Points Leagues: August Outfield Rankings

Injuries happen. They happen to every position, every season. But it sure feels like the top of the outfield has been particularly snakebitten by them this year, doesn’t it? Just look at the names who were, if not top-10 picks at the position, certainly must-start players who are currently on the shelf: Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, James Wood, Byron Buxton, and Cody Bellinger. That is a lot of expected thump currently out of commission. Combine the loss of those names and trying to account being in the home stretch of the season, and the outfield rankings got a bit of a shakeup this month.

The Top 12

• What a season it’s been for Merrill. He spent the first three months being pretty terrible. Since July, though, he’s looked a lot more like he did when he was a rookie and got everyone excited about his potential. Having him as a top-10 OF might still be a bit overly aggressive, but I (obviously) think it’s justifiable. For one thing, all those injured guys mentioned above mean someone has to take what were their spots in these rankings. And then, Merrill has gone out and actually produced while others have slumped. Time grows short to turn things around. Merrill already has.

The Second 12

• Boston has been on a ridiculous run for over a month now, and Abreu has been a big part of it. The quantity of his hits isn’t as high as you might like, but when all the ones he does get are going over the fence, it still makes for a very productive player.
• DeLauter started the year off absolutely gangbusters, then dealt with both injury and a slump. The power hasn’t been there the way it was during that scorching first week of the season, but the overall production has put him in must-start territory. His plate discipline and ability to avoid Ks in particular have made him a top-10 option at ESPN over the last month. Just stay healthy, please.
• Most fan bases would have their pitchforks out if their $60 million a year signing was having the year Tucker is. Must be nice to be a Dodgers fan. He has been better of late, which is nice. But he’s still only been “fine” as opposed to “one of the best outfielders in the game.”

The 12 After That

• Bauers has been playing on a broken toe. Usually that would be a fairly big concern, but he’s been playing on it for a while now. The Brewers don’t seem to be particularly worried that it’s going to suddenly become a problem, so I’m not either.
• Cags has had a bit of a roller coaster season in terms of looking great and getting everyone’s hopes up, then falling off and becoming unusable. His tendency to strike out and allergy to taking walks aren’t ideal for the format, but when he’s going right, he hits the ball so hard it doesn’t really matter. Lately he’s been crushing it. Long may it continue.
• Duran’s production doesn’t make a ton of sense, as he doesn’t hit the ball that hard, doesn’t square it up that often, strikes out too much, and doesn’t walk enough. And yet, he just keeps getting hits and racking up points. And he does it at every position on the field other than catcher. That’s handy.

Another 12

• Stowers left early on Sunday with a hamstring issue. At the time of writing, there was no official update on his status. If I had to guess, it’s not going to be good news. When is it ever when it comes to hamstrings?
• Every single time I hear Dominic Canzone’s name, it makes me think of Ben Wyatt. Is it just me?

A Dozen To Go