40th on the team heading into the season. However, he does own increased power, and more importantly, above average speed.

His home run power was limited from 2017 to 2019, but has rebounded a bit since last year. His HR/FB rate since has remained just into double digits, while his ISO jumped to the second highest mark of his career at Triple-A this year when it hit .190. An extreme fly ball tendency has boosted his power and fits quite well in the cozy confines of Great American Ballpark. It won’t make him a significant home run contributor, but result in enough to feel like you’re not making a tradeoff in power by starting him.

Friedl owns 70 grade speed, but hasn’t exactly been a prolific basestealer in the minors. He has stolen as many as 30 bases in a season, which is good, but perhaps not as many as one might think a 70 grade runner is capable of. At Triple-A this season, he had swiped 10 over 241 PAs, for a pace of about 25 over a full season. He already has six in half those PAs with the Reds, so it’s a good sign that he has continued running in the Majors.

He’s another one who might get a boost in value in OBP leagues, and could contribute a little in home runs and a little more in steals. He’s also worth speculating on in deeper leagues, particularly those counting OBP.