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I really didn’t understand the whole Bo Bichette is greater than Vladimir Guerrero Jr. movement that took place this draft season. That’s not a knock on Bichette by any means, but instead an affirmation that Vlad is a very special player that came into this league as the highly touted number one prospect ahead of Fernando Tatis Jr, Eloy Jimenez, Kyle Tucker and Bo Bichette. While it does seem like Bo had a smoother transition into the big leagues, anyone that thought Vlad wasn’t going to find his groove likely made a bad decision (or three) along the way. A few years ago there were many preaching that Guerrero Jr. was going to become the best player in the game. Well the hype train has just arrived at the station as he currently leads all hitters in fantasy points. I know Ronald Acuna Jr. has been lighting the roto world on fire, but he still has less points than Vlad. By the way, what’s the deal with there being so many top tier hitters with a Jr. at the end of their name? I wonder if I should change my name to malamoney Jr.

Two weeks ago I gave you my top 99 hitters list. I said at the time that it would be a work in progress. Today I give you my updated rankings. Still a work in progress. These rankings are based on a formula which incorporates year-to-date performance, preseason projections and previous rankings.

Rank Name FPTS PPPA Total Change
1 Ronald Acuna 172 0.94 594.83 0
2 Vladimir Guerrero 182 0.95 592.30 +2
3 Jose Ramirez 150 0.85 544.81 0
4 Freddie Freeman 147 0.74 520.66 +7
5 Juan Soto 96 0.71 511.25 0
6 J.D. Martinez 162 0.82 510.44 +1
7 Xander Bogaerts 150 0.79 499.10 +1
8 Whit Merrifield 142 0.74 497.59 -2
9 Trea Turner 127 0.69 492.69 +3
10 Nolan Arenado 139 0.73 485.50 +8
11 Nick Castellanos 143 0.82 482.36 -1
12 Yuli Gurriel 150 0.80 480.91 +8
13 Fernando Tatis 110 0.91 469.82 +9
14 Marcus Semien 135 0.69 465.94 +15
15 Mookie Betts 119 0.65 463.45 -2
16 Jesse Winker 140 0.85 455.67 +19
17 Kris Bryant 137 0.78 455.43 -2
18 Rafael Devers 135 0.72 453.42 +7
19 Mike Trout 111 0.76 447.91 -17
20 Carlos Santana 140 0.74 444.90 -1
21 Kyle Tucker 132 0.72 444.12 +46
22 Anthony Rizzo 122 0.67 444.07 +8
23 Max Muncy 136 0.74 443.90 +18
24 Mark Canha 138 0.68 440.13 +8
25 Yordan Alvarez 107 0.65 439.14 -9
26 Alex Bregman 116 0.67 437.63 +1
27 Bo Bichette 121 0.62 434.47 +4
28 Ozzie Albies 126 0.67 434.15 +5
29 Bryce Harper 97 0.60 430.92 -20
30 Manny Machado 115 0.62 429.41 +4
31 Shohei Ohtani 138 0.76 420.57 -14
32 Trey Mancini 131 0.69 420.23 +30
33 Alex Verdugo 127 0.70 418.07 -10
34 Mitch Haniger 133 0.70 417.76 +8
35 Byron Buxton 99 1.01 398.59 -14
36 Matt Olson 119 0.70 394.52 +27
37 Nelson Cruz 111 0.69 393.74 -13
38 Jake Cronenworth 127 0.65 393.56 +49
39 Trevor Story 100 0.53 389.52 -25
40 Jose Abreu 102 0.60 389.35 +14
41 Ramon Laureano 119 0.65 389.13 +10
42 Adam Frazier 119 0.60 387.82 +13
43 Jesus Aguilar 115 0.67 383.81 -7
44 Tommy Edman 115 0.57 383.48 +14
45 Jose Altuve 108 0.65 382.02 +41
46 Aaron Judge 113 0.64 381.07 +55
47 Yermin Mercedes 103 0.66 379.23 +1
48 Corey Seager 96 0.57 377.90 -20
49 Chris Taylor 119 0.71 377.89 +8
50 Isiah Kiner-Falefa 124 0.61 376.46 +2
51 Carlos Correa 111 0.59 376.05 +24
52 Robbie Grossman 117 0.61 376.04 +22
53 Ryan McMahon 122 0.66 375.86 +12
54 David Peralta 116 0.65 375.54 -11
55 Jared Walsh 116 0.66 375.00 -16
56 DJ LeMahieu 96 0.49 374.51 -18
57 Miguel Rojas 111 0.64 374.23 -17
58 Justin Turner 104 0.57 374.20 -32
59 Franmil Reyes 102 0.65 374.02 -22
60 Eduardo Escobar 111 0.58 373.67 -1
61 Raimel Tapia 114 0.64 372.87 -11
62 Randy Arozarena 111 0.58 372.45 +52
63 Michael Brantley 103 0.59 370.40 -10
64 Kyle Seager 102 0.54 367.12 -8
65 Rhys Hoskins 100 0.52 365.84 +6
66 Francisco Lindor 75 0.45 363.97 -6
67 Austin Meadows 108 0.59 359.56 +9
68 Paul Goldschmidt 93 0.50 353.17 +1
69 Eric Hosmer 97 0.61 348.25 -20
70 Trent Grisham 96 0.62 347.63 +14
71 Randal Grichuk 104 0.59 347.59 -24
72 Max Kepler 91 0.66 347.42 +18
73 Pete Alonso 75 0.50 346.37 -27
74 Charlie Blackmon 89 0.56 346.18 -10
75 Brandon Crawford 110 0.77 346.14 +19
76 Bryan Reynolds 100 0.55 342.15 -3
77 Marcell Ozuna 82 0.41 338.21 +6
78 Nick Solak 102 0.50 337.14 -1
79 Joey Wendle 110 0.71 334.96 +25
80 Nick Madrigal 91 0.60 334.65 -12
81 Tim Anderson 86 0.57 334.63 +1
82 Cedric Mullins 111 0.57 330.26 -10
83 Eddie Rosario 77 0.47 328.20 -39
84 Will Smith 99 0.71 327.83 +7
85 Salvador Perez 92 0.51 325.41 0
86 Andrew McCutchen 89 0.49 324.17 +19
87 Javier Baez 86 0.54 321.92 -8
88 Dylan Carlson 91 0.51 319.60 -8
89 Yoan Moncada 87 0.48 319.36 +27
90 Buster Posey 101 0.83 319.17 -20
91 Giancarlo Stanton 84 0.58 317.89 -46
92 Jeff McNeil 63 0.56 314.17 -31
93 Austin Riley 94 0.53 312.87 +43
94 Garrett Hampson 102 0.59 311.69 +6
95 Jorge Polanco 81 0.48 306.41 +1
96 Josh Donaldson 79 0.59 303.92 +7
97 Nate Lowe 100 0.49 303.80 -19
98 Cesar Hernandez 80 0.43 303.71 +22
99 J.T. Realmuto 79 0.61 303.38 -33

