LOGIN

Who else got victimized by Nelson Cruz last week? In his last 75 ABs here’s his line: 19/14/26/0/.333. That’s more than some guys had in the entire first-half. Oh wait — that’s almost more than the 16 Cruz put up the first half. The Twins are going to be battling for the AL Central with the Indians until the bitter end and clutch Cruz should keep them afloat the rest of the way.

Top 100 Hitters

Rank Name Position Team Last Change 2019
1 Christian Yelich OF MIL 1 0 80 37 82 23 330
2 Cody Bellinger 1B/OF LAD 2 0 89 36 85 9 326
3 Mike Trout OF LAA 3 0 85 36 87 8 299
4 Ronald Acuna Jr. OF ATL 4 0 87 27 70 25 289
5 Trevor Story SS COL 5 0 81 25 63 14 283
6 Freddie Freeman 1B ATL 7 1 85 26 86 5 301
7 Nolan Arenado 3B COL 6 -1 71 24 83 2 305
8 Javier Baez 2B/SS/3B CHC 8 0 77 26 73 9 288
9 Anthony Rendon 3B WAS 9 0 78 24 85 1 316
10 Mookie Betts OF BOS 10 0 101 19 59 12 286

Not too much movement at the top. In fact the only thing separating the top 3 guys is Yelich’s stolen bases. NL MVP might be decided by team record. I flip-flopped Freeman and Arenado because statistically, Freeman is topping him out in almost every major category. Both are obvious studs — Arenado will always get the first-round love so I thought Freddie deserved this.

Rank Name Position Team Last Change 2019
11 Rafael Devers 3B BOS 14 3 90 22 86 8 320
12 Charlie Blackmon OF COL 12 0 82 22 63 2 325
13 Alex Bregman 3B/SS HOU 13 0 80 27 67 4 267
14 Francisco Lindor SS CLE 21 7 63 20 48 17 307
15 Xander Bogaerts SS BOS 20 5 88 25 84 3 309
16 Josh Bell 1B PIT 11 -5 75 27 89 0 282
17 Anthony Rizzo 1B CHC 15 -2 68 21 71 4 286
18 Pete Alonso 1B NYM 16 -2 67 34 78 1 256
19 J.D. Martinez OF BOS 17 -2 65 24 65 1 299
20 Eddie Rosario OF MIN 18 -2 59 23 74 3 286

There’s Lindy climbing the ranks. Really I only moved him up because of Baker Mayfield rocking his jersey while shotgunning that beer like a champ. Don’t you dare tell me the HR Derby jinx isn’t real. In the second half Josh Bell has 0 HRs and a .186 BA in 70 ABs.

 

Rank Name Position Team Last Change 2019
21 Manny Machado SS SD 22 1 65 26 69 3 278
22 Whit Merrifield 2B KC 23 1 76 12 55 16 298
23 Kris Bryant 3B/OF CHC 24 1 81 21 51 2 287
24 Starling Marte OF PIT 31 7 77 20 67 17 286
25 George Springer OF HOU 25 0 67 25 62 5 291
26 Trea Turner SS WAS 34 8 49 9 28 22 288
27 Eduardo Escobar SS/3B ARI 27 0 69 24 88 4 279
28 Max Muncy 1B/3B LAD 28 0 75 27 75 3 268
29 Mike Moustakas 3B MIL 29 0 62 26 61 3 268
30 Fernando Tatis Jr. SS SD 30 0 55 19 46 14 323

Luckily for the Pirates, Marte is picking up all the slack that Bell is letting out. Since the All-Star Break: 90 ABs, 23/8/22/4/.311. Makes me wish there was a stolen base contest during the All-Star festivities.

Rank Name Position Team Last Change 2019
31 Ketel Marte 2B/SS/OF ARI 33 2 75 24 66 6 319
32 Nelson Cruz DH MIN 89 57 56 30 72 0 292
33 Elvis Andrus SS TEX 35 2 55 8 54 23 283
34 Bryce Harper OF PHI 36 2 64 19 73 6 248
35 Yoan Moncada 2B CHW 38 3 58 20 59 7 301
36 Michael Brantley OF HOU 39 3 61 16 67 3 320
37 Jose Altuve 2B HOU 50 13 51 18 45 4 300
38 Aaron Judge OF NYY 41 3 39 12 29 2 283
39 Jose Abreu 1B CHW 42 3 51 23 76 2 259
40 Carlos Santana 1B CLE 43 3 74 24 63 4 281

MVP Altuve is back babyyyyy! Since July 1st he’s hitting close to .400 (.383) in 120 ABs. You’d like to see a bit more speed (3,) but he’s really back in his old form. This Astros team is title bound and Altuve is leading the way.

I know you’re all mad at Judge being this low, but since his return from the IL he only has 7 HRs in 132 ABs. His hard contact rate is the highest of his career, but his fly ball percentage is at it’s lowest. If he can get under the ball a bit more — he could Cruz it up for the Yankees going forward. That’s just science.

