Top 100 Hitters For 2020 Fantasy Baseball: Week 8 The End Is Near

The time is getting close. The possibility of a season ending that was barely a possibility in June is upon us. Fall is peaking around the corner and pumpkin spice (I SAID PUMPKIN SPICE) is everywhere! I mean, the NFL is back, not all of football but at least the NFL. So it’s the home stretch and Fantasy Baseball championships can still be won and lost in the last two weeks. Additions to the list of players like #90 Jeimer Candelario, who has 5 homers and a .417 batting average the past two weeks, can boost you in multiple categories. Someone like D.J. Stewart can too, but his 6 homers and .455 batting average were done in bulk the last 7 days so he’ll take a bit more to get on the list. His teammate #91 Ryan Mountcastle, however, has won a spot thanks to his 4 homer .367 last two week mark and slightly higher pedigree. Other additions include the practically homering in every game #98 Bobby Dalbec (sure, it was close with Stewart, but Dalbec set a Red Sox rookie record for homers so…), welcome back #92 Michael Brantley  and #96 Isiah Kiner-Falefa (a lone Ranger highlight). Of course, we can’t forget that sultan of swat, that bountiful Brave, #70 Adam Duvall. Are you serious with a 9 home run barrage, including hitting in the .290’s, over the last 15?

That leaves us with the drops. Teoscar Hernandez, Ketel Marte, Jorge Soler, Eric Hosmer and Matt Chapman show in various degrees how much 2020 gives and 2020 snatches away. They’re all dropping thanks to injuries of one kind or another. Renato Nunez dropped off because he’s slumping, but the Orioles have so many bright lights it doesn’t even matter. There are reports that Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton come back soon, but we’ll wait and see thank you very much. Now on to the list.

#2 Mike Trout – It’s enticing to move him up to #1 with his recent surge, but Tatis still has a 1.1017 OPS even as he’s ‘slumped’ lately so he keeps the top spot.

#4 Ronald Acuna Jr. – That was scary, but in the end it’s more a stand-in for what will undoubtedly be cancelled Halloween than an actual horror, like 2020.

#11 Jose Abreu – He had hit a slight bump in the road, so I was thinking about dropping him down. Then he crushed another two last night and could easily go on a homer binge.

#12 Christian Yelich – No real change, but if he doesn’t pick up that low .200 batting average immediately his standing is looking bleak.

#14 J.T. Realmuto – He felt a twinge in his hip last night. It doesn’t appear serious but we thought that about Matt Chapman too.

#19 Freddie Freeman – Fine, fine. So he’s been batting close to .400 and hitting bombs for a couple weeks, so what?

#23 Whit Merrifield – He hasn’t been killing it lately, but he’s doing a lot better than most other established stars this year overall. Also the third best duel threat behind Turner and Story, with 9 home runs and 7 steals.

#28 Rhys Hoskins – All of a sudden bunches of home runs and getting close to .300.

#34 Pete Alonso – Yes, he doesn’t hit for average, but the home runs are returning for the Metropolitans.

#35 Corey Seager – .340ish the last couple weeks, quietly. Hard to imagine but he’s outplaying Mookie right now.

#43 Anthony Rizzo – He’s hitting the ball out of the ballpark a little bit, but not nearly enough to counteract an anemic sub .200 batting average over the last 15.

#47 Ian Happ – The straw that currently stirs the Cubs drink. Rivals anyone other than Duvall in homers over the past two weeks.

#54 Eugenio Suarez – Has finally brought his average up along with the many dingers.

#65 Adalberto Mondesi – Now up to 16 steals and four home runs. Still hitting only .213, but 6 steals in a week is eye-popping.

#69 George Springer – Is that a close to .300 batting average with power we’re seeing over the past 15 days?

#77 Yuli Gurriel – What one Astro is given another has taken away. Weakening batting average help here, he might scoot right off the list if this keeps up.

#80 Jesse Winker – One week of a slump was not such a worry, now it’s more substantial.

#87 Vladimir Guerrero Jr. – Good thing #73 Bo Bichette has come back, because Vlad Jr’s plate coverage and power seem to be waning for now.