Is Joey Wiemer going to be useful, or was it just a flier to make the deal even?
Jonathan India is exactly the player we were expecting the Royals to go after in the offseason. A leadoff hitter to set the table for Bobby was desperately needed, though it would have been nice if he played center field. As part of the trade, they got Joey Wiemer who is maybe going to play some center, possibly as a platoon option with Kyle Isbel. Who is Joey Wiemer?
Joey was a fourth-round draft pick in 2020 who then moved pretty quickly up the prospect rankings after having a very good start in the minors. He made it into some top 100 lists before being called up in 2023. That first run in the major leagues did not go so well, however. He hit just .204/.283/.362 across 410 plate appearances. He was spectacular in Outs Above Average in center, so there is some hope he can add defensive value, but we are far from having an adequate sample size to know what he is exactly from a fielding perspective.
Wiemer was traded to the Reds as part of the Frankie Montas deal this August. You have to ask if Milwaukee traded from strength or had decided Wiemer needed to be traded before the shine came off too much. There is one major concern for me with him, and again this trade was much more about India, so I am not saying this is some indictment of the Royals front office or anything. That concern is that his early success was all BABIP-driven. His first year in the minors he had BABIPs of .326 and .363 in A and high-A respectively. In AAA in 2022 he had a .326 BABIP. Those are not amazingly high, so I can already hear protests from people. Many hitters can sustain a .326 BABIP by being fast and hitting the ball hard. He is fast, but he does not hit the ball hard.
This was his 2023 run in the majors according to Baseball Savant. He posted a 75 wRC+, though he did hit lefties well at a 116, so maybe platooning him covers up his weaknesses at the plate. Unfortunately, this season’s AAA numbers don’t back that thesis up. He posted a meager .542 OPS against southpaws in the minors. That is only 110 plate appearances, so not a big sample, but still concerning. His OPS against lefties was almost .800 in 2023. When you are drafted out of college and now have four full seasons in the minors with a bit of major league work sprinkled in, youth is no longer an excuse. Wiemers is not old yet either, but he will turn 26 before next season, and the bat looks far away from major league quality based on what I can tell statistically.
Hopefully, the Royals have identified something here that they can help him with. Their hitting development success has been spotty, but there have been some success stories. Michael Massey has turned into a decent power hitter, and of course Bobby Witt Jr. became an MVP candidate, though I don’t know how much credit to give anyone for Bobby since he is one of the most talented players I have ever seen. It’s possible that Wiemers comes in and makes a splash. It is also possible that the top 100 prospect status was a little fluky and he has been traded twice over the course of a few months for a reason.
