Slight format change going forward with this column — I’m going to be leaving short term DL candidates near where they were ranked previously. It was become too hard to remember who and when players were coming back. (Yes, I do write the injury column — but I don’t write the healthy column.) This is what happened with Starling Marte — I don’t own any shares of Marte so I didn’t notice his return from DL so he was an unfortunate oversight the past few weeks in these rankings. If someone is looking like they’ll be out for a longer period of time — they might drop a bit more in the rankings or be removed entirely (as is the case with Jorge Soler and his broken foot.) Due to these new additions we’ve got a Top 110 hitters this week with guys like Josh Donaldson, Mookie Betts, Wil Myers, Yoenis Cespedes, Ronald Acuna and others making their surprise reemergence. Next week 10 of these hitters will probably work themselves off this list. Also, as a side effect to these new additions a lot of players will look like they’ve fallen really far in the rankings — again, this should normalize by next week.
Rising:
- Jose Ramirez: Holy crow. Right now, Ramirez is on pace for an 11.7 WAR season. That’s the highest WAR for a third basemen ever. Full stop. Period. End of paragraph (not really.) Ramirez is third in the MLB in HRs and 4th on ESPN’s player rater. Looking at his stats I was shocked at how well he was performing and thought to myself “Wow! This guy’s having an MVP season!” Then the reality of the greatness of Michael Nelson Trout. Despite all of Ramirez’s production this year — Trout is beating him in every category, except RBI, where he is tied. If I could somehow move Trout up in my rankings from #1 — I would. What would it be? 0.5? 0? The Greek letter for alpha?
- J.D. Martinez: Yes, I hear you loyal readers. You will find that I am kind. I am a generous God of the Top 100 Hitters column. (I apologize — I rewatched 300 this week just for kicks.) Many of you have been clamoring for Martinez to climb into the top 10 and you’ve officially wore me down! Well, actually his performance has worn me down. Since last week all he’s done is rap out another 9 hits, crush another 2 HRs and drawn another 7 walks. Again though — still pales in comparison to Trout. We need to appreciate this guy for what he’s doing. Trout is the LeBron of the MLB. Although without any of the hate — and Trout has only played in three playoff games and only logged 1 hit in those games. Hmmm….
Falling:
- Brian Dozier: I’ve kept Dozier fairly high in the rankings long enough. Sure, the 40 runs are nice, but everything else is severely dragging behind his career numbers. All of Dozier’s peripheral numbers are on par with previous seasons except his BABIP is the lowest of his career (2018: .249 || Career: .274.) Call me crazy, but I still consider Dozier a buy low candidate. Last year in the first half he was hitting only .242 with a .745 OPS only to close out the second half with a .304 AVG with a .985 OPS. He’ll be fine long term.
- Jed Lowrie: Lowrie exploded on to the scene after hitting 9 HR, 36 RBI, .340 AVG in his first 39 games. In the 28 games since he’s returned to the Lowrie we all know and loathe, 0 HR, 6 RBI, .200 AVG. He’s staying on this list for nostalgia sake — but I really think he’ll be gone by next week. Try to sell while you still can.
New Additions:
- Max Muncy: On June 9th, right after I finished writing my Top 100 article last week I tweeted, “Max Muncy didn’t make my Top 100 Hitters column coming out tomorrow…But maybe he should have?” He then hit HRs in three straight games for a total of four in a row. Muncy does have power history in his bat. He hit 25 HRs in the low minors in the Oakland Athletics system, but until this year hasn’t really been able to put it together in the bigs. Now, with a decent chunk of ABs and a few extra years of development, Muncy is breaking out in a big way. I first listed Muncy as a fill in option for Adrian Beltre in my injury column way back on May 23rd, and said this: “By the way — that walk rate is for real if you’re in an OBP league. He consistently put up double-digit walk rates throughout his entire career.” That still rings true and that plate discipline has allowed him to be very selective with his pitches and drive the ones he likes.
- Brian Anderson: Anderson is the highest scoring Marlin on the ESPN Player Rater and has quietly been a solid fantasy contributor. He’s actually second in hits among all third basemen. The HRs (4) and SBs (2) aren’t quite there but the 39 runs, 34 RBI and 27 walks are not bad for someone who probably went completely undrafted in most leagues. Anderson is a former 3rd round pick who did hit 22 HRs in 120 AA and AAA games with a .275 AVG last season so moderate power should come along while not sacrificing too much average especially if he turns that 50% ground ball rate into a bit more line drives and fly balls.