Ronald Acuna remains at the top spot, but Vlad is literally nipping at his heels. If he continues playing as he is, he will overtake the Acuna. That speaks volumes considering how well Acuna has been playing. Guerrero (182 points) actually leads all hitters in points and has a slightly better points per plate appearance (PPPA) than RAJr. The only hitter with a better PPPA is Byron Buxton, but he has about 100 less plate appearances. VG doesn’t stand for “very good”, it stands for Vladimir Guerrero is freaking awesome and I couldn’t be happier that I’ve held onto him since 2016 despite many enticing trade offers. VG also stands for Very Green which is my favorite Double IPA (or any beer).

Freddie Freeman has jumped up seven spots to number four. FF is a perfect example of what I always say about points being points in points leagues and it doesn’t matter how a player gets them. Freeman is batting .241 (at the time I wrote this), yet his 147 points have him in the top ten for most points amongst hitters. Batting average and other stats be damned as long as the points are piling up. Don’t be surprised to see Freddie reaching the top three sooner rather than later.

Let’s check out a few other risers on the list.

Climbing up fifteen spots to number 14 is Marcus Semien. Only Xander Bogaerts has more points than him at shortstop and he is doing as much with each plate appearance as Trea Turner. Despite being ranked 14th amongst hitters he is the number four shortstop behind Bogaerts, Turner and Tatis. That’s a lot of SS near the top of the list. However, given his ADP of about 97, Semien is clearly the most valuable fantasy player of the bunch at the moment.

Jesse Winker has moved 19 spots to get inside the top twenty (#16). Hitting three home runs in a game will certainly boost your ranking. So does a .353 batting average. The higher the batting average, the more times you’re getting on base which equates to more point opportunities.

One of the biggest risers is Kyle Tucker who has moved 46 spots to number 21, or the blackjack spot as I sometimes call it. In the past three weeks KT has averaged 24 points a week. That will certainly move the needle.

Trey Mancini see a thirty-two rank jump almost getting inside the top 30. That’s what happens when you score 111 points in four weeks.

In the first edition of these rankings Aaron Judge fell outside the top 99 despite his jersey number. He actually made the largest leap up to 46, moving 55 spots. See what a 45-point week can do for your points league rankings.

