Rest of Season Points League Rankings for 2021 Fantasy Baseball

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