Corners Report Is Getting Jac’d In The AL Central

Back in my 20s, which is now 25 years ago, lifting weights was my exercise of choice. Bench press. Shoulder press. Tricep raises. Curls. Extensions. All of those things. I’ve recently tapped into my past, trying to get back into the weight game and recover those glorious large arms that have somehow lost their bulk into my belly.

Hopefully, with this, some cardio, and a diet change, I can get more jacked than the Royals.

Who, of course, just called up Jac Caglianone, hopefully raising the bar for their offense the rest of this summer.

So, what to expect from Calianone? Well, Prospectinator has these stat projections, based on a 150 game pace:

.254 AVG, .721 OPS, 20 HR, 72 runs, 79 RBI

And this was his minor league statline from this spring:

.322/.389/.593, 15 HR in 199 at bats. Again, this was less than a year from being drafted. He’s not far from reaching his max, to go back to the weightlifting theme.

Projections, as we should know, are notoriously low on young players with no track record. This is an incredible projection, and if he only even reaches this, he’s a massive success one year after being drafted. Giving up pitching (he was a two way player in Florida) has unlocked a different level of hitter in the minors. Pick him up if it’s not too late, and see where the ride goes. Here’s thinking that it’ll be a fun one! Just keep in mind he’s an outfielder now, so he’s a temporary corners fix.

Finishing the theme, and going along with Hamley’s great article, let’s go through the AL Central. If there’s overlap, I’ll defer to the previously linked article and use the old cut and paste method to get the words to you. Really, read AJ’s stuff, it’s good.

Chicago White Sox:

1B: Miguel Vargas: .236 AVG, .736 OPS, 8 HR

Boring, yes. Eligible at first and third base, also yes. He’s the guy you pick up when your main guy gets hurt, and you do a player search, and then think “Hey, Vargas could be helpful!” so you pick him up, then become underwhelmed and drop him when your guy comes back and you’ve lost 4 points. Not terribly damaging, but the counting stats are going to be low, and he’s a league average bat.

3B: Josh Rojas: Covered last week, here’s what he said:

Josh Rojas has found himself in the White Sox lineup nearly every day in May. And considering the White Sox signed him to a $3.5 million per year deal, he’s probably going to continue to play. His .154 AVG isn’t exactly supporting that decision, but his ability to hit the ball hard suggests there may be something beneath the surface worth watching. But then, a quick look at his .197 xBA corrects that misunderstanding, and we move on about our day.

Rojas is currently striking out 31.7% of the time, yet he has zero HRs. While he’s hitting the ball hard at a rate of 42.4% (with a LD% of 27.3%), he isn’t currently doing much with the ball even when he hits it hard. There are a couple of numbers under the hood that will cause me to keep an eye on Rojas as the season goes along, but I don’t expect to see much of interest.

And that’s me quoting AD Hamley! I have nothing to add.

Detroit Tigers:

1B: Spencer Torkelson: He’s, I think, in his final form right now. Low average, 30 HR pop, a lot of strikeouts, but a .220 average is playable in this age of fantasy baseball as long as you covered the category elsewhere. With a strikeout rate around 30% and not elite bat speed or approach at the plate, he’s like Adam Dunn without the walks. He’s not going to get the average for you, but the rest of the categories are usable. And if you need power, this recent downtick can make him more affordable.

Colt Keith: Covered in the middle infield. A brief summary:

right now, he’s a roughly 12-15 HR player who will probably hit around .260 the remainder of the way. That has value in deep leagues, but in most shallow mixed leagues, he’s likely an afterthought.

Thanks again, AD! I’ll keep doing articles the week after you so I can bump up my word count.

Cleveland:

1B: Carlos Santana: Dude is 39 years old and somehow keeps starting for teams. This iteration has a .371 OPB, partly buoyed by a shocking .261 batting average. He’s got a great plate approach, which I guess would be expected with his large level of experience. The power’s gone, though, so basically he’s a lower average Yandy Diaz. By now, you know that I’m usually out on older players, and Carlos isn’t an exception here. Useful in deeper leagues, though, and seriously impressive watching him churn out at bats like the Amish do butter.

Kyle Manzardo: .211, 10 HR, and this is exactly what the expected stats say. Seriously, his XBA is .210. That’s weird! But also interesting since we can probably expect this going forward. Valuable, but again, you need to make sure you can take an average hit. There’s nothing in his profile that says this is going to change.

3B: Jose Ramirez: .327, 11 HR, 14 steals, .939 OPS: Oh my gosh. What a season. And all this with just a ten percent strikeout rate! I was too low on him, apparently, and congrats if you nabbed him in the first round.

Minnesota:

1B: Ty France: .261, 4 HR, .686 OPS: Probably was too low on France coming out of Seattle and their league worst park to hit in. He’s fine in a deep league with an average that won’t hurt and 10-15 HR production. Sure, he can also be an injury replacement! France is a perfectly cromulent bat that won’t kill you if you’re in a time of need.

3B: Royce Lewis: .127 with 1 Hr……..stop the stats! This is actually painful. Lewis, in the past, has been great while on the field, but injured. This year, he’s been injured and terrible. I think this is a buy low opportunity, or even a waiver wire scoop up when people lose patience (rightfully so). Our projections for the rest of the season place him at 233 overall, and that seems like a solid expectation. He is only one year removed from a 154 WRC+, so clearly there’s talent buried somewhere.

Kansas City:

1B: Vinnie Pasquantino: .254/.310/.395: Now wait here just a minute. Those are full season stats.

Vinnie P in the last month: .330 AVG, .840 OPS, 4 HR. He’s back, baby! Vinny seems to just be a slow starter. He’s good to go as a top 5 first baseman the rest of the season. The expected stats also match up to the surge, and I’m viewing him as a very safe asset.

3B: Maikal Garcia: .316/.378/.474, 10 SB: This is what a 25 year old breakout looks like. His XBA is at .289, so no worries there. The slugging percentage, low at last year with .332, is up to .474. The metrics support this with solid hard hit numbers. If you don’t believe me? Go here:

The whiff, K, chase, and squared up are all super red in Statcast. I’ve been too low on Garcia this year, and that will change.

So, there’s a check around the AL Central for your reading pleasure on a Wednesday afternoon. Thanks, as always, for reading.