New Everyday Players — Aug 8, 2023

Let’s keep on trucking along the new everyday player route. Today’s edition is another one team only version. Welcome to the Mariners’ new regular faces!

Dominic Canzone | OF

Acquired from the Diamondbacks before the trade deadline, Canzone was part of a Diamondbacks outfield rotation and couldn’t quite earn everyday at-bats. Of course, as a left-handed hitter, the best he could do perhaps is a strong side platoon role. That appears to be what he has earned now with the Mariners, as he has started all four games against right-handed starters since coming over.

The 25-year-old wasn’t exactly a prospect heading into the season. He was ranked just 21st among Diamondbacks prospects, despite some pretty solid minor league results. This year, he enjoyed his best minor league performance yet, while at Triple-A for the second time. In about half a season, he upped his walk rate back into double digits, a mark that represented his professional best, while reducin ghis strikeout rate significantly to a career best. That was driven by an improved SwStk% into single digits from the low teens in previous seasons. He also maintained his home run power, posting another 20%+ HR/FB rate, while raising his ISO to an excellent .280. His maxEV of 113 MPH confirms his above average power.

The only negative is that he stole just two bases, after swiping 15 between Double-A and Triple-A last year. I wonder why he decided to stop running, as he would have been an intriguing power/speed guy. Now, I’m not sure if that stolen base potential still exists.

Given his current playing time situation and strong recent minor league performance, he’s definitely someone to speculate on in deeper mixed and AL-Only leagues. He’s a bit tougher of a start in shallower mixed given his platoon status.

Cade Marlowe | OF

Marlowe was recalled in mid-July with a cloudy playing time outlook. He has ended up starting most games against righties in left field, also serving in a platoon role like Canzone. Like Canzone, Marlowe wasn’t much of a prospect heading into the season, ranking just 30th on the team. He also endured his worst minor league offense in his professional career, which makes it odd that he got the call now.

That said, he’s done some things in the minors that should have him on fantasy owners’ radars. He has walked at a double digit clip everywhere he’s played, which could give him a nice value boost in OBP leagues if it carries over. He has hit for a high BABIP at time, which could be legit, as he has posted some above average LD% marks and also better than average IFFB% marks. So more line drives and fewer pop-ups would be a nice recipe for a high BABIP.

He has also shown some power, with double digit HR/FB rates at Double-A and Triple-A the last two years and ISO marks hovering around .200. A maxEV of 108.6 MPH is fine enough, but tells me he doesn’t possess as much raw power as Canzone.

That’s fine, though, because he steals bases! He swiped 25 at Triple-A this year over half a season and 42 last year between Double-A and Triple-A. That is seemingly a better power/speed combo than Canzone can deliver. The downside here is the projected batting average, with most systems forecasting a mark of .220 and below.

Still, he’s an obvious add in AL-Only leagues and could potentially work his way into 15-team mixed depending on how many days off against righties he’s been getting.

Josh Rojas | 2B/3B

Rojas was acquired along with Canzone in the trade that sent Paul Sewald to the Diamondbacks. The 29-year-old enjoyed decent little fantasy seasons in both 2021 and 2022, with a bit of power and a nice stolen base total last year. But it’s been a disaster so far this year, as he has posted just a .253 wOBA with no power.

His maxEV jumped last year, but it’s right back to where it was in 2021, which doesn’t give a whole lot of hope for a power rebound. His Barrel% has always been low, so there isn’t a whole lot of home run upside even when he finally does hit his first home run. He does have six steals already, despite just a .281 OBP, so that he’s still been running is a good sign.

So far, he has started three of four games against right-handed starters, so the hope for his owners is he serves on the strong side of a platoon at 2B. José Caballero is still around and he has shown similar skills as Rojas is capable of. So Rojas will likely have to perform pretty decently to hold onto the job and not give up his chance back to Caballero. There’s not a whole lot of upside here, but you might as well add him in AL-Only leagues for as long as he’s starting most games against right-handers, hoping he could recapture his 2021-2022 form.