Welcome back to week three of unveiling the top 100 Hitters for the 2023 fantasy baseball season. Over the past few weeks, we have walked through the top 25 (check it here) and then rounded out the top 50 (another link) bringing us to this week. We are now entering the back half of the top 100 hitters for 2023. This portion is where the rankings start to bunch up and hitter #51 is much closer to hitter #75 than #1 is to #2. Maybe that is stating the obvious but it is key for how we handle this portion of the draft. With this group of hitters, we start to think about need, team makeup, and shortfalls in our categories to ensure we have a well balanced team rather than trying to win a single roto category by lapping the field. We all know the guy that drafts only steals or seven closers, so do not be that person! With the formalities out of the way, let us get on with the rankings.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Mitch Haniger
Please see our player page for Mitch Haniger to see projections for today, the next 7 days and rest of season as well as stats and gamelogs designed with the fantasy baseball player in mind.
It was a wild offseason for the National League, one highlighted by Trea Turner’s lucrative ($300 million) transition from the Dodgers to Phillies, along with fellow shortstop Xander Bogaerts’ introduction to the NL, via the San Diego Padres and $280 mil of his own. Two of the absolute best shortstops in the game are anchored […]
Please, blog, may I have some more?There is something about buying used. Whether it is that pleather couch or your 90’s hatchback, you cannot go wrong. In our fantasy baseball world, this simply means passing up the young shiny objects and buying those old rusty veterans. Sure, we sometimes are fighting Father Time, but at least we know our lineup can drive stick shift. This week we dig into those draft day values that might sneak through the cracks and be waiting around for the savy owner. Let us dig into this week’s 2023 fantasy baseball hitter profiles!
Please, blog, may I have some more?Something I will regret informing you about, but have chosen to anyway is last year’s top 60 outfielders were great, except, and here’s the regret: The upsidey ones. The top 60 outfielders you wanted to do more *cough* Jo Adell *cough* did not. The ones that you had no real high hopes for like Hunter Renfroe were totally respectable. Can we learn from that? Learneth, we might! Here’s Steamer’s 2023 Fantasy Baseball Projections for Hitters and 2023 Fantasy Baseball Projections for Pitchers. Subscriptions are up and running, and you can already get Rudy’s Draft War Room. Anyway, here’s the top 60 outfielders for 2023 fantasy baseball:
Please, blog, may I have some more?The start of the 2023 baseball season is just weeks away, but here at Razzball it is always baseball season. To get you ready to go for the upcoming year, here is the first installment of the 2023 Dynasty Rankings.
When it comes to dynasty rankings, you have to look at a little of this, some of that, and can’t forget about the other. You want a team that can contend for years, so do you look only at age? If you do that, it may compromise your team’s performance?
When evaluating players for dynasty leagues, the formula for success thus consists of many factors. It’s a dash of gut instinct mixed in with past experience and a whole lot of what the eye sees. You know a good player when you see him. But you can’t just go with the best player on the board.
The Rules (or at least guidelines)
That said, there are some basic rules I try to follow as much as possible:
Young over old
I’m always thinking five years down the road. Justin Verlander is great to have on your team this year, but what about next year and certainly in 2024? You will need veteran players, but you don’t want a whole team of veteran players.
Hitter over Pitcher
Since the introduction of the Rookie of the Year Award in 1947, 113 hitters have been awarded the Rookie of the Year compared to 39 pitchers. In this century alone, 33 hitters have been named ROY to 13 pitchers. Young hitters perform better than young pitchers, and veteran hitters are more consistent than veteran pitchers.
Starting Pitcher over Reliever
This is pretty easy to understand why. For the most part, you know what you are going to get from starters. As a group, relievers are so up-and-down it is maddening. Need an example? Aroldis Chapman. Need another? Josh Hader.
But, what about…
Happy New Year! As the calendar gets set to flip to 2023, it means we are that much closer to the start of the baseball season once again. Thank goodness for fantasy baseball, otherwise the winter months would really drag on.
This week we are doing one final look at the 2023 Top Keepers by position as we wrap up with right fielders.
The Power Position
Of the three outfield spots, right field produced the most power in 2022 as the average was 21 homers and 75 RBI with 10 steals to go with a .241/.309/.405 slash line. And Aaron Judge didn’t inflate those numbers. Judge actually started more games in center (74) than right (54) this past season and hit 32 homers while playing in center compared to 19 as a right fielder.
Eleven of the Top 30 ranked players below hit 25 or more homers. But the position also has players who can steal bases as 11 players reached double digits in that category in 2022.
Overall, it is a pretty deep position and one of the more experienced positions in my rankings. Of the 30 ranked players, 12 are 30 years old or older. But there is still a lot of great, young talent – players who are going to be great keepers for years.
