I’m going to do something a little different this week. I wanted to do a fun little experiment to show how tricky it can be to rank 100 hitters every week. It can be tough to decide which statistic is more valuable in standard 5×5 leagues while also taking into account: age, injury history, lineup, previous performance, home stadium, position eligibility, splits, etc.
Player A: 54 runs/19 HRs/61 RBI/5 SB/.272 AVG
Player B: 65 runs/19 HRs/65 RBI/7 SB/.245 AVG
Player C: 56 runs/19 HRs/58 RBI/2 SB/.303 AVG
I ranked them: C, A, B and even to this second I’m second-guessing myself. Sure, B has more runs, RBI and stolen bases, but that .245 AVG can really hurt a team. However, C has the least RBI and stolen bases, but a nice .303 AVG which has him tied for 16th among eligible hitters. Stat heads among you may have already figured it out by these hitters are (A) Odubel Herrera, (B) Gregory Polanco and (C) David Peralta. Based on name value you might change your rankings. We’ve been hoping Polanco would go 30/30 for years now — and his ADP reflects that. Polanco’s ADP is 134 compared to 230 for Peralta. However Peralta’s .303 average makes him more valuable in my opinion.
Player A: 56 runs/23 HRs/68 RBI/2 SB/.252 AVG
Player B: 52 runs/16 HRs/58 RBI/0 SB/.289 AVG
Player C: 50 runs/20 HR/68 RBI/3 SB/.253 AVG
I ranked them: A, C, B. Like Polanco in example 1, Player B’s average is keeping him in the conversation since all his other numbers are lower than A and C. Ranking this trio might seem a bit more obvious. Well, what if I told you these guys are (A) Travis Shaw, (B) Anthony Rendon and (C) Mike Moustakas? I second-guess myself ranking Rendon below Shaw and Moustakas because Rendon was an MVP candidate last season and we know he’s capable of. Shaw is statistically superior right now, but what about to close out your fantasy season? And how do we account for Shaw losing some ABs to Moustakas, but gaining second base eligibility in a few days?
Player A: 63 runs/17 HRs/64 RBI/1 SB/.217 AVG
Player B: 62 runs/31 HRs/71 RBI/3 SB/.199 AVG
Player C: 60 runs/22 HRs/54 RBI/2 SB/.235 AVG
I ranked them: B, C, A. Alright, I can get this one out of the way: .199 AVG and 31 HRs? Only one player is capable of such a feat and that’s Joey Gallo. The other two: A is Carlos Santana and C is Matt Olson. All Santana owners are hoping for him to bring his average a bit closer to the .259 he put up in 2016 and 2017, but we’ve only got about 40 games left in the season — when should we abandon all hope? Olson (along with Rhys Hoskins) was a sophomore player we all were banking on for a breakout season in Oakland and his 117 ADP speaks to that. So I put Gallo at the top knowing full well that his .199 is nauseating, but his 71 RBI actually have him tied with Bryce Harper and Freddie Freeman and he’s one of only seven players with over 30 HRs so far this season. So who would you rank higher? The old, reliable Carlos Santana? The upside of the 24 year old Matt Olson? Or the boom stick of Joey Gallo?
These are the questions I get to ask myself every week — and I’m not asking you to feel sorry for me — these rankings are really fun to do! I’m just genuinely curious for the Razzball family’s feedback.
Top 100 Hitters
GREEN: Rising | BLUE: New Additions | RED: Falling
| RANK | NAME | TEAM | POSITION | LAST WEEK | CHANGE |
| 1 | Mookie Betts | BOS | OF | 2 | 1 |
| 2 | Jose Ramirez | CLE | 2B/3B | 3 | 