Top 100 Hittesr
GREEN: Rising | BLUE: New Additions | RED: Falling
| RANK | NAME | TEAM | POSITION | LAST WEEK |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mike Trout | LAA | OF | 1 |
| 2 | Mookie Betts | BOS | OF | DL |
| 3 | Jose Ramirez | CLE | 2B/3B | 8 |
| 4 | Bryce Harper | WAS | OF | 2 |
| 5 | Nolan Arenado | COL | 3B | 3 |
| 6 | Francisco Lindor | CLE | SS | 5 |
| 7 | Jose Altuve | HOU | 2B | 7 |
| 8 | Manny Machado | BAL | 3B | 9 |
| 9 | J.D. Martinez | BOS | OF | 15 |
| 10 | Charlie Blackmon | COL | OF | 4 |
| 11 | Aaron Judge | NYY | OF | 10 |
| 12 | Freddie Freeman | ATL | 1B | 11 |
| 13 | Anthony Rizzo | CHC | 1B | 14 |
| 14 | Trea Turner | WAS | SS | 6 |
| 15 | George Springer | HOU | OF | 17 |
| 16 | Andrew Benintendi | BOS | OF | 18 |
| 17 | Jean Segura | SEA | SS | 21 |
| 18 | Paul Goldschmidt | ARI | 1B | 23 |
| 19 | Giancarlo Stanton | NYY | OF | 19 |
| 20 | Christian Yelich | MIL | OF | 20 |
| 21 | Kris Bryant | CHC | 3B | 12 |
| 22 | Joey Votto | CIN | 1B | 13 |
| 23 | Carlos Correa | HOU | SS | 22 |
| 24 | Lorenzo Cain | MIL | OF | 28 |
| 25 | Jose Abreu | CHW | 1B | 24 |
| 26 | Alex Bregman | HOU | SS/3B | 25 |
| 27 | Dee Gordon | SEA | 2B/OF | 26 |
| 28 | Ozzie Albies | ATL | 2B | 16 |
| 29 | Cody Bellinger | LAD | 1B/OF | 27 |
| 30 | Javier Baez | CHC | SS/2B | 29 |
| 31 | Khris Davis | OAK | OF | 30 |
| 32 | Eddie Rosario | MIN | OF | 31 |
| 33 | Starling Marte | PIT | OF | NR |
| 34 | Justin Upton | ARI | OF | 32 |
| 35 | Mitch Haniger | SEA | OF | 33 |
| 36 | Daniel Murphy | WAS | 2B | DL |
| 37 | Xander Bogaerts | BOS | SS | 38 |
| 38 | Tommy Pham | STL | OF | 39 |
| 39 | Adam Eaton | WAS | OF | DL |
| 40 | Trevor Story | COL | SS | 49 |
| 41 | Brandon Belt | SF | OF | DL |
| 42 | Edwin Encarnacion | CLE | 1B | 40 |
| 43 | Nomar Mazara | TEX | OF | 41 |
| 44 | Eric Hosmer | SD | 1B | 37 |
| 45 | Scooter Gennett | CIN | 2B | 51 |
| 46 | Brian Dozier | MIN | 2B | 34 |
| 47 | Eugenio Suarez | CIN | 3B | 42 |
| 48 | Didi Gregorius | NYY | SS | 44 |
| 49 | Whit Merrifield | KC | 2B | 45 |
| 50 | Gary Sanchez | NYY | C | 36 |
| 51 | Ender Inciarte | ATL | OF | 46 |
| 52 | Travis Shaw | MIL | 3B | 48 |
| 53 | Mike Moustakas | KC | 3B | 35 |
| 54 | Michael Brantley | CLE | OF | 50 |
| 55 | Nelson Cruz | SEA | DH | 56 |
| 56 | Anthony Rendon | WAS | 3B | 43 |
| 57 | Cesar Hernandez | PHI | 2B | 52 |
| 58 | Rhys Hoskins | PHI | 1B/OF | 53 |
| 59 | Yoenis Cespedes | NYM | OF | DL |
| 60 | Andrew McCutchen | SF | OF | 54 |
| 61 | Nicholas Castellanos | DET | 3B/OF | 47 |
| 62 | Joey Gallo | TEX | 3B/1B | 55 |
| 63 | Josh Donaldson | TOR | 3B | DL |
| 64 | D.J. LeMahieu | COL | 2B | 60 |
| 65 | Jose Martinez | STL | 1B | 61 |
