Cleveland Indians: Richie Shaffer is an Intriguing Addition

Who is Richie Shaffer?

Shaffer was selected in the first-round of the 2012 Major League draft by the Tampa Bay Rays out of Clemson University. The 25-year-old right-handed slugger spent three years at Clemson, playing both first base and third base. He was a top 20 prospect in the draft and some even thought the Indians could take him with the 15th pick that year (they instead took outfielder Tyler Naquin).

Shaffer has spent time the majority of his time at third base, but has also spent time at first base, right field, and left field as a professional. He’s always gotten good grades defensively at both first base and third base. He also has a plus arm and is very athletic which bodes well for his work in the outfield. He’s the type of player the Indians and manager Terry Francona love with the versatility.

Offensively, Shaffer hasn’t hit all that well at the big league level to date, posting just a 99 wRC+ in 142 plate appearances the last two years. However, he has shown some big time power, hitting five home runs with a .197 ISO (isolated power).

He’s also shown an ability to get on base with a walk rate over 10 percent at the big league level and by posting an 11 percent or better walk rate at every level but one in the minors. He’s struggled though with putting the ball in play as seen by his 35 percent strikeout rate in the majors.

Shaffer looked like a potential star in 2015 when he was crushing Double-A and Triple-A pitching, hitting 26 home runs across the two levels in 108 games. He also slashed a stellar .267/.357/.539 and added 27 doubles. This offensive outburst earned him his first big league call-up where he added another four home runs, giving him a total of 30 on the year.

2016 was not so kind to him though as he only slashed .227/.329/.367 in Triple-A. In fact, he hit better in his short big league stint in 2016. It was these struggles that likely prompted the Rays to move on from Shaffer this offseason, despite investing so much in him to date.