Points Leagues: Second Half Rankings

I put it off as long as I could. It’s not that I’m against rankings. I quite like reading them and using them. And I don’t have any problem doing them on a small-scale, position-by-position basis. But how the 5th best SS compares to the 13th best OF and the 9th best SP? How do injured guys all fit in? That’s not how my brain works. (And I’ve been leaving the SP rankings up to MarmosDad altogether.) And while the Rest of Season Player Rater is a wonderful tool, it isn’t optimized for points leagues. So, up until this point, I have avoided doing one big, all-encompassing ranking list. However, as we stand on the verge of the All-Star break, and my own vacation, I can put it off no longer.

So, here you go. A top-200 ranking of players for the second half of the season. The process to put it together was necessarily different than my typical positional approach, so I didn’t keep track of positional balance throughout. Even so, each position has pretty decent representation. There were also some players I wish I had been able to include, but 200 spots get filled surprisingly quickly. So, if you you’re wondering where Player X is, he would have been 201.

Because there is no one set scoring system for points leagues, it’s hard to have a one-size-fits-all set of rankings. As a result, one scoring system is going to inevitably be given more weight as such a list gets put together. My predecessor in this space was partial to using the NFBC scoring system. For me, it’s CBS’. If you play elsewhere, I’m sorry, but it’s the one I’m most familiar with and the one I feel has the best balance. You know your scoring system, so mentally shift certain guys up or down a few spots as appropriate.

Enjoy the last week of games before the break, and I’ll see you again in a couple weeks!

1-50

1	Shohei Ohtani	UT-SP
2	Juan Soto	OF
3	Bobby Witt	SS
4	Yordan Alvarez	OF
5	Kyle Schwarber	UT
6	Corbin Carroll	OF
7	Nick Kurtz	1B
8	Junior Caminero	3B
9	Elly De La Cruz	SS
10	Jackson Chourio	OF
11	Jacob Misiorowski	SP
12	Tarik Skubal	SP
13	Julio Rodriguez	OF
14	James Wood	OF
15	Ketel Marte	2B
16	Kyle Tucker	OF
17	Fernando Tatis Jr.	2B-OF
18	Gunnar Henderson	SS
19	Cristopher Sanchez	SP
20	Chris Sale	SP
21	Yoshinobu Yamamoto	SP
22	Matt Olson	1B
23	Bryce Harper	1B
24	Paul Skenes	SP
25	Jacob deGrom	SP
26	Bryan Woo	SP
27	Ben Rice	C-1B
28	Pete Crow-Armstrong	OF
29	Shea Langeliers	C
30	Dylan Cease	SP
31	Joe Ryan	SP
32	Logan Gilbert	SP
33	Brice Turang	2B
34	Christian Yelich	UT
35	Hunter Goodman	C
36	Pete Alonso	1B
37	Zack Wheeler	SP
38	Chase Burns	SP
39	Hunter Greene	SP
40	Mason Miller	RP
41	Yandy Diaz	1B
42	C.J. Abrams	SS
43	Jordan Walker	OF
44	Freddie Freeman	1B
45	Cody Bellinger	OF
46	Cam Schlittler	SP
47	Francisco Lindor	SS
48	Kevin Gausman	SP
49	Jesus Luzardo	SP
50	Hunter Brown	SP

Can I ever not talk about FTJ? Apparently not. He’s just had an incredibly weird season with the stats that count mostly not living up to the underlying indicators. Recently that’s been turning around. So here’s to second-half Nando looking like the guy you drafted him to be before the season started.
By actual talent level, Yamamoto probably deserves to be higher. But in points leagues, where two-start weeks are such a boon, he takes a little bit of a hit because he won’t get any of those. It’s not his fault, unless you want to blame him for signing with the Dodgers. Which, fair.
Skenes has been just shaky enough and has just enough concern at this moment in time that he’s only ranked as the 6th-best SP (non-Ohtani division). Tough life.