| 66 | Chris Taylor | LAD | 2B/OF/SS | 63 |
| 67 | Gleyber Torres | NYY | 2B/SS | 64 |
| 68 | Wil Myers | SD | 1B/OF | DL |
| 69 | Buster Posey | SF | C/1B | 67 |
| 70 | JT Realmuto | MIA | C | 68 |
| 71 | Shin-Soo Choo | TEX | OF | 74 |
| 72 | Matt Olson | OAK | 1B | 69 |
| 73 | Carlos Santana | PHI | 1B | 58 |
| 74 | Max Muncy | LAD | 1B/3B | NR |
| 75 | Justin Smoak | TOR | 1B | 57 |
| 76 | Adrian Beltre | TEX | 3B | 72 |
| 77 | Nick Markakis | ATL | OF | 73 |
| 78 | Marcell Ozuna | STL | OF | 80 |
| 79 | Matt Kemp | LAD | OF | 75 |
| 80 | Juan Soto | WAS | OF | 83 |
| 81 | Brett Gardner | NYY | OF | 59 |
| 82 | Ronald Acuna | ATL | OF | DL |
| 83 | Yoan Moncada | CWS | 2B | 65 |
| 84 | Kyle Schwarber | CHC | OF | 76 |
| 85 | Yangervis Solarte | TOR | 2B/SS/3B | 77 |
| 86 | CJ Cron | TB | 1B | 78 |
| 87 | Andrelton Simmons | LAA | SS | DL |
| 88 | AJ Pollock | ARI | OF | DL |
| 89 | Ryan Braun | MIL | OF | 71 |
| 90 | Jesus Aguilar | MIL | 1B | 79 |
| 91 | Jed Lowrie | OAK | 2B | 66 |
| 92 | Jonathan Schoop | BAL | 2B | 70 |
| 93 | Odubel Herrera | PHI | OF | 85 |
| 94 | Yasmani Grandal | LAD | C | 86 |
| 95 | Ian Desmond | COL | 1B/OF | 98 |
| 96 | Yasiel Puig | LAD | OF | 88 |
| 97 | Evan Gattis | HOU | C | NR |
| 98 | Brandon Crawford | SF | SS | 96 |
| 99 | Kyle Seager | SEA | 3B | 91 |
| 100 | David Peralta | ARI | OF | NR |
| 101 | Austin Meadows | PIT | OF | 82 |
| 102 | Leonys Martin | DET | OF | 100 |
| 103 | Adam Jones | BAL | OF | 81 |
| 104 | Justin Turner | LAD | 3B | 84 |
| 105 | Asdrubal Cabrera | NYM | 2B/SS/3B | 90 |
| 106 | Marcus Semien | OAK | SS | 89 |
| 107 | Brandon Nimmo | NYM | OF | 95 |
| 108 | Brian Anderson | MIA | 3B/OF | NR |
| 109 | Eduardo Escobar | MIN | 3B/SS | 97 |
| 110 | Jeimer Candelario | DET | 3B | 99 |
As always, if you’ve got a specific question — please leave it in the comments!
Rafael Devers is heating up and should probably sneak back into the bottom of the list
@Kerry: He definitely will. I’m liking that 11 out of 12 game hit streak. He’s in such a good position to succeed — it looks like he’s starting to turn it around.
Eduardo Escobar should be much higher. Cesar Hernandez over him?
@Mr. Sweat Necklace: You might be right — I might be overvaluing C-Hern’s steals and 2B eligibility.
I think Escobar fell due to that freezing cold spell he suffered through in the middle of May. He was on an elevator up and I felt burned.
Ozuna and Kemp where????? Crazy. What do these guys have to do be ahead the likes of McCutcheon etc. .
@ozunaiknow: Ozuna was a chump until June.
Kemp you’re right — I gotta get over my bias from his past 4-5 years of not living up to his 2011.
McCutchen’s been pretty consistently solid this year.
