The numbers are in, and my unofficial spreadsheet says that the hottest player of the last few weeks deserves to be part of a blind resume! Who do we want for the rest of the season as we look at three power-hitting outfielders with season lines of:
- Player A: 60/27/71/8/.247
- Player B: 49/22/65/0/.267
- Player C: 70/25/77/0/.256
Three sluggers having much different seasons tell us that season-long stat lines matter little at this point in the season. Early season darling, Aroldis Garcia (Player A), has a strong season line. However, in the last two months, he has scuffled to a .206 average with a 35% strikeout rate and merely seven long balls. Giancarlo Stanton (Player B) continues to be a Savant with his underlying power numbers but has been an overall disappointment considering relatively positive health this season. That brings us to Player C, Hunter Renfroe, who is coming on at the right time for the fantasy stretch and jumping into our top 100 rankings for the rest of the 2021 fantasy baseball season thanks to a .333 average, seven homers, and a combined 21 R + RBI over a baker’s dozen games. On the back of that performance, we will look at the other hot bats jumping up the rankings for the rest of the season.
| Rank | Player | Movement |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fernando Tatis Jr. | |
| 2 | Shohei Ohtani | |
| 3 | Trea Turner | |
| 4 | Vladimir Guerrero Jr. | |
| 5 | Jose Ramirez | |
| 6 | Juan Soto | 1 |
| 7 | Freddie Freeman | 1 |
| 8 | Bo Bichette | -2 |
| 9 | Bryce Harper | |
| 10 | Rafael Devers | |
| 11 | Kyle Tucker | |
| 12 | Mookie Betts | 12 |
| 13 | J.D. Martinez | -1 |
| 14 | Xander Bogaerts | 1 |
| 15 | Starling Marte | 5 |
| 16 | Whit Merrifield | 1 |
| 17 | Nick Castellanos | -1 |
| 18 | Nelson Cruz | |
| 19 | Aaron Judge | 2 |
| 20 | Matt Olson | 2 |
| 21 | Marcus Semien | -2 |
| 22 | Manny Machado | -8 |
| 23 | Tim Anderson | 9 |
| 24 | Yordan Alvarez | 1 |
| 25 | Jose Abreu | 1 |
| 26 | Javier Baez | 1 |
| 27 | Ozzie Albies | 6 |
| 28 | Max Muncy | 9 |
| 29 | George Springer | |
| 30 | Nolan Arenado | |
| 31 | Trevor Story | -3 |
| 32 | Jose Altuve | -1 |
| 33 | Alex Bregman | 9 |
| 34 | Austin Meadows | |
| 35 | Cody Bellinger | -12 |
| 36 | Eloy Jimenez | |
| 37 | Byron Buxton | 32 |
| 38 | Kris Bryant | 2 |
| 39 | Carlos Correa | 2 |
| 40 | Paul Goldschmidt | 9 |
| 41 | Giancarlo Stanton | 9 |
| 42 | Mike Trout | 5 |
| 43 | Teoscar Hernandez | 11 |
| 44 | Franmil Reyes | -6 |
| 45 | Corey Seager | |
| 46 | Randy Arozarena | -11 |
| 47 | J.T. Realmuto | -1 |
| 48 | Justin Turner | -5 |
| 49 | Cedric Mullins II | -5 |
| 50 | Anthony Rizzo | -2 |
| 51 | Jazz Chisholm | 1 |
| 52 | Austin Riley | 16 |
| 53 | Pete Alonso | 5 |
| 54 | Mitch Haniger | -3 |
| 55 | DJ LeMahieu | 1 |
| 56 | Ketel Marte | 10 |
| 57 | Joey Votto | 7 |
| 58 | Salvador Perez | 1 |
| 59 | Wander Franco | 13 |
| 60 | Christian Yelich | 2 |
| 61 | Michael Brantley | -4 |
| 62 | Trey Mancini | -9 |
| 63 | Bryan Reynolds | |
| 64 | Francisco Lindor | 3 |
| 65 | Tyler O’Neill | 8 |
| 66 | Ryan Mountcastle | 4 |
| 67 | Brandon Lowe | 9 |
| 68 | Jared Walsh | -29 |
| 69 | Trent Grisham | -9 |
| 70 | Alex Verdugo | 4 |
| 71 | Yuli Gurriel | |
| 72 | Charlie Blackmon | 5 |
| 73 | Joey Gallo | 5 |
| 74 | Jorge Polanco | NR |
| 75 | Tommy Pham | -14 |
| 76 | Eduardo Escobar | 4 |
| 77 | Hunter Renfroe | NR |
| 78 | Kyle Schwarber | 3 |
| 79 | Jesse Winker | -66 |
| 80 | Jonathan India | 3 |
| 81 | Josh Donaldson | 3 |
| 82 | Dansby Swanson | 12 |
| 83 | Jake Cronenworth | 8 |
| 84 | Yoan Moncada | 2 |
| 85 | Brandon Crawford | 5 |
| 86 | Tyler Naquin | NR |
| 87 | Robbie Grossman | 5 |
| 88 | Randal Grichuk | 5 |
| 89 | Adalberto Mondesi | 16 |
| 90 | Kolten Wong | NR |
| 91 | Mark Canha | -9 |
| 92 | Ryan McMahon | -13 |
| 93 | Ty France | NR |
| 94 | Lourdes Gurriel Jr. | NR |
| 95 | Avisail Garcia | NR |
| 96 | Brandon Belt | NR |
| 97 | Mike Yastrzemski | -1 |
| 98 | Willy Adames | -1 |
| 99 | Luke Voit | NR |
| 100 | Adam Duvall | -1 |
- Tim Anderson – With five three-hit games during the month of August and two of those over the past week, Anderson has raised his season average to .303. The surge is thanks much in part to a .379 average since the second week of August. While the speed has been lacking recently the power has been steady.
- Tyler Naquin – Naquin continues to find fantasy relevance in the Cincinnati outfield. Riding a 15-game hit streak, he has moved up to the top of the lineup scoring nine runs in the last six games alone. He has been a sneaky value all season and a little luck is making him more than relevant as we look towards September.
- Wander Franco – Across the last 14 days, Franco has a minuscule 6% strikeout rate with a total of three hitless performances across the month of August. The power has not yet manifested, but it is only a matter of time.
- Austin Riley & Dansby Swanson – The four and five hitters in the Atlanta lineup have been raking the last few weeks. Totaling nine long balls and 27 RBIs between the two hitters, they have single-handedly carried fantasy lineups as we near the last month.
Although Riley’s line has been powered by a lucky .457 BABIP, while Swanson’s line looks to be much less luck-driven. - Ty France – With a bit of an up and down season, France has flirted with the top 100 multiple times. With a second-half surge already totaling his power output from the first half (eight homers) and a solid .342 average, Seattle has to be just as pleased as his fantasy owners as we enter the stretch.
