Yunel Escobar, 2017 Fantasy Baseball

Ok, so technically it’s the first post of the Top 100 Hitters series, and I’m calling it Week 2. That preseason Top 100 was essentially the same minus a few changes for injuries, but that’s what this week is for! And besides, how different could your team really look after just eight days of baseball?

Wait, don’t answer that. I’m in the ‘Perty ‘Perts league with Grey and as of Sunday night, April 9 he’s already made 17 adds. So…maybe it is massively different. Maybe you drafted at the beginning of March and succumbed to the Ian Desmond, J.D. Martinez, Jason Kipnis, Martin Prado and Alex Dickerson (?) injuries all in a three week span. Although, if you own Martin Prado and play in an RCL you probably feel a small sense of shame for the negative pub he gets on our Podcasts and articles. Unwarranted? Maybe, but I mean, who doesn’t love a 1-cat player that’s average only. What do we call that? An AVAGNOF? Sounds too Russian for me. I’ll pass.

Unleeeeeeess I’m in need of a boost in the next week or so, in which case an AVAGNOF (and no, I don’t predict that sticks beyond this post) is a far better option than the sexier names like Joey Gallo, or the potentially drafted options in Danny Valencia and Eugenio Suarez. So, who else fits the Martin Prado mold? The person who preceded him in Atlanta and is still the superior version of him at 34 years young.

(Note: Each week I’ll highlight a player owned in <30% of ESPN leagues. This player may or may not be on the Top 100 below, but they’re either a hot hand to insert into your lineups, someone on the verge of breakout, or a prospect about to answer the call that is worthy of the stash.)

Yunel Escobar, 3B (8.1% owned) – Now, I gotta pump the brakes on the fun of the last few paragraphs, because while Yunel’s primary value is his high average, hitting atop the Angels lineup he’s also in a great position to rack up the runs. Well, anyone that hits in front of Mike Trout should contribute there, but someone with a hit tool like Escobar’s is at a big advantage. He’s a .284 career hitter who hit north of .300 each of the past two seasons. Don’t expect him to be this year’s Jake Lamb, but while you’re waiting on someone like Anthony Rendon to stop sucking hard, go ahead and drop that pitcher you took in the 21st round two weeks ago and get Yunel into your lineup. 8 runs in the first week of action may be a little too much than what you can expect, but there are many paths to him doing it often.

Now, enough of the lesser-owned options, let’s focus on the Top 100 Hitters for this week. There aren’t many differences from the initial post aside from the injury switches. There have been less than seven games. SEVEN GAMES. The weeks and months of thoughts that went into the preseason rankings haven’t drastically changed in just seven days. Haha, now 14 days? Maybe. More changes coming next week, but look for the injury drops to Desmond, Sanchez and Martinez. Don’t agree, THAT’S WHAT THE COMMENTS ARE FOR!

Note: These rankings are considered ROS Trade Value

M@’s Top Hitters

(Rankings based on 12-team Roto. GREEN indicates player rising. RED indicates player dropping.)

