Shed Long

Long was acquired by Seattle from the Reds last offseason. After an impressive spring, he began the season with Triple-A Tacoma. Long spent most of the first half shuttling between the Mariners and Rainiers. His season was interrupted twice by visits to the minor-league IL, first with a sore shoulder and then due to a fractured finger. Long was called back up Sept. 3, slashing .289/.337/.518 in 23 games down the stretch. His game was thought to be primarily speed oriented, but he's flashed more power the past couple of seasons. With a .795 OPS at Tacoma, Long didn't exactly dominate Triple-A pitching, so despite an impressive stretch to end the 2019 season, he isn't assured to break camp with Seattle. That said, he's earned a good look in the spring and only has Dee Gordon to beat out to win the job at second base.

Long isn't a real standout with the bat, but he has some speed and that speed could one day make Long a mixed-league consideration. A 12th-round pick in 2013, Long spent 2018 at Double-A Pensacola, finishing with a .350 wOBA and 120 wRC+ in 522 plate appearances. Those were good numbers, but they represented a significant drop-off from his marks against lower-level competition. Long struck out 23.6% of the time with just an 18.5% line-drive rate, and he went on to underwhelm in the Arizona Fall League (.644 OPS). If he manages to hit enough to carve out a regular role in the majors, Long could get to 20 steals over the course of a full season. In today's game, 20 steals are pretty valuable, even if they come with little else. Traded to Seattle in January, Long is limited defensively to second base. The Mariners have Dee Gordon there for now, but Long is on the 40-man roster and figures to at least get a cup of coffee or two in 2019.

A pop-up darling from 2016, Long only started getting everyday reps in the second half of 2015 when he officially made the move from catcher to second base. During his breakout 2016 campaign, Long did a lot of his damage on fastballs early in the count, but he was pitched to differently last season, and was forced to look for mistakes. He has the tools to offer double-digit home runs and double-digit steals annually. The key will be hitting enough to profile as an everyday second baseman. He handled a repeat trip to the Florida State League with ease, but was the victim of some bad luck at Double-A (.271 BABIP). A more patient approach failed to pay off, as his walk rate jumped to 11.9 percent while cutting his strikeout rate to 19.4 percent, yet he posted his worst ISO (.135) since rookie ball. Long has generated a lot of hype over the past calendar year, but he is still a very risky prospect, as the hit tool is unproven against upper-level pitching.