New Everyday Players — Aug 31, 2023

But WAIT, there’s more! The new everyday players just keep coming. Maybe one of this trio makes for a perfect fit on your team!

Michael Brantley | HOU OF

Woah, you thought this was reserved for rookies or young players shuffling in and out of the lineup or from the minors? Nope! Brantley finally made his season debut on Tuesday, missing the majority of the season as he recovered from shoulder surgery. Usually, I would shy away from a hitter returning from shoulder surgery as its short-term impact on the hitter’s power is always a question. However, Brantley’s value isn’t exactly derived from his power, so we have less to worry about here.

The 36-year-old only played about half a season last year, but performed as good as he has been. He has posted a strikeout rate hovering around 10% for most of his career, driven by a tiny single digit SwStk%. He just doesn’t miss and has still managed to walk at around a league average clip. He has also posted a BABIP above .300 during every full season since 2011, which is quite the streak. So a strong strikeout rate, plus a .300+ BABIP, supported by a below league average FB%, high LD%, and few pop-ups, means he’s a near lock to produce a helpful batting average.

With a good batting average and reasonable walk rate comes a good OBP, which drives his runs scored count, even without a hefty home run total. Hitting in the middle of a good lineup is good for his RBI total as well, even though his ISO actually figures to be below average.

He rarely steals bases anymore, so he’s truly just a batting average or OBP play, depending on your league format. His RBI/runs scored total will likely be fine or a positive depending on your league depth, but he isn’t going to be significantly impactful. If you ever heard of a fantasy player being worth a pickup because “he won’t hurt you”, Brantley is that player.

Ernie Clement | TOR 3B (2B/SS depending on your league rules)

Bo Bichette is back on the IL and now Clement has started three games in a row at shortstop. The 27-year-old is no prospect, but his scouting grades from several years ago do suggest a player who could be intriguing in fantasy leagues. That’s because he was slapped with a 50/60 Hit grade, alone with an exciting 70/70 Speed grade.

Despite that Speed grade, bizarrely he has stolen just one base at the MLB level over about a half season’s worth of PAs! And, he was caught twice! He did steal 12 bases at Triple-A this year, but his career high stolen base total in a season is just 17, recorded back in 2019 between Double-A and Triple-A. So whether he truly possesses 70/70 speed or not, he’s clearly not using it to attempt a whole lot of steals. That said, maybe a full season would net him 15-20, which does have value.

Power wasn’t expected to be part of his game, but he did bump his HR/FB rate into the low double digits for the first time last year at Triple-A, and that carried over to this season as well. His ISO even reached around .200 during his past two Triple-A stints, though his maxEV mark this year is unimpressive. He seems clearly better than the guy who knocked just one homers at Double-A in 2019 over 394 ABs, but I don’t see him as a double digit HR/FB rate guy in the Majors. Still, he might still be able to post a mark that nets him barely into double digit homers.

Finally, he has posted some impressively low strikeout rates in the minors, including just a 4.9% mark at Triple-A this year. That’s just 15 strikeouts over 305 PAs! That means it shouldn’t be that difficult for him to help in batting average.

Overall, I’m not sure how long he’ll continue to start at SS as the team still has Santiago Espinal as an alternative. He might be good for a couple of steals, maybe a homer, and a batting average that should at least be neutral. It makes him worthwhile in AL-Only leagues at the very least.

Nick Senzel | CIN 2B/OF

Gosh, Senzel is already 28 years old?! He was last ranked as the team’s best prospect and seventh best overall back in 2019. Sadly, injuries have really taken a toll and when he’s been on the field, he has disappointed offensively.

After spending a brief stint in the minors, more injuries have given him another opportunity as a regular. There is a lot to like here that he’s such a classic darkhorse breakout candidate. You know, the one that every year you keep waiting for the outburst that never comes. Then as soon as you write him off, he explodes. Reds fans can only dream!

Outside of his 2019, he has posted a single digit SwStk% and better than league average strikeout rates. He’s also willing to take a walk, though he has yet to break through into double digits. So he clearly has solid plate discipline skills. His batted ball distribution is relatively league average, though he has hit more fly balls this year at the expensive of grounders. That would normally be good for his home run output, but he simply hasn’t been very good at barreling his balls. He posted a 7.1% Barrel% during his 2019 debut, but nothing above 4.2% since.

He also hasn’t ever hit a ball at least 110 MPH, which is an arbitrary cutoff I mentally use to decide who has power and who doesn’t. However, he has managed to post a 13.2% HR/FB rate, just nearly matching his career best mark in 2019. So he’s showing more home run power this year despite the lack of barrels. I still think there’s more upside as the maxEV is perfectly okay, so it’s just a matter of hitting the ball on the sweet spot more often. Perhaps easier said than done.

Finally, he still steals bases here and there. He has five so far this year, and has swiped 31 over his short career in about two season’s worth of PAs. In fact, he has averaged about a 15/15 season, which is a nice little power/speed mix. But one of the main issues is his BABIP struggles. He posted a .319 mark in 2019, but it has been in freefall since. He’s at just .245 now, which makes it difficult to produce offensively at an above average level. His Statcast xBA suggests he deserves a bit better, but he’s posted a bad BABIP for a while now.

So yeah, there’s enough to like here to think a breakout could come at anytime. It’s why he’s still worth picking up for as long as he’s starting in deep mixed and deeper formats.