Top 100 Hitters: The Midfield

Over the last two weeks, we walked through the top 20 and top 40 hitters for 2024 fantasy baseball season. This week, we come to the midfield looking at hitters rounding out the top 60 for 2024. While injuries have begun to cast a shadow over the spring, the emergence of young talents like Jackson Merrill, James Wood, and Spencer Jones add excitement to our drafts and our rankings. This week, we begin to see the field narrowing as the gap between spots 41 and 60 is much closer than our early rankings. This is where leaps are made and risks must be taken. This group is chocked full of upside, dreams, and potential while sprinkled with a few reliable veterans. So grab your glove, adjust your draft boards, and get ready to knock it out of the park with this week’s breakdown of our top 100 hitters for 2024.

41. Oneil Cruz
42. Ha-Seong Kim
43. Matt McLain
44. Christian Yelich
45. Josh Lowe

Cruz has been off to a blistering start this spring with five homers and nearly 20 runs plus runs batted in.  If you miss out on Elly De La Cruz, ONeill may be the next most exciting talent you can dream on.  The rest of this tier is one of the last places you can get truly reliable speed with upside.  Outside of Christian Yelich who had a resurgence in 2023 Matt McLean, Ha-Seong Kim, and Josh Lowe should show growth in 2024.  Kim specifically has been on fire the spring and could be a dark horse for a 25 homer 50 steal season in 2024.  He might already be a bit too low in our rankings.

46. Wyatt Langford
47. Triston Casas
48. Christian Walker
49. Nolan Arenado
50. Nick Castellanos

While Wyatt Langford’s spring training has certainly had his fair share of luck in the batted ball data, it is hard to deny the true talent.  He looks all ready to break to camp with the Rangers who are slightly beat up on the offensive side.  Langford is clearly the leader out of the gate for the AL rookie of the year award.  The rest of this tier brings big power with little speed while still maintaining a respectable batting average.  Tristan Casas has been a sleeper pick for many this spring due to the quality of contact displayed in 2023 and the expectation of a step forward this season.  This tier rounds out with three players (Walker, Arenado, Castellanos) that should be reliable bets to deliver 30 homers and 100 RBI as a realistic floor they have delivered year in and year out.

51. William Contreras
52. J.T. Realmuto
53. Alex Bregman
54. Bryan Reynolds

Although William Contreras and J.T. Realmuto are on opposite ends of the age spectrum, they both deliver high-end production from the catcher position.  Although the position has become deeper in recent years, the fact that both can deliver a reasonable batting average with strong power will pay dividends for fantasy owners.  Alex Bregman and Bryan Reynolds both have been fantasy darlings in the past and are

looking to regain some of that form in 2024.  Bregman specifically has a strong lineup and finished 2023 on a bit of a tear in what is shaping up to be a deep third base class.

55. Gleyber Torres
56. Xander Bogaerts
57. Spencer Steer
58. Lane Thomas
59.  Josh Jung
60. George Springer

A move to the middle of the Yankees lineup should help Gleyber Torres run production however his 2023 does seem like a bit of an outlier from his overall career profile.  Xander Bogaerts has been dropping further than expected in drafts this spring for a player who nearly went 20/20 with a .285 average in 2023.  While his upside is limited, the floor is much better than expected or available at this point in the rankings.  This tier wraps the top 60 hitters with reliability without flash from guys like Spencer Steer, Lane Thomas, or George Springer.  Josh Jung is another to watch closely as the season approaches as his placement at the end of this list relies solely on his health concerns to start the season. If healthy, Jung would be 10 to 15 spots higher in our rankings.