51-100

51	Gavin Williams	SP
52	Vladimir Guerrero Jr.	1B
53	Byron Buxton	OF
54	Trea Turner	SS
55	Aaron Judge	OF
56	Drew Rasmussen	SP
57	Zachary Neto	SS
58	Max Fried	SP
59	Nolan McLean	SP
60	Jazz Chisholm	2B-3B
61	George Kirby	SP
62	Ivan Herrera	C
63	William Contreras	C
64	Jose Ramirez	3B
65	Drake Baldwin	C
66	Braxton Ashcraft	SP-RP
67	Logan Webb	SP
68	Josh Naylor	1B
69	Andres Munoz	RP
70	Bryce Miller	SP
71	Kevin McGonigle	3B-SS
72	Ronald Acuna Jr.	OF
73	Kyle Harrison	SP
74	Miguel Vargas	1B-3B
75	Payton Tolle	SP-RP
76	Shota Imanaga	SP
77	Seiya Suzuki	OF
78	Michael Harris	OF
79	Mike Trout	OF
80	Max Muncy	3B
81	Sal Stewart	1B-2B-3B
82	Mookie Betts	SS
83	Riley Greene	OF
84	Jhoan Duran	RP
85	Randy Arozarena	OF
86	Framber Valdez	SP
87	Jac Caglianone	1B-OF
88	Josh Hader	RP
89	Cade Smith	RP
90	Nathan Eovaldi	SP
91	Manny Machado	3B
92	Freddy Peralta	SP
93	Maikel Garcia	3B
94	Gerrit Cole	SP
95	Bryan Reynolds	OF
96	Emmet Sheehan	SP
97	Rafael Devers	1B
98	Ian Happ	OF
99	Parker Messick	SP
100	Carlos Rodon	SP

I’m all-in on Miguel Vargas. Please don’t let me down.
Like his teammate, Machado has been showing signs of life outside of the occasional home run. Turns out he might not have forgotten how to hit after all.
Rodon was several spots higher than this, but he’s currently on the IL with elbow inflammation. That scares me, as does the fact that there isn’t a timetable for his return. If it’s not too serious, he’s very good, so he hangs on here for me.

101-150

101	JJ Wetherholt	2B-SS
102	Trey Yesavage	SP
103	Seth Lugo	SP
104	Raisel Iglesias	RP
105	Connelly Early	SP
106	Otto Lopez	2B-SS
107	Dillon Dingler	C
108	Cal Raleigh	C
109	Xavier Edwards	2B-SS
110	Kyle Bradish	SP
111	Sonny Gray	SP
112	Konnor Griffin	SS
113	Brandon Lowe	2B
114	Michael Busch	1B
115	Tyler Soderstrom	1B-OF
116	Nico Hoerner	2B-SS
117	Ozzie Albies	2B
118	Max Meyer	SP
119	Casey Mize	SP
120	Andy Pages	OF
121	Sam Antonacci	2B-OF
122	Travis Bazzana	2B
123	Taylor Ward	OF
124	Sandy Alcantara	SP
125	Michael King	SP
126	Luis Arraez	1B-2B
127	Munetaka Murakami	1B
128	Brandon Nimmo	OF
129	Jose Soriano	SP
130	Nick Lodolo	SP
131	Jeremy Pena	SS
132	Shane McClanahan	SP
133	Oneil Cruz	OF
134	Devin Williams	RP
135	Christian Walker	1B
136	Ryan Helsley	RP
137	Brandon Woodruff	SP
138	Alex Bregman	3B
139	Ranger Suarez	SP
140	Eury Perez	SP
141	Garrett Crochet	SP
142	Aroldis Chapman	RP
143	Bo Bichette	3B-SS
144	Geraldo Perdomo	SS
145	Reid Detmers	SP-RP
146	Emerson Hancock	SP
147	Joey Cantillo	SP-RP
148	Trevor Megill	RP
149	Colson Montgomery	SS-3B
150	Wyatt Langford	OF

Wetherholt and Lopez feel like they’re too low. Lopez, especially. On the other hand, do I really think he’s going to hit .346 all season? I do not. He’s still good, though.
Helsley and Woodruff are both currently on the shelf with arm injuries. Both have previously missed time with arm injuries. I still have them here, not knowing exactly what their prognoses are going forward, but I’ll be honest…I don’t feel great about them.
With Langford, like his teammate who rounds out this list, I like the talent. If they could stay on the field, I think they’d belong in your lineup. They just can’t stay on the field.

