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There are those who would call for Yordan Alvarez to be a top-50 player already. With 27 combined HRs this season and 78! 78! 78! RBI in 60 games between AAA and the big leagues — I get that. I’m just a little hesitant due to his playing time. When George Springer comes back and the rest of the Astros get healthy will he stay up? I hope so because he is crushing the ball right now — but he has minor league options left and is still only a 22-year-old kid. Age is just a number though as this kid’s potential has MVP written all over it in one of the best lineups in baseball.

 

Rank Name Position Team Last Change
1 Christian Yelich OF MIL 1 0
2 Cody Bellinger 1B/OF LAD 2 0
3 Trevor Story SS COL 3 0
4 Nolan Arenado 3B COL 4 0
5 Mike Trout OF LAA 5 0
6 Adalberto Mondesi SS KC 6 0
7 Josh Bell 1B PIT 7 0
8 Freddie Freeman 1B ATL 9 1
9 Alex Bregman 3B/SS HOU 10 1
10 Ronald Acuna Jr. OF ATL 12 2

Not too much moving an a-shaking in the top 10 this week as most of the players had average weeks. Except of course for your reigning, defending, undisputed NL MVP Christian Yelich. He is performing at a Yordanian level!

 

Rank Name Position Team Last Change
11 Mookie Betts OF BOS 11 0
12 Javier Baez 2B/SS/3B CHC 8 -4
13 Anthony Rendon 3B WAS 13 0
14 J.D. Martinez OF BOS 15 1
15 Eddie Rosario OF MIN 17 2
16 Joey Gallo 1B/OF TEX 14 -2
17 George Springer OF HOU 16 -1
18 Anthony Rizzo 1B CHC 19 1
19 Charlie Blackmon OF COL 22 3
20 Marcell Ozuna OF StL 20 0

I dropped Baez a little bit this week because the lack of steals is keeping him from being a top-10 talent. “But, but, but Kerry!” I’m a boob guy — deal with it. Kid has 21 stolen bases last year and is now only sitting at 2?

Blackmon has had a Yordanian last 5 games: 14 hits in 25 ABs, 8 runs, 5 HRs, and 10 RBI. If he keeps this up (he won’t) I’ll springboard him to the top 10.

 

Rank Name Position Team Last Change
21 Whit Merrifield 2B KC 21 0
22 Pete Alonso 1B NYM 23 1
23 Xander Bogaerts SS BOS 24 1
24 Rafael Devers 3B BOS 25 1
25 Kris Bryant 3B/OF CHC 26 1
26 Mike Moustakas 3B MIL 35 9
27 Eduardo Escobar SS/3B ARI 38 11
28 Tim Anderson SS CHW 18 -10
29 Rhys Hoskins OF PHI 27 -2
30 Bryce Harper OF PHI 30 0

Escobar is a surprising 4th in RBI in the league. Between him and Ketel Marte, the Diamondbacks fanbase can’t be missing Paul Goldschmidt all that much.

This drop isn’t Tim Anderson’s fault, but more the team around him. I see the double-digit HRs and SBs and the .300+ AVG, but 30ish runs and 30ish RBI can’t be a top 25 player.

 

Rank Name Position Team Last Change
31 Elvis Andrus SS TEX 33 2
32 Michael Brantley OF HOU 28 -4
33 Francisco Lindor SS CLE 31 -2
34 Yoan Moncada 2B CHW 32 -2
35 Austin Meadows OF TBR 34 -1
36 Eugenio Suarez 3B CIN 29 -7
37 Trea Turner SS WAS 36 -1
38 Jose Abreu 1B CHW 37 -1
39 Ketel Marte 2B/SS/OF ARI 41 2
40 Max Muncy 1B/3B LAD 42 2

You know who isn’t Yordanian? My NL MVP pick Eugenio Suarez. In his last 14 games he has only 8 hits. Yordan Alvarez gets that in a game!

 

Rank Name Position Team Last Change
41 Jorge Polanco SS MIN 45 4
42 Starling Marte OF PIT 61 19
43 Edwin Encarnacion 1B NYY 49 6
44 Juan Soto OF WAS 39 -5
45 Gleyber Torres 2B NYY 40 -5
46 Matt Chapman 3B OAK 43 -3
47 Paul Goldschmidt 1B StL 46 -1
48 Andrew Benintendi OF BOS 48 0
49 Joc Pederson OF LAD 44 -5
50 Luke Voit 1B NYY 59 9

I’ve been hesitant to move Starling Marte up or down at all. At the end of May 27th, he had a sub-.250 average, 6 HRs, and 8 SB. Starling has been hitting like Ketel over his last 16 games though: 28 hits in 72 ABs, 14 runs, 4 HRs, 13 RBI and 3 SBs.