So let’s get past the small talk and take dive into the 2023 Top Keepers – Right Fielders.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Well it’s officially draft season here at The Great Knoche household (Sorry, honey). I’m currently drafting a Draft Champions squad with a bunch of Razzballeroos, but also stepped out and tried the new “Gladiator” Format over at NFBC and boy oh boy is this thing something different. It’s PHAT and I’m not talking Pretty Hot […]
Please, blog, may I have some more?Aaron Judge grew up in San Francisco. He told associates of mine at the Winter Meetings that he can still remember which Walgreen’s he was in when he witnessed his first shoplifting. He wistfully remembered, “I was by the breath mints, and this man carried out six boxes of Wheat Thins.” Fond memories for Judge that are going to hard to replicate when he signs a 1-year deal with the Giants in ten years. As we all assumed, Aaron Judge re-signed with the Yankees through his age-39 season. Luckily, Razzball has a time machine at its disposal, and I went forward nine years to take a quick pic of Aaron Judge when he’s in that final year. Here it is:
So, Aaron Judge on the Yankees is more of the same. *claps hands, all done* No? Okay. Not sure how many people heard this, but it was reported the other day that MLB used three different baseballs last year. One of those balls was more batter-friendly. It was found only at the All-Star Game, Home Run Derby, postseason and Yankees games. This sounds like a joke, but the jokes ended with the guy walking out with Wheat Thins. I’m being serious now. Yo, jai alai called, it wants its “this sport is a joke” moniker back. MLB embraces gambling and institutes cheating by way of different balls. It truly is incredible.
Last year, Aaron Judge went 62/16/.311, guys and five girl readers, and that is the best line of all-time. 40/40 is nice; 50/10 is butter; 60/5 is nomnomnom, get in my belly; 62/12? I mean, c’mon. Seriously, c’mon. C’mon, c’mon! C’mon, c’mon, c’mon! It’s ludicrous. It’s mind boggling. Thesaurus, give me another synonym! It’s BREATHTAKING!!! He always had power — he’s a freakin’ giant, of course he has power! — but he’s never hit .300 or stole more than six bags in a season before. Also, being a certified giant (and not a Giant, as was rumored), he’s prone to injuries. That year of 62/12 wasn’t just a career year, it was the career year of career years. How’sever, if he goes 40/10/.280, it’s still very doable and a great. For 2023, I’ll give Aaron Judge projections of 109/41/102/.283/10 in 548 ABs. Anyway, here’s what else I saw this offseason for 2023 fantasy baseball:
Please, blog, may I have some more?Let’s check in on some fantasy baseball championship celebrations:
People celebrating their fantasy baseball championships today pic.twitter.com/4bavGwku88
— Razzball (@Razzball) October 5, 2022
That is the best encapsulation of the joy of winning a fantasy baseball league. I’m sick it’s so on point. I hope everyone got to feel that “very dorky dancing while very white music plays surrounded by middle-aged men” joy yesterday. Today is the day when you realize you’ve spent 27,000 man hours this summer beating eleven other strangers to win a virtual trophy, and it feels great! That’s if you won your league, if you came in 2nd or worse, you get an A for effort. A big, shiny make-believe A.
So, another fantasy baseball season is in the books, and, with a baseball season in the books, it means Jonathan India’s 2022 season is now in the books, and, in conclusion, that is why we should burn books. Any questions? *calls on a guy who looks zonked* Yes? “If I’m going to IHOP is it MeHOP, MyselfHOP or IHOP, or does it depend on usage?” God damn it, is that you, Cody Bellinger?! Stop smoking so much weed! *Cody lowers his head, kicks a rock and walks out of the room* Okay, if there’s no more questions, I have one: How long until next year’s rankings come out?! Wait, I have to write them. When I’m done, I’ll start to put them on our Patreon. Now, one more question, what do I do for the next three months? Oh, yeah, write the rankings! Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Please, blog, may I have some more?He’s done it! He’s done it! He’s done it! Aaron Judge (2-for-7, 2 runs) has hit his 62nd homer, and moved within 11 homers of Barry Bonds’ home run record! Incredible! Honestly, I’m kinda surprised no American League hitter had hit 60+ homers all during the wild, raucous 90s and early aughts when players testes were at their smallest and their biceps were at their biggest. The most shocking record still of the steroids era? With all the juicing going on, Bruce Bochy still had the biggest head. As mentioned before, this is one of the greatest seasons of all-time. Even Rudy was looking at the historical Player Rater the other day and was like, “This is the best season since the depression!” I didn’t ask him if he meant 2008, because I don’t like when he mutes me. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Please, blog, may I have some more?There are a couple of teams still vying for Wild Card and also some jockeying for division crowns. I think this is the time to load up on players from those teams are there is simply no days off for those teams. Couple that with teams that are currently locked into the playoffs that need […]
Please, blog, may I have some more?“Hey, yo, long-time listener, first-time caller, this is Jimmy from Dyker Heights. The Mets, guy, are killin’ me with the freakin’ James McCann, guy. I said to my ma, “Ma, what are the Mets doing, guy, they’re throwing away everything they’ve built this year to have this stunod behind the plate. Why don’t they try callin’ up what’s-his-face Francisco Alvarez. He’s the future, right, guy? The right guy, guy? You know what I’m sayin’ here, guy. Jesus effin Christ, ma, lower your freaking Dean Martin, I’m on the phone with WFAN! I read on Razzball dot com this Prospect Itch guy said a few months ago, and I quote, ‘A rare backstop in that Francisco Alvarez features plus athleticism and foot-speed, Alvarez stands alone atop minor league catcher mountain after Adley Rutschman joined the Orioles. Alvarez generates easy loft from a strong natural uppercut. After demolishing A ball for 15 games, Alvarez got the quick bump to A+ and struggled a bit before surging to finish with 22 HR and 6 SB in 84 games. That’ll play. His 12/24.6 BB/K rate ain’t too shabby either, especially considering he was 3.9 years younger than his average competitor.’ Badda bing badda boom, call this guy up, guy!” So, Jimmy from Dyker Heights got his wish, and Itch’s words speak to the excitement we should have for Francisco Alvarez next year. For this year? Well, if you wanna try to catch lightning in a bottle by all means, guy. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Please, blog, may I have some more?