More Risers:

Jake Cronenworth: 37 (+49)
Jose Abreu: 40 (+14)
Adam Frazier: 42 (+13)
Tommy Edman: 44 (+14)
Jose Altuve: 45 (+41)
Carlos Correa: 51 (+24)
Robbie Grossman: 52 (+22)
Ryan McMahon: 53 (+12)
Randy Arozarena: 62 (+52)
Trent Grisham: 70 (+14)
Max Kepler: 72 (+18)
Brandon Crawford: 75 (+19)
Joey Wendle: 79 (+25)
Andrew McCutchen: 86 (+19)
Yoan Moncada: 89 (+27)
Austin Riley: 93 (+43)
Cesar Hernandez: 98 (+22)

Here are some fallers:

Mike Trout dropped 17 spots simply because he is expected to be 6-8 weeks. These rankings are based on end of the season expected point totals. Obviously once Trout returns he will be a top player, but for now he’s got to be moved down. But this points out a hole in the rankings formula. Moving forward I will factor in rest of season points as that seems like a more useful number. Technically that number already exists in the table above. All you have to do is subtract the “FPTS” column from “Total”.

For shifts and giggles I have gone ahead and done that. Here are the top forty. Juan Soto moves into the number two spot. There are plenty of other moves, but I’m not going to dive into them today. So I think in the next rankings we will have YTD (current) and ROS (future) rankings.

Rank Name FPTS PPPA Total ROS
1 Ronald Acuna 172 0.94 594.83 423
2 Juan Soto 96 0.71 511.25 415
3 Vladimir Guerrero 182 0.95 592.30 410
4 Jose Ramirez 150 0.85 544.81 395
5 Freddie Freeman 147 0.74 520.66 374
6 Trea Turner 127 0.69 492.69 366
7 Fernando Tatis 110 0.91 469.82 360
8 Whit Merrifield 142 0.74 497.59 356
9 Xander Bogaerts 150 0.79 499.10 349
10 J.D. Martinez 162 0.82 510.44 348
11 Nolan Arenado 139 0.73 485.50 347
12 Mookie Betts 119 0.65 463.45 344
13 Nick Castellanos 143 0.82 482.36 339
14 Mike Trout 111 0.76 447.91 337
15 Bryce Harper 97 0.60 430.92 334
16 Yordan Alvarez 107 0.65 439.14 332
17 Marcus Semien 135 0.69 465.94 331
18 Yuli Gurriel 150 0.80 480.91 331
19 Anthony Rizzo 122 0.67 444.07 322
20 Alex Bregman 116 0.67 437.63 322
21 Kris Bryant 137 0.78 455.43 318
22 Rafael Devers 135 0.72 453.42 318
23 Jesse Winker 140 0.85 455.67 316
24 Manny Machado 115 0.62 429.41 314
25 Bo Bichette 121 0.62 434.47 313
26 Kyle Tucker 132 0.72 444.12 312
27 Ozzie Albies 126 0.67 434.15 308
28 Max Muncy 136 0.74 443.90 308
29 Carlos Santana 140 0.74 444.90 305
30 Mark Canha 138 0.68 440.13 302
31 Byron Buxton 99 1.01 398.59 300
32 Alex Verdugo 127 0.70 418.07 291
33 Trevor Story 100 0.53 389.52 290
34 Trey Mancini 131 0.69 420.23 289
35 Francisco Lindor 75 0.45 363.97 289
36 Jose Abreu 102 0.60 389.35 287
37 Mitch Haniger 133 0.70 417.76 285
38 Nelson Cruz 111 0.69 393.74 283
39 Shohei Ohtani 138 0.76 420.57 283
40 Corey Seager 96 0.57 377.90 282
41 DJ LeMahieu 96 0.49 374.51 279

More fallers:

Bryce Harper: 29 (-20)
Byron Buxton: 35 (-14)
Trevor Story: 39 (-25)
Corey Seager: 48 (-20)
Jared Walsh: 55 (-16)
DJ LeMahieu: 56 (-18)
Miguel Rojas: 57 (-17)
Justin Turner: 58 (-32)
Franmil Reyes: 59 (-22)
Eric Hosmer: 69 (-20)
Randal Grichuk: 71 (-24)
Pete Alonso: 73 (-27)
Eddie Rosario: 84 (-39)
Buster Posey: 90 (-20)
Giancarlo Stanton: 91 (-46)
Jeff McNeil: 92 (-31)
Nate Lowe: 97 (-19)
JT Realmuto: 99 (-33)

The reason some players have fallen more than you might expect is a combination of both the player regressing from the last rankings and other players improving and jumping up the list. I guess the same can be said for some of the big risers. It’s also the result of my formula being a slow work in progress as it eventually morphs into a well-oiled machine capable of pinpointing a player’s ranking.

Follow malamoney on Twitter at @malamoney