We’re less than two weeks into the season and I’d like to speak to someone’s manager, please. The injury bug has bitten me in a brutal way. In one league I have Mookie Betts, Fernando Tatis, Jr., Ketel Marte, Luke Voit, and Ke’Bryan Hayes on the IL. It’s getting a little ridiculous, but we’ll continue to persevere. Let’s take a look at the updated ROS rankings.
| Rank | Player | Position | Team | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jose Ramirez | 3B | Indians | – |
| 2 | Manny Machado | 3B | Padres | – |
| 3 | Nolan Arenado | 3B | Cardinals | +2 |
| 4 | Rafael Devers | 3B | Red Sox | +4 |
| 5 | DJ LeMahieu | 1B/2B/3B | Yankees | -1 |
| 6 | Alex Bregman | 3B | Astros | – |
| 7 | Eugenio Suarez | 3B | Reds | +1 |
| 8 | Anthony Rendon | 3B | Angels | -5 |
| 9 | Max Muncy | 1B/2B/3B | Dodgers | +1 |
| 10 | Mike Moustakas | 1B/2B/3B | Reds | NR |
| 11 | Matt Chapman | 3B | Athletics | +2 |
| 12 | Yoan Moncada | 3B | White Sox | -3 |
| 13 | Tommy Edman | 3B/SS/OF | Cardinals | +5 |
| 14 | Gio Urshela | 3B | Yankees | +1 |
| 15 | Alec Bohm | 3B | Phillies | -2 |
| 16 | Cavan Biggio | 2B/3B/OF | Blue Jays | -4 |
| 17 | Kris Bryant | 3B/OF | Cubs | -1 |
| 18 | Ryan McMahon | 1B/2B/3B | Rockies | +5 |
| 19 | Justin Turner | 3B | Dodgers | +2 |
| 20 | Josh Donaldson | 3B | Twins | -3 |
| 21 | Eduardo Escobar | 3B | Diamondbacks | +4 |
| 22 | Kyle Seager | 3B | Mariners | +4 |
| 23 | Ke’Bryan Hayes | 3B | Pirates | -8 |
| 24 | Jean Segura | 2B/3B | Phillies | -4 |
| 25 | Jonathan India | 3B | Reds | NR |
The biggest movers towards the top are Anthony Rendon, due to the groin injury, and Rafael Devers because of the dongs. Rendon is kind of in a holding pattern while we wait to hear how long the injury will keep him out, although it doesn’t sound too serious.
Mike Moustakas added 3B eligibility, which plopped him on our list. A little “inside baseball” about my process. I try taking a look at a couple of different projection systems to see what they expect moving forward. The Bat X loves the Reds so much, it wanted me to toss Eugenio Suarez all the way up at 3rd. I love him, but I’m a realist and that batting average definitely holds him back for now.
While Matt Chapman’s bat hasn’t fully awakened, he looks healthy and I expect good things moving forward. Yoan Moncada on the other hand is still struggling with strikeouts. It’s a little concerning and so I bumped him down slightly. Nothing to completely panic about, just something to keep an eye on.
One of the biggest movers this week was Tommy Edman and it’s all about the steals. We’ve seen HC Mike Shildt be aggressive on the basepaths and it’s carried over this year to the tune of three early steals for Edman. I know it’s a small sample, but so far Edman has really cut down on the strikeouts too. The cherry on top is that he’s leading off for an improved Cardinals’ lineup, which should lead to him racking up the counting stats.
During draft season, I defended a higher ranking of Cavan Biggio with the argument that his stolen bases are gold and I had hopes and dreams of his plate discipline turning into an increased batting average this year. Welp, so far neither of those have held up and so Biggio must take the boot some. I was encouraged that he stayed up in the order with George Springer’s injury and hopefully things turn around because he could really rack up the counting stats in this high-powered Blue Jays’ lineup.
The Ryan McMahon fanatics or “McMahoniacs” for short, have been crying foul about his lower ranking. Here’s a bump up. The power is popping and so far, he’s cut the strikeout rate way down. Although, it appears to be by being more aggressive at the plate as opposed to better plate discipline. I’m interested to see if it’s sustainable or just a hot month. Either way, I’m always excited about McMahon in Coors, but it still worries me that he’ll see the Dodgers’ and Padres’ pitching a decent amount. I’m a rooter though and hope that this is the long-awaited McMahon breakout.
Just a couple of days after the previous update dropped, Josh Donaldson hit the IL. Two weeks later he’s expected to return to the lineup and so not major change needed to be made. That being said, I feel like Donaldson is always a ticking time bomb, so make sure you have a backup plan for when he explodes……in a bad way.
Finally, I’ll talk about my previous love, Ke’Bryan Hayes. I’ll be honest, he almost didn’t make the cut and I’m not sure he should’ve. There hasn’t been a ton of news about a return date from the wrist injury and that statement actually has two concerning things in it. One is that we don’t know when he’ll be back. The other is that we know that wrist injuries tend to sap power. Just something to monitor when he does return to the lineup.