Rank Name Position Team Last Change 2019
41 Juan Soto OF WAS 44 3 64 21 71 8 284
42 Joey Gallo 1B/OF TEX 26 -16 54 22 49 4 253
43 Marcell Ozuna OF StL 37 -6 53 20 62 8 258
44 DJ LeMahieu 1B/2B/3B NYY 46 2 77 17 75 4 335
45 Gleyber Torres 2B NYY 45 0 70 23 63 4 288
46 Jonathan Villar 2B BAL 57 11 72 14 49 24 258
47 Max Kepler OF MIN 58 11 75 30 76 1 267
48 Yasiel Puig OF CIN 51 3 52 22 63 16 253
49 Jorge Polanco SS MIN 47 -2 70 17 55 4 299
50 Eugenio Suarez 3B CIN 48 -2 58 29 71 3 259
51 Trey Mancini OF/1B BAL 54 3 72 26 62 1 280
52 Matt Chapman 3B OAK 52 0 69 24 64 0 257
53 Adalberto Mondesi SS KC 19 -34 48 7 52 31 268
54 Ramon Laureano OF OAK 32 -22 67 21 58 12 284
55 Austin Meadows OF TBR 40 -15 48 18 53 9 287
56 Andrew Benintendi OF BOS 69 13 57 12 57 9 284
57 Ozzie Albies 2B ATL 55 -2 68 15 58 10 286
58 Paul DeJong SS STL 56 -2 71 19 52 6 255
59 Rhys Hoskins OF PHI 59 0 56 24 69 1 254
60 J.T. Realmuto C PHI 62 2 66 15 55 4 274

Max Kepler has done his best to be the Jose Canseco to Cruz’s Mark McGwire in his last 14 games: 16/7/16/0/.302. Kepler could end the season as the league’s biggest surprise 40 HR hitter.

Is Benintendi finally off his bender? In his last 14 games he’s hitting over .400 with 11 runs, 5 HRs and 15 RBI. Anyone counting out the Red Sox might want to reevaluate — they’ve got 4 players in the top 20 and an up and coming Benintendi. Oh wait — their starting rotation has an ERA over 5.00 on the year? Yea, I get it now.

Rank Name Position Team Last Change 2019
61 Shin-Soo Choo OF OAK 65 4 71 18 44 8 281
62 Luke Voit 1B NYY 53 -9 60 19 54 0 278
63 Jorge Soler OF KC 66 3 59 29 75 0 251
64 Domingo Santana OF SEA 67 3 61 21 67 7 266
65 Tommy Pham OF TBR 68 3 52 16 49 13 278
66 Tim Anderson SS CHW 70 4 41 12 39 15 307
67 Michael Conforto OF NYM 71 4 60 22 58 5 253
68 Paul Goldschmidt 1B StL 84 16 67 25 58 0 260
69 Vlad Guerrero Jr. 3B TOR 86 17 42 13 49 0 279
70 Jean Segura SS PHI 72 2 61 11 45 7 281
71 Yasmani Grandal C MIL 73 2 51 19 55 4 251
72 Dansby Swanson SS ATL 60 -12 64 17 57 7 265
73 Willson Contreras C CHC 61 -12 45 19 57 1 275
74 Eric Hosmer 1B SD 75 1 56 16 75 0 283
75 Edwin Encarnacion 1B NYY 49 -26 75 30 76 0 240
76 Hunter Renfroe OF SD 76 0 49 30 59 4 237
77 Yordan Alvarez OF HOU 88 11 24 13 41 0 340
78 Danny Santana 1B/2B/OF TEX NA 57 17 49 12 325
79 Gary Sanchez C NYY 63 -16 43 24 58 0 229
80 Byron Buxton OF MIN 80 0 48 10 46 14 262

What? You expected the prospect with the best hit tool in the last decade to stay down? In his last 60 ABs Vlad is hitting .450. If there is anyone in the majors who could get close to hitting .400 over a whole season — I’m putting my money on the kid.

 

Rank Name Position Team Last Change 2019
81 Alex Gordon OF KC 81 0 61 11 60 5 277
82 Victor Robles OF WAS 82 0 59 14 46 17 238
83 David Dahl OF COL 64 -19 67 15 61 4 302
84 Jose Ramirez 3B CLE 100 16 55 14 57 22 241
85 Hunter Dozier 1B/3B KC 78 -7 49 18 59 1 277
86 Hunter Pence OF TEX 79 -7 48 16 53 4 293
87 Joc Pederson OF LAD 74 -13 56 23 50 1 228
88 Shohei Ohtani DH LAA 83 -5 35 15 43 9 287
89 Justin Turner 3B LAD 85 -4 64 17 48 1 285
90 Franmil Reyes OF SD 87 -3 44 27 47 0 250
91 Dan Vogelbach 1B SEA 90 -1 59 26 66 0 229
92 Amed Rosario SS NYM NA NA 51 11 47 13 280
93 Keston Hiura 2B MIL 92 -1 26 11 27 7 307
94 Michael Chavis 2B/3B BOS 93 -1 46 18 57 2 259
95 Avisail Garcia OF TBR 94 -1 45 14 51 9 279
96 Lourdes Gurriel Jr. 2B/SS/OF TOR 95 -1 49 18 45 6 285
97 Jeff McNeil 2B/3B/OF NYM NA NA 61 13 49 4 336
98 Eloy Jimenez OF CHW 97 -1 38 18 42 0 235
99 Yuli Gurriel 1B/3B HOU 98 -1 58 20 69 3 293
100 Carlos Correa SS HOU 99 -1 31 14 44 1 290

Another 2 weeks — another big climb for J-Ram. 52 ABs, 9 runs, 4 HRs, 11 RBI, 2 SBs and a .308 AVG. Where are you drafting him next year? Are you drafting him next year??

A pair of Mets enter the fray this week too. It hasn’t been the prettiest year for the Amazin’s, but they Rosario could end up going 15/15 with a .280 AVG. Imagine what his team stats would be on a team that played in the first-half! Same goes for McNeil — he’s leading the NL in batting average (.336) which is contributing to his .400 OBP — but imagine how many runs he’d have if he was on a competitive team (he’s at 61 now.)