The injuries, the Big Hurt! No, we are not talking about Frank Thomas, but rather how we evaluate all the early season injuries. From Christian Yelich to George Springer to Cody Bellinger to Fernando Tatis Jr. to Ketel Marte…Shall I go on? The top hitters have been ravaged by injuries this year placing uncertainty on the names that we invested in for reliable production. At this point, there is so much unknown that many of these players will see a slight or no drop in their ranking. If I project them to be out for 2-4 weeks, then there may be a slight drop due to the production that can be lost. I have always fallen into the trap for the buy-low injury-prone player, but that is a rollercoaster best left alone.
Almost a month into the season, there is still solid movement in the top 100 hitters for the rest of the season rankings in 2021 fantasy baseball. Without further ado here is the rundown.
| Ranking | Player | Movement |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ronald Acuna Jr. | |
| 2 | Mookie Betts | |
| 3 | Juan Soto | 1 |
| 4 | Fernando Tatis Jr. | -1 |
| 5 | Trea Turner | 3 |
| 6 | Mike Trout | -1 |
| 7 | Trevor Story | -1 |
| 8 | Jose Ramirez | 1 |
| 9 | Bryce Harper | 2 |
| 10 | Freddie Freeman | 2 |
| 11 | Bo Bichette | 3 |
| 12 | Corey Seager | 7 |
| 13 | Francisco Lindor | |
| 14 | Anthony Rendon | 1 |
| 15 | Nelson Cruz | 8 |
| 16 | Jose Abreu | |
| 17 | Christian Yelich | -10 |
| 18 | Xander Bogaerts | 3 |
| 19 | Cody Bellinger | -9 |
| 20 | Manny Machado | -2 |
| 21 | Nolan Arenado | 1 |
| 22 | DJ LeMahieu | -2 |
| 23 | Whit Merrifield | 6 |
| 24 | Marcell Ozuna | -7 |
| 25 | Alex Bregman | -1 |
| 26 | Kyle Tucker | -1 |
| 27 | Tim Anderson | -1 |
| 28 | Rafael Devers | 4 |
| 29 | J.D. Martinez | 8 |
| 30 | Randy Arozarena | |
| 31 | Luis Robert | |
| 32 | J.T. Realmuto | 2 |
| 33 | Vladimir Guerrero Jr. | 9 |
| 34 | Aaron Judge | 1 |
| 35 | Yordan Alvarez | 1 |
| 36 | George Springer | -8 |
| 37 | Ketel Marte | 1 |
| 38 | Starling Marte | -5 |
| 39 | Charlie Blackmon | 1 |
| 40 | Trent Grisham | 10 |
| 41 | Anthony Rizzo | 2 |
| 42 | Byron Buxton | 33 |
| 43 | Wil Myers | 10 |
| 44 | Nick Castellanos | 5 |
| 45 | Austin Meadows | 7 |
| 46 | Javier Baez | -2 |
| 47 | Ozzie Albies | -20 |
| 48 | Paul Goldschmidt | -7 |
| 49 | Brandon Lowe | 2 |
| 50 | Matt Olson | 12 |
| 51 | Jose Altuve | 5 |
| 52 | Michael Brantley | 8 |
| 53 | Eddie Rosario | 4 |
| 54 | Cavan Biggio | -8 |
| 55 | Giancarlo Stanton | 4 |
| 56 | Pete Alonso | -8 |
| 57 | Yoan Moncada | 4 |
| 58 | Eugenio Suarez | -4 |
| 59 | Tommy Pham | 4 |
| 60 | Dansby Swanson | 4 |
| 61 | Jeff McNeil | -3 |
| 62 | Mike Moustakas | 4 |
| 63 | Luke Voit | -8 |
| 64 | Matt Chapman | 1 |
| 65 | Gleyber Torres | -18 |
| 66 | Adalberto Mondesi | -21 |
| 67 | Carlos Correa | 2 |
| 68 | Max Muncy | 2 |
| 69 | Kris Bryant | 2 |
| 70 | Marcus Semien | 2 |
| 71 | Mike Yastrzemski | 2 |
| 72 | Teoscar Hernandez | 2 |
| 73 | Justin Turner | NR |
| 74 | Salvador Perez | 2 |
| 75 | Jared Walsh | 24 |
| 76 | Alex Verdugo | 2 |
| 77 | Ramon Laureano | 2 |
| 78 | Nick Solak | 17 |
| 79 | Eric Hosmer | 3 |
| 80 | Franmil Reyes | 3 |
| 81 | Rhys Hoskins | 3 |
| 82 | Ryan McMahon | 16 |
| 83 | Michael Conforto | -44 |
| 84 | Garrett Hampson | 13 |
| 85 | Gavin Lux | -4 |
| 86 | Jesse Winker | NR |
| 87 | Gio Urshela | 1 |
| 88 | Didi Gregorius | 1 |
| 89 | Jorge Soler | -3 |
| 90 | Dylan Carlson | 1 |
| 91 | Jarred Kelenic | -4 |
| 92 | Tommy Edman | 1 |
| 93 | Trey Mancini | 1 |
| 94 | Alec Bohm | -17 |
| 95 | Josh Donaldson | NR |
| 96 | Mark Canha | NR |
| 97 | Ty France | NR |
| 98 | Mitch Haniger | NR |
| 99 | Eduardo Escobar | NR |
| 100 | Joey Gallo |
- Javier Baez was recently dropped in one of my leagues and I must admit his 45% strikeout rate is downright scary. However, as of writing this article, he has 5 home runs and 5 steals with solid counting stats. Yes, his average is downright dreadful, but I am willing to give him a bit more time and capitalize on the talent that is scaring others away. Fortune rewards the bold.
- There are a few ageless wonders moving up our rankings in Justin Turner and Nelson Cruz. Both players continue to defy the odds, but due to their age carried a massive draft day discount and any buying window is likely already closing. If you own them, there is little reason to sell high.
- Last season, there were rumors that the lack of available video review during games hurt J.D. Martinez. Whether this is true or not, he has nearly met his 2020 production already in this season. His contact profile and ultimate numbers are trending much closer to 2019 and I believe he will carry teams all season. There might still be a buying window on Martinez due to how poor he played in 2020.
- I have never been a Gleyber Torres truther as he has hardly been a starting-caliber player in the fantasy game. Many folks will write off 2020 as a small sample size, however in 2019 when he was facing Baltimore, he hit .394/.467/1.045, but merely .263/.318/.465 against the rest of the league. Unfortunately, the profile looks worse in 2021 with exit velocities down and strikeout problems continuing. Maybe I should have dropped him further this week…
- While we are not writing about OBP leagues here, Mark Canha is waiver wire gold in that format. In the traditional 5×5, his proclivity for getting on base has allowed him to rack up some solid numbers even capitalizing on his 80th percentile sprint speed. Hitting atop the order in Oakland for what has been a top 5 scoring offense so far this season will continue pushing up that floor for Canha.
- Byron Buxton is finally delivering on his immense potential. I personally wrote him off a few years back and have not invested since. However, it is impossible to ignore a guy at the top of the league in exit velocity, sprint speed, barrels, and much more. Is there some luck driving the numbers? Sure. But even some regression to the mean will give us solid results.