Rank	Name	Pos	Team
1	Mike Trout	LAA	OF
2	Mookie Betts	BOS	OF
3	Jose Altuve	HOU	2B
4	Paul Goldschmidt	ARI	1B
5	Kris Bryant	CHC	3B/OF
6	Nolan Arenado	COL	3B
7	Bryce Harper	WSH	OF
8	Manny Machado	BAL	3B/SS
9	Charlie Blackmon	COL	OF
10	Anthony Rizzo	CHC	1B
11	Trea Turner	WSH	2B/OF
12	Miguel Cabrera	DET	1B
13	Josh Donaldson	TOR	3B
14	Freddie Freeman	ATL	1B
15	Joey Votto	CIN	1B
16	Corey Seager	LAD	SS
17	Carlos Correa	HOU	SS
18	Starling Marte	PIT	OF
19	Brian Dozier	MIN	2B
20	Edwin Encarnacion	CLE	1B
21	Ryan Braun	MIL	OF
22	Carlos Gonzalez	COL	OF
23	Rougned Odor	TEX	2B
24	Nelson Cruz	SEA	OF
25	A.J. Pollock	ARI	OF
26	Robinson Cano	SEA	2B
27	Wil Myers	SD	1B/OF
28	George Springer	HOU	OF
29	Daniel Murphy	WSH	1B/2B
30	Xander Bogaerts	BOS	SS
31	Francisco Lindor	CLE	SS
32	Trevor Story	COL	SS
33	Jonathan Villar	MIL	3B/SS
34	Hanley Ramirez	BOS	1B
35	Jose Abreu	CWS	1B
36	Giancarlo Stanton	MIA	OF
37	Kyle Seager	SEA	3B
38	Christian Yelich	MIA	OF
39	Andrew McCutchen	PIT	OF
40	Justin Upton	DET	OF
41	Anthony Rendon	WSH	3B
42	Alex Bregman	HOU	3B
43	Mark Trumbo	BAL	OF
44	Gregory Polanco	PIT	OF
45	Ian Kinsler	DET	2B
46	DJ LeMahieu	COL	2B
47	Matt Kemp	ATL	OF
48	Yoenis Cespedes	NYM	OF
49	Todd Frazier	CWS	1B/3B
50	Khris Davis	OAK	OF
51	Adam Jones	BAL	OF
52	Kyle Schwarber	CHC	C/OF
53	Chris Davis	BAL	1B
54	Buster Posey	SF	C/1B
55	Adrian Beltre	TEX	3B
56	Eric Hosmer	KC	1B
57	Carlos Santana	CLE	1B
58	Joc Pederson	LAD	OF
59	J.D. Martinez	DET	OF
60	Jackie Bradley	BOS	OF
61	Adam Eaton	WSH	OF
62	Ian Desmond	COL	OF
63	Jonathan Lucroy	TEX	C
64	Stephen Piscotty	STL	OF
65	Evan Longoria	TB	3B
66	Brad Miller	TB	1B/SS
67	Keon Broxton	MIL	OF
68	Matt Carpenter	STL	1B/2B/3B
69	Aledmys Diaz	STL	SS
70	Jason Kipnis	CLE	2B
71	Dustin Pedroia	BOS	2B
72	Miguel Sano	MIN	3B/OF
73	Albert Pujols	LAA	1B
74	Andrew Benintendi	BOS	OF
75	Lorenzo Cain	KC	OF
76	Jose Bautista	TOR	OF
77	Adam Duvall	CIN	OF
78	Gary Sanchez	NYY	C
79	Jean Segura	SEA	2B/SS
80	Jose Ramirez	CLE	3B/OF
81	Billy Hamilton	CIN	OF
82	Troy Tulowitzki	TOR	SS
83	Justin Turner	LAD	3B
84	Eduardo Nunez	SF	3B/SS
85	David Dahl	COL	OF
86	Marcell Ozuna	MIA	OF
87	Jake Lamb	ARI	3B
88	Byron Buxton	MIN	OF
89	Odubel Herrera	PHI	OF
90	Dee Gordon	MIA	2B
91	Michael Brantley	CLE	OF
92	Hunter Pence	SF	OF
93	Mike Napoli	TEX	1B
94	Victor Martinez	DET	1B
95	Jay Bruce	NYM	OF
96	Willson Contreras	CHC	C/OF
97	Javier Baez	CHC	2B/3B/SS
98	Jonathan Schoop	BAL	2B
99	Dexter Fowler	STL	OF
100	Kevin Keirmaier	TB	OF

And again, something we’ll include each week this year is the honorable mentions. The next five in.

101	Maikel Franco	PHI	3B
102	Dansby Swanson	ATL	SS
103	Tommy Joseph	PHI	1B
104	Ender Inciarte	ATL	OF
105	David Peralta	ARI	OF

A few notes I’m pondering on for next week that may be helpful in the lead up:

Nolan Arenado could easily jump Kris Bryant. I love that Bryant runs and has the OF eligibility, but Arenado could lead the majors in HR and RBI this year while batting .320. It’s small tinkering, but worth noting.
Odor and Murphy may rise, while that #39-#43 window may fall. I think Upton and McCutchen bounce back, and Rendon could once again get to his ceiling of those 2014 numbers, but guys like Polanco, Trumbo, Khris and Kemp should be above.
Speaking of Khris and Kemp…both of them have it in their bats to get into the Top 20. If Kemp’s really inspired in his childhood favorite team’s digs he could end up being a massive value this year based on where he was drafted. And then there’s Khris Davis. I’ll give him 4:1 odds that he’ll lead the AL in home runs by the end of the year. That’s better than the 50th best hitter, most likely.
Lastly, two of my favorite young guns are Aledyms and Benintendi. Watch for them to rise throughout the year.

DROP THOSE COMMENTS!

Follow M@ on Twitter at @matthayes for far more than just fantasy advice.