151-200

151	Jacob Wilson	SS
152	Ryan Weathers	SP
153	Trevor Megill	RP
154	David Bednar	RP
155	Jarren Duran	OF
156	Tyler Glasnow	SP
157	Louie Varland	RP
158	Riley O’Brien	RP
159	Pete Fairbanks	RP
160	Daylen Lile	OF
161	Kazuma Okamoto	3B
162	Carson Benge	OF
163	Jackson Merrill	OF
164	George Springer	OF
165	Chase DeLauter	OF
166	MacKenzie Gore	SP
167	Will Warren	SP
168	Troy Melton	SP-RP
169	Gage Jump	SP
170	Eugenio Suarez	3B
171	Tanner Bibee	SP
172	Sean Burke	SP
173	Ian Seymour	SP-RP
174	Brandon Marsh	OF
175	Robbie Ray	SP
176	Jacob Latz	SP-RP
177	Edward Cabrera	SP
178	Jack Leiter	SP
179	Kyle Stowers	1B-OF
180	Jonathan Aranda	1B
181	Isaac Paredes	1B-3B
182	Jake Bauers	1B-OF
183	Colt Emerson	3B-SS
184	Alec Burleson	1B-OF
185	Teoscar Hernandez	OF
186	Josh Jung	3B
187	Jose Altuve	2B-OF
188	Dansby Swanson	SS
189	Andrew Abbott	SP
190	J.J. Bleday	OF-
191	Jung Hoo Lee	OF
192	Willy Adames	SS
193	Trevor Rogers	SP
194	Luis Castillo	SP
195	Foster Griffin	SP
196	Cade Cavalli	SP
197	Luis Garcia Jr.	1B-2B
198	Mickey Moniak	OF
199	Justin Wrobleski	SP
200	Corey Seager	SS

This may be overly optimistic about how much you (or the Dodgers) will get from Glasnow before September.
Jump is a young pitcher who can be good-to-excellent. He can also get rocked. I’m glad it isn’t my job to analyze and predict pitcher performance on a weekly basis, but I am very glad for those who do. Thanks again, MarmosDad!
Garcia was a complete afterthought for me coming into the season. Even until the last couple weeks, he wasn’t someone I gave much thought to. Suddenly, he’s already sitting at a career high home run total. Good for him.
Moniak missed time with injury, but has been very good when healthy. If you want to argue that he deserves to be higher than this, I won’t put up much of a fight. The reason he’s down here is because I’m just not sure if his playing time is as guaranteed as some other people’s. The Rockies are bad, but they do have a lot of outfielders to find at-bats for, and that’s even before you consider Zac Veen and Charlie Condon raking down in the minors. Maybe someone gets traded?

2 Comments

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Kevin

4 hours ago

Why so low on Varland? He’s #2 on the Player Rater behind Mason Miller. He’s accumulated 417 points for me in our league. In comparison, Yamamoto has 401.

Latch-Key Kid

Author

Reply to Kevin

3 hours ago

I don’t feel like I am when it comes to RP as a position in and of itself, but I get that it looks like it. I could have put him over Megill (who I apparently moved, didn’t delete one of, and ended up ranking twice like a dope). But I do like a few other guys with longer track records in the role better. With how pure RPs aren’t typically as valuable/in-demand as they are in roto, there just sort of ended up being bigger gaps between them than there might be in that format.