New Everyday Players — Jul 13, 2023

Let’s pick back up with the new starters as games resume after the All-Star break. Consider this a Pirates edition, as three of the four names play their home games at the convergence of three rivers.

Darick Hall | 1B PHI

After opening the season as the Phillies starting first baseman after incumbent Rhys Hoskins tore his ACL during Spring training, Hall got injured himself about a week into the season. Finally, he made his return to the team at the beginning of July, and figures to serve on the strong side of a platoon at first.

Hall showed big power during his MLB debut last year, with a HR/FB rate over 20%, boosted by a FB% over 40%. Unfortunately, his plate discipline was terrible, but he had been much better in the minors, providing hope he’ll improve during his second year. The power looks legit, as he has never posted a HR/FB rate below 12.2% in the minors, and hovered around 20% the majority of his professional career. He has also been posting maxEV marks around 113 MPH, which is excellent. Hall has struggled to post a league average BABIP throughout his career, so don’t expect a helpful batting average here.

He looks like your stereotypical power hitter that will bring home runs and RBI and not much else. He gives me Adam Duvall vibes, which means a guy that gets activated into your starting lineup, benched, perhaps dropped, and picked up again as he goes through his hot streaks and slumps. A speculation if you really need home runs.

Henry Davis | C/OF PIT

It’s a Pirates youth movement! Davis was ranked as the team’s second best prospect and 37th overall prospect this year, with 50/60 Game Power and 70/70 Raw Power scouting grades. Imagine that kind of power with catcher qualification! Unfortunately, he has only caught one game so far this season, spending the vast majority of his time since his recall in right field. That doesn’t bode well for him keeping his catcher eligibility next year.

Davis has shown pretty good power in the minors, posting HR/FB rate marks over 20% in two of three stops in which who recorded any semblance of at-bats, but he hasn’t played enough anywhere yet to get a true sense of his capabilities. His FB% has also jumped around, peaking as high as over 40%, but then slipping below 30%, both at Triple-A, and now in the Majors, over a small sample. For a guy with obvious raw power, you definitely want to see a high FB% than what he has posted!

Speaking of raw power, he has only posted a maxEV of 108.6 MPH so far in the Majors, though again, the sample is pretty small. So far, that doesn’t match with his 70/70 Raw Power grade, or even his Game Power grades. I like his plate discipline metrics, as he has kept his SwStk% marks around 10%, and his walk rate surged in the minors this year. It suggests he has taken a real step forward as a hitter and could really boost his value in OBP leagues.

Surprisingly, Davis has some speed, as he ranks well above average in Sprint Speed, though he hasn’t been as impressive on his home to first speed. Clearly, that explains how he has been able to transition to the outfield. He has actually swiped 11 bases this year in the minors and Majors combined in about a half season. I think he makes for an excellent pickup at catcher, especially in OBP leagues.

Jared Triolo | 3B PIT

Getting an opportunity to start at third base while Ke’Bryan Hayes remains on the IL, Triolo has started every game since his recall, except for one — oddly, against a lefty starter, even though he bats right-handed.

The team’s ninth ranked prospect, there’s nothing in the scouting grades that stands out, except for his fielding ability. That could help him remain in the lineup, but isn’t exactly what fantasy owners are interested in! His minor league performance has been interesting. There’s very little power here, as his highest ISO has been .176, which is perfectly acceptable, but it came back at High-A in 2021. He posted just a .143 ISO and 2.9% HR/FB rate so far this season at Triple-A. What’s odd is his penchant for fly balls. He’s posted a surprising batted ball profile, heavy on line drives and also flies. You don’t see that combination very often, but he should be hitting more grounders instead given his underwhelming power.

Despite the higher FB% than GB%, all those line drives are one driver of his consistently strong BABIP marks, which reached an absurd .427 at Triple-A this season. That could help him not kill you in batting average, despite a mediocre strikeout rate and little power. He does have speed, which could be his saving grace as a fantasy contributor. He has stolen as many as 25 bases in a season and had swiped eight this year in the minors, for a pace of over 30.

He’ll likely have to impress enough to remain with the team when Hayes returns, as I can’t imagine he takes the latter’s job. He looks to be a reasonable stopgap if you need a short-term injury replacement, but don’t expect a whole lot of counting stats.

Nick Gonzales | 2B PIT

Since his recall in mid-late June, Gonzales has rotated between second base and shortstop after ranking as the team’s 23rd best prospect. After strong home run power during his 2021 debut at High-A where he posted a 22.5% HR/FB rate, he has regressed to just an 8.3% mark at Double-A last year and 10.5% mark at Triple-A this season. With just a 108.8 MPH maxEV, a 22.5% mark was likely over his head, but it does match up with a low-to-mid teens mark. He’ll need to get that FB% up to take advantage, as he’s currently sporting a professional low. His 16.7% HR/FB rate in the Majors looks like a fluke, given his maxEV and Barrel%, but I’m betting the maxEV rises a bit, while the HR/FB rate declines.

Interestingly, after posted strong walk rates throughout his short professional career, he has become extremely impatient in the Majors, walking just 3.4% of the time over a small sample. He has maintained his strikeout rate, though, but his SwStk% is high and tells us he has trouble making contact. It’s weird, his Swing% is right at league average, while his Zone% is just below league average, and his F-Strike% is well below league average. That suggests at least a league average walk rate, so I’m guessing that will improve in a hurry.

Though there’s potential for a high strikeout rate, he has posted high BABIP marks throughout his career, though that still resulted in batting averages only around .260 since last season. The issue here is limited speed, which is problematic for his potential fantasy value without standout power. It looks like he could contribute a touch in both power and speed, but not enough to be relevant in anything outside of NL-Only leagues.