New Everyday Players — Aug 30, 2023

Look over there! More new everyday players!

Jacob Young | WAS OF

Caution: Young might not be an everyday player. The 24-year-old, unranked on the Nationals top prospect list, was recalled from Triple-A on Saturday and has started two straight in center field over the next two games. Still, our roster page shows Alex Call as the team’s starter in center field, so we’ll have to see what happens.

Young recorded just 17 PAs at Triple-A before his recall, but posted a .366 wOBA at Double-A before his promotion after a .363 mark at High-A. Since he wasn’t ranked as a prospect, we don’t have any scouting grades to work with and have to rely on his minor league performance. His plate discipline skills have been pretty strong, as he walked at a double digit clip at both Single-A and High-A last year and this year, but his walk rate fell after moving up to Double-A. His strikeout rate has remained strong and supported by a single digit SwStk%, so it doesn’t appear he was overmatched in any way.

Young’s calling card as most exciting skill for fantasy owners is his speed. He had stolen 39 bases in the minors this year after stealing 52 last year. He’s been pretty efficient too, succeeding on 85% of his attempts this year and 88% last year. That’s some big time speed that could help fantasy owners in need of steals if he does end up with a regular role.

Unfortunately, Young possesses limited power, posting a high of just a 6% HR/FB rate and .127 ISO throughout his minor league career. It’s led to just eight home runs over about two season’s worth of PAs. But hey, his power metrics have trended upward, so maybe there’s more to come!

If Young continues to start, he’s worthy of consideration in deep mixed and NL-Only formats if you need steals.

Lenyn Sosa | CHW 2B

Sosa has wrangled the starting second base job away from the combination of Elvis Andrus and Zach Remillard. He has started four straight and 10 of the last 12 games there. The 23-year-old was last ranked eighth among White Sox prospects, but with scouting grades that don’t offer much excitement.

His minor league history suggests at least some excitement should be warranted. Since not showing much power from 2017 to 2021, he enjoyed a surge in 2022 with HR/FB rates in the mid-teens and even an ISO above .200 during his time at Double-A. That power spike continued this year at Triple-A, where he posted a professional best 20.7% HR/FB rate and .236 ISO. He has posted an above average FB% to take advantage of that newfound power, though his 108.6 MPH maxEV isn’t particularly high. I do think it suggests that HR/FB rate is a bit above his head right now, but he’s still clearly more powerful than he used to be.

He doesn’t steal bases, so that power outburst must prove to be at least mostly legit to offer fantasy value. Another issue is his microscopic walk rate. He has never been much of a walker, but it’s gotten extreme in the Majors, as he’s walked just 0.9% of the time…equating to just one walk over 106 PAs! That makes him one of the rare guys whose value actually declines in OBP leagues.

The White Sox play in a park that ranks in a tie for fifth highest HR park factor for right-handed hitters, so Sosa is in a pretty good place to show off his improved power. Given the team’s poor record, they should run with Sosa the rest of the year and see what they have. It makes him a deep mixed an AL-Only option, though more desirable in leagues that still use batting average instead of OBP.

Korey Lee | CHW C

Let’s keep it with the White Sox and move onto their catching situation. After failing to rebound more significantly following last year’s disappointing performance, Yasmani Grandal appears to have lost his starting job. Lee was recalled last Thursday and has already started four of five games. The team’s fourth ranked prospect and 70th overall may very well hold the starting job the rest of the season as the Sox play for the future.

The 24-year-old was acquired by the Sox from the Astros in exchange for Kendall Graveman before the trade deadline. He had been mediocre offensively at Triple-A and actually hasn’t had the type of offensive performances that would typically lead to a promotion. I have to assume that his defense behind the plate has played a large role in his prospect status and his promotion.

After keeping his SwStk% in single digits through 2021, suddenly he struggled to make contact at Triple-A last year and this year. His SwStk% marks doubled into the mid-to-high teens, which makes it likely he’s a negative in the batting average category.

His power has been all over the place, so it’s hard to get a good read on what to expect, at least in the short-term. He posted a professional best 23.8% HR/FB rate and .245 ISO last year at Triple-A, but those numbers fell to just 7.6% and .124 this season at the same level. He did post a 111 MPH maxEV at Triple-A this year, though, so that makes me optimistic that his power results this year were artificially suppressed and should have been higher.

What’s interesting about Lee is that he steals bases! He swiped 12 last year and this year, and this year’s steals came in just two-thirds of the PAs as last year. It’s not often you find a catcher with both power potential and a willingness to steal bases. That combo alone makes him worth a roster spot in AL-Only leagues and perhaps he’s worth a look as a second catcher in deep mixed as well.