Welcome to the month of May. As the quote goes “All things seem possible in May”. From a fantasy manager perspective, that is likely great news as nothing has gone to plan for your 2023 season. Whether that is a demotion of a budding young star like Jordan Walker. Maybe it is an injury that kicked you before you even started, like Jose Altuve. Or simply it could be an investment not paying off, like Jose Abreu. Many fantasy managers are glad to be running into May. Speaking of running, we have a new leader atop our Top 100 hitters for the rest of the 2023 fantasy baseball season. That guy is none other than Ronald Acuna Jr. who leads the league in stolen bases and has already amassed a combined 50 Runs + RBI. All of this with a massive leap forward in approach at the plate with his strikeout rate dropping ten points to land below 15%. At this point, we could be looking at a 25 homerun and 50 stolen base season for the Brave. Move over Trea Turner, the top spot belongs to Ronnie.
Rising
- Bryce Harper – He is back and ready to rake. I do not know why we thought he would be out until mid-season. If we think there will be rust, we need to prepare to be wrong. He jumps right up the rankings as if he never left. Stay healthy the rest of the way Bryce.
- Masataka Yoshida – Yoshida was riding a 15-game hitting streak coming into the weekend including five longballs and 18 RBI over that timeframe. He looks like he is settling very well into Boston after a rough start. He has displayed fantastic plate discipline walking more than he strikes out with impressive exit velocities. It would not be a surprise to see him hit .300 this year. All those metrics are exciting, but more importantly, his dog is named after Mr. Harper above.
- Thairo Estrada – I think I may have been sleeping a bit too much on Estrada and simply cannot ignore the production at this point. Four homers, nine steals, and 30+ R and RBI is no small feat in San Francisco. He does have a BABIP over .400 and there is regression at play. However, he will continue to get opportunities to pad the running stats with a spot at the top of the lineup and 84% percentile sprint speed.
- Yandy Diaz – Diaz has always hit the ball incredibly hard and has only been an adjustment away from really breaking out. With a jump in his launch angle, the ball is flying out of the park. Toss in the run production and plate appearances sitting at the top of the high-producing Tampa lineup and he has a chance to threaten 100 runs. The only reason that he is not higher is that the power is likely overstated so far this season and there is a good chance he does not maintain those numbers the whole season.
Falling
- Jose Abreu – The move to Houston was supposed to help Abreu rebound from a disappointing 2022 season. Unfortunately, we have seen Jose slip the opposite direction and now have roughly 200 plate appearances dating back to last year since he went deep. I do believe he will figure things out and start producing at a decent clip at some point this season. Sometimes players get lost and there is little statistical explanation. He is firmly in the hold position now.
- Starling Marte – I am worried about Marte. For a player that relies upon his speed and volume, he has seemed simply slow this season. The numbers back that up as his sprint speeds have taken a significant step back when the rest of the league seems to be figuring out how to steal bases in bunches. Marte is somebody I might be looking to sell at a discount before he really drops down the rankings.
Watching
- Brent Rooker – The 28-year-old Rooker has struggled in his career to find consistent playing time with high strikeout rates. This season has seen a significant improvement in his approach at the plate walking over 15% of the time. The power has jumped up with an increase in his flyballs and maybe a slight bit of luck. He is still being looked over due to playing on the west coast with the A’s, but we cannot ignore the 10 homer and 25 RBI production much longer as he creeps into our top 100 this week.
- Josh Jung – Jung was a first-round pick and highly ranked prospect in the Texas system. He already has eight homers and 24 RBI on the young season with a .266 average. He has made some adjustments at the plate to use the whole field while putting the ball in the air more than last year. However, he strikes out at high clip (32%) with an aggressive approach at the plate which will drive some hot and cold streaks. That batting average will likely drop as the season progresses with his approach. However, the Rangers seem dedicated to him as the #5 hitter and that will keep the floor reasonable as long as you can handle the average penalty.
- Shea Langeliers – The second Oakland Athletic that we are watching this week is Shea Langeliers. Shea has already matched his power production from last year with six homers in only 28 games to start the season. His average has been underwhelming thanks in part to a .231 BABIP which should recover to some degree. A highly touted prospect, he has done his part with Oakland and finds himself in the middle of the order. Usable in two catcher leagues, he is definitely one to watch the next month or so.
