Top 100 Hitters For 2020 Fantasy Baseball, Week 9: Last Gasp

So much of 2020 baseball has me dazed and confused. One injury pops up and “poof”, there goes the season. One 10 day hot stretch begets a 10 day cold stretch, and players pop up and go away like so many prairie dogs on the windswept empty plains of stadiums with no fans to be seen except in cardboard. Those who have hovered away include, in no particular order, Jonathan Schoop, Robinson Cano, Kyle Schwarber, Willy Adames, Alex Dickerson, Austin Meadows, Jorge Polanco, Shohei Ohtani, Jesse Winker, Yuli Gurriel, Mitch Moreland, Pedro Severino, and Max Kepler. Some of that is poor performance. Some of it is as simple as paternity leave at an inopportune time. Much of this unlucky 13 is gone simply because others have outperformed them. Now the good news.

#45 Jared Walsh – His stats put him in the top 10 over the last 15 days of Home runs? Check (7 and counting). Batting average? .396 thank you very much. RBI? How does in and around 20 sound? It all adds up to #45 on the list. Sure, he’s volatile, could crash hard. But it seems like he’s taken some of Ohtani’s mojo and run with it.

#62 D.J. Stewart – He’s taken up the mantle dropped by Anthony Santander. He’s not in Walsh’s category in batting average, but he’s in the .270s, and walking more than Walsh giving him a bit of substance.

#63 Byron Buxton – Welcome back to the list with a bang. 7 homers over the last 15. Another volatile bat that could get you over the hump these last days of the season.

#67 Didi Gregorius – He’s batting well over .300 these last weeks and looking like his former Yankee self.

#69 Chris Taylor – The Dodgers are so very deep. Another plus .300 bat with power making the semi-slumps of Muncy, Bellinger and Pederson being gone moot.

#71 Aaron Judge, #72 Gleyber Torres and #73 Giancarlo Stanton – The Bronx Bombers are back with a vengeance. They all have to be here because they could rake over the last days. They could also all get injured again. Hard to say.

#74 Clint Frazier – He gets his own line because he hasn’t been injured, he’s just looking for a chance. It’s mystifying why he’s been jerked around so much. The guy can flat out hit when he’s not stressing about being in the lineup. .347 with 4 home runs over the past 15 days. .306/8 overall.

#77 Brian Anderson – He’s pushing .340 lately with power.

#80 Salvador Perez, #81 Sean Murphy and #82 Will Smith – The Catchers making their presence felt in these last days. They’re all killing it lately in one way or another.

#95 Alec Bohm – His youth is bringing just a little speed, and the .330’s batting average and home run and doubles power jumps him onto to the list.

With this much turnover there was bound to be some movement on the list. Here are some of the movers from last week.

#1 Manny Machado and #5 Fernando Tatis Jr. – If Tatis had to give up his crown it might as well be to his teammate. Machado is approaching .400 over the last couple of weeks with power and speed. He’s more or less pulling a Tatis from earlier in the year. Tatis is struggling a touch, although 90% of the league would love to have his struggling stats.

#14 Freddie Freeman – He is on an RBI tear that could win you the category all on his own. 37% more RBI over the past two weeks than his closest companion. It’s vintage Juan Gonzalez over here. The approaching .500 batting average lately doesn’t hurt.

#17 Luke Voit – A Bomber’s Bomber. He doesn’t have the batting average but part of this ranking is boosted by the addition of Judge, Stanton and Torres surrounding him. Homers and RBI in bunches.

#19 Adalberto Mondesi – Over the last couple of weeks .300, 10 steals, several homers, he’s back to being one of the most valuable bats in the game as crunch time in the season arrives.

#52 Kole Calhoun – Homers in bunches again, even topping .300 lately.

#86 Ian Happ and #90 Anthony Rizzo – Cub fans don’t despair. Despite your big bats going silent you are leading the NL Central. Very impressive, and the bats can’t stay silent forever.

#87 Cavan Biggio – What happened to the Jays? Biggio just the posterboy: .239 no power no speed the last 14.

#93 Jake Cronenworth – Curse of the BABIP. His homers have turned into doubles and he’s only batting in the .220s lately.

#98 J.T. Realmuto – He’s barely staying off the IL and having setbacks.

#99 J.D. Martinez – He could still show a little something the last week of the season to boost his potential free agent market. On the other hand, he’s completely checked out.