It’s time for Bryce Harper to fall into the mid-teens! I know it’s Harper, but he is struggling and looks bad.
@Derek Hall: Man, its weird. We’ve all bought into the hype.
There’s a whole lot of Bryce Harper truthers out there on Twitter who will point out his shortcomings.
He’s hit over 30 HRs once
Over 90 RBI: once
Over 20 SB: once
I’m hoping that 2015 doesn’t end up being the outlier.
Hi, 10 tm h2h pts – Moustakas has been so-so the last few weeks, drop him or Joc P. for either
D. Descalso or B. Anderson ?
thanks!
@surfer dude: I’d tough it out with Moustakas.
Maeda Stripling for Merrifield ?
@Jon: If you’ve got the pitching to spare then definitely.
Merrifield has a bruised knee but luckily it’s not looking like he’ll miss too much time.
If your trade partner is desperate for pitching — I’d offer just Stripling for Whit first.
Great move on the DL aspect. I’m guessing a lot of readers want the list for a utilitarian purpose; i.e. trade value, waiver moves, or even bench moves, so attempting to reflect injured players relative to healthier ones (by maintaining their presence while injured) satisfies that purpose. That it makes your life easier is just gravy.
I’m with you on Lowrie, and I own him – having consciously passed on Scooter Gennett both in the draft, and while he was still available on waivers, I am having the regrets. I also passed on Brantley when he came off the DL. Ugh. How am I still in first place? So many regrets.
Speaking of regrets. Joey Votto. Does he still deserve the high ranking? If we aren’t talking about an OBP league (though I play in one), is he actually closer in value to Albies, Bregman, Stanton or Bryant than Jose Martinez, Torres, or even Choo? The middle of June is a long time to let past years’ performance still carry weight.
Finally, love the 300 references. Its a hard movie to not rewatch “just because.” More good movie references!!
Fantasy baseball is all about name recognition, marquee value, etc. Sometimes you can make that work to your favor in pulling off a trade. Harper, Stanton, Bryant, Votto, all big name, marquee type players. Chances are if you had those players on your fantasy team, your probably scuffling bigly. My lineup is set based on actual production not because Stanton had a good year last year or Bryant had a good year two years ago. It’s not early anymore, half way point in twelve teamers. I have no problem benching a Stanton for a Nimmo if the matchup dictates.
@Wile E Coyote: So much easier — thanks for the advice a few weeks ago!
I was such a non-believer in Scooter going into this year. Thought last year was a total fluke. No one named Scooter can hit 27 HRs! But apparently the kid has made the necessary adjustments. Good for him. If the Reds farm pans out they could be pretty good in a few years.
Votto is just such a professional artist with the bat that I feel like he’s going to work his way through this and still finish with 25+ HRs 80 RBI/runs and a .300 AVG
No Tim Anderson? He is 35th on the Player Rater for the year and 36th in the last 30 days.
@simsbad: Weird — with what categories? He’s 69th on the player rater in 5×5 over the last 30 days and 61 in 2018.
He definitely had a rocket strapped to him when it looked like he was delivering on his stolen base promise but after having 8 in his first 15 games he’s had 6 in the 53 games since with a .238 average.
@Kerry Klug: I wasn’t including pitchers in the Player Rater when I said he was 35th on the year. He’s dropped to 43rd from 35th in the last 3 days.
Thanks for your work. Where would Zimmerman and DeJong slot in (hopefully by end of the month)?
@Weird Fishes: I’m thinking between 70-85 for both to start.
Zimm had a .233 BABIP but his hard hit% and line/fly ball percentages were close to what he did last year. I think he could come back and return to last year if he’s 100%
I like DeJong’s improvement in patience (4.7% last year to 9.4% this year) but I still don’t like the 30% strikeout rate.
Where do you think Rendon will finish the year on this list?
@Kyler Shaw: I’m hopeful that he can stay above the 50 mark. He’s been crushing the past 5 games so maybe he’s worked something out.
Dee Gordon….i’m barely ever playing him once I snagged Solarte off FA 1st week… Trying to trade him and Marte for a 1b and nobody even wants Gordon in our points league.
@hotmilk8: patience pays off — he’s 12 for his last 30. He’s been too good for too long to stay down.
Traded Lowrie on Monday. Why me God?