Is The A’s Bruce Maxwell A Legitimate Sleeper Entering 2017?

by Eric Stashin (aka The Rotoprofessor)

The Oakland A’s have Stephen Vogt penciled in as their starting catcher, but the lineup is fluid and it’s easy to envision him seeing a lot of time as the designated hitter.  That’s not a bad thing, as it would open playing time for 26-year old Bruce Maxwell.

Maxwell got his first taste of the Majors in ’16 (101 PA), hitting .283 with 1 HR and 14 RBI.  Those numbers aren’t going to catch your attention, but his line at Triple-A prior to his recall does:

.321 (62-193), 10 HR, 41 RBI, 27 R

Even more impressive was his ability to work the strike zone, with a 17.4% strikeout rate and 11.0% walk rate.  Those are skills that he’s shown throughout his time in the minor leagues, and while the strikeout rate did jump in the Majors (23.8%) the underlying numbers don’t give reason for concern.  Just look at the Whiff% by pitch type:

• Hard – 11.70%
• Breaking – 10.00%
• Offspeed – 10.71%

It was a small sample size, but it’s promising all the same.  Maxwell wasn’t a highly touted prospect entering the season, and it’s easy to write off his Triple-A success since it came in the Pacific Coast League and he benefited from a .354 BABIP.  They are fair concerns, as is the fact that his power likely won’t translate to Oakland.

He’s going to be calling a big ballpark home, and there is a red flag in his fly ball rates.  Look at his GO/AO rates from the past few seasons:

• 2015 (Double-A) – 1.74
• 2016 (Triple-A) – 2.13
• 2016 (Majors) – 1.50

The Major League mark yielded a 52.2% groundball rate, to put things in perspective.  Considering the ballpark, just how many home runs is he really going to be able to add ?

A career .266 hitter in the minors, that’s not a given as well.  While he could be a decent source of average, especially from a catcher, thanks to his strong batting eye, there’s concern in regards to his power and playing time.  As a deep sleeper for those in two-catcher formats?  He’s worth stashing in that type of scenario.  In other formats, though, he’s a hands off player simply to monitor off the waiver wire and little else.

Sources – MILB.com, Fangraphs, Brooks Baseball, Baseball Reference

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Make sure to check out our other Early 2017 Rankings: