San Diego Padres: Cory Spangenberg player profile
After a fruitful offseason in which GM A.J. Preller was plucking ripe baseball names seemingly off of a tree on what felt like a weekly basis for the San Diego Padres, lesser-known names within the organization are also causing a stir.
We all know about Wil Myers, Justin Upton, Matt Kemp, Derek Norris and Will Middlebrooks as prized new additions. And of course from the pitching side of things, there is James Shields, Brandon Morrow and Craig Kimbrel.
But just who is Cory Spangenberg? His surname rolls off the tongue quite nicely. Turns out Spangenberg was the 10th overall pick from the MLB June amateur draft in 2011. He was sandwiched in between picks Javier Baez (ninth) and George Springer (11th) and the Padres selected him only a year after drafting former top infield prospect Jedd Gyorko in 2010.
Spangenberg plays both second and third base, the two positions Gyorko plays. However Gyorko has logged over a thousand plate appearances with the Padres since 2013 and has thus far only been able to muster a career .230/.291/.388 slash line.
Considering Middlebrooks is also a third baseman and the club acquired ultra-infield utility-man Yangervis Solarte last July for outgoing third baseman Chase Headley, it would seem as though the club has a surplus of infielders on their 25-man roster.
A career .296 hitter in the minors who got on-base at a high percentage as well (.356), Spangenberg uses speed as one of his plus tools with 104 steals in 374 MiLB games from 2011-14. He made the jump last season to MLB from Double-A and is yet to record at Triple-A at-bat in his career.
Spangenberg’s rookie status has remained intact for the 2015 season and right now he looks like a dark horse candidate in the National League for Rookie of the Year votes. His versatility has seen him start at second base, third base and even designated hitter this season. Myers’ recent wrist ailments have allowed Spangenberg to appear atop the batting order in the No. 1 or No. 2 spot of the lineup a number of times as well.
As of today, Spangenberg is the third ranked player on the San Diego Padres in terms of WAR with a mark of 0.9. And he has only played in 29 of the Padres’ 36 games this season. When Myers returns, it may be in the clubs best interest to keep Spangenberg in the No. 2 spot of the batting order behind their everyday center fielder. His .364 OBP ranks second on the team for players with 50 or more ABs this season and his speed (one triple, four stolen bases) so far would provide an added incentive to the role.
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Last night Spangenberg was pivotal in cooling down the red-hot Washington Nationals in an 8-3 Padres win. Batting leadoff, the 24-year-old went 2-for-5 with two home runs, seeing a total of 21 pitches across all his at-bats. His ability to work through a high number of pitches and a correspondingly high OBP shows Spangenberg has an MLB-level eye for seeing the ball clearly in the batter’s box.
In the preseason, Cory Spangenberg was only the seventh ranked prospect in the San Diego Padres organization accoridng to MLB.com. He wasn’t even on the radar for the top 100 prospects in the game, which is an odd thing for player drafted five years ago one slot ahead of George Springer. Though in reality he may not be new to the Padres, Spangenberg is certainly a less recognizable name making waves right now for San Diego’s ball club.