AL HR Leader Edwin Encarnacion joins the team with the most HRs in 2018, the New York Yankees. And in a few weeks, they should be getting sluggers Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge back. That’s three 50-HR threats in a single lineup. Good luck AL East pitching! It will be interesting, however, to see how E5 handles NY. Not all players can manage the stress and pressure. He does have 18 HRs, .263 AVG and .840 OPS at Yankee Stadium.

 

Rank Name Position Team Last Change
51 Domingo Santana OF SEA 47 -4
52 David Peralta OF ARI 51 -1
53 Ozzie Albies 2B ATL 54 1
54 Carlos Correa SS HOU 52 -2
55 Jose Altuve 2B HOU 53 -2
56 Paul DeJong SS STL 56 0
57 Aaron Judge OF NYY 57 0
58 Manny Machado SS SD 58 0
59 Mitch Haniger OF SEA 60 1
60 Lorenzo Cain OF MIL 50 -10

Cain was a top-10 MVP finalist last year and I guess I was kinda holding onto that performance heading into this year. However, outside of his 42 runs he’s been disappointing: 4 HRs, 27 RBI, 7 SB, .250 AVG. That isn’t a top-50 player.

 

Rank Name Position Team Last Change
61 Michael Conforto OF NYM 62 1
62 Willson Contreras C CHC 55 -7
63 Giancarlo Stanton OF NYY 63 0
64 J.T. Realmuto C PHI 64 0
65 Fernando Tatis Jr. SS SD 70 5
66 Trey Mancini OF/1B BAL 73 7
67 Hunter Dozier 1B/3B KC 65 -2
68 Tommy Pham OF TBR 66 -2
69 Max Kepler OF MIN 72 3
70 Hunter Pence OF TEX 75 5

Another week of me doubting Mancini, another solid week from Mancini. He was 6 for 15 with 4 runs, 2 HRs, 3 RBI and even stole a random base. He is trying to earn every arbitration dollar he can.

Rank Name Position Team Last Change
71 Jean Segura SS PHI 68 -3
72 Yasmani Grandal C MIL 69 -3
73 Vlad Guerrero Jr. 3B TOR 71 -2
74 Shin-Soo Choo OF OAK 76 2
75 Byron Buxton OF MIN 83 8
76 Alex Gordon OF KC 77 1
77 Brandon Lowe 2B TBR 78 1
78 Khris Davis DH OAK 80 2
79 Jonathan Villar 2B BAL 67 -12
80 Justin Turner 3B LAD 81 1

Buxton finally has his K/rate under 25% (22.5%) and is on pace for a 20/20 season. It’s not the 50/50 we were promised when he was a top prospect a few years ago, but we can’t forget that he’s still only 25. The young Buck is finally growing up into a 10 pointer.

 

Rank Name Position Team Last Change
81 Dansby Swanson SS ATL 82 1
82 David Dahl OF COL 88 6
83 Eric Hosmer 1B SD 84 1
84 Gary Sanchez C NYY 89 5
85 Nelson Cruz DH MIN 95 10
86 Dan Vogelbach 1B SEA 92 6
87 Ryan Braun OF MIL 79 -8
88 Michael Chavis 2B/3B BOS 93 5
89 Avisail Garcia OF TBR 85 -4
90 Nick Castellanos OF DET 86 -4

A lot of people were butthurt about Cruz’s ranking so far this year. In his first 36 games, he only had 7 HRs, guys. He’s the oldest guy on this list and is bound to breakdown sooner rather than later. I’ll give him the obvious credit though — in his last 7 games, he has 5 HRs. Like NBA Jam — he’s heating up!

 

Rank Name Position Team Last Change
91 CJ Cron 1B MIN 90 -1
92 Tommy La Stella 2B/3B LAA 91 -1
93 Hunter Renfroe OF SD 99 6
94 Wil Myers 3B/OF SD 94 0
95 Austin Riley 3B/OF ATL 96 1
96 Franmil Reyes OF SD 97 1
97 Eloy Jimenez OF CHW NA
98 Shohei Ohtani DH LAA NA
99 Yordan Alvarez OF HOU NA
100 Jorge Soler OF KC NA

Eloy’s first 38 games of 2019: 6 HRs, .227 AVG. Eloy’s last 6 games: 5 HRs, .381 AVG. Jimenez was a top-15 prospect for three years in a row so he deserves the benefit of the doubt for being on this list.

Ohtani’s June: 12 runs, 5 HRs, 13 RBI, 2 SB, .417 AVG. Ohtani’s slash numbers are very close to last year’s and if he can stay healthy he should surpass all his counting numbers.

Jorge Soler: in last week’s column someone wrote in the comments that I should give a second look to Soler. Despite his 7th worst K/rate (29.6%) Soler has still been productive this season: his 47 RBI and 17 HRs are both tied for 5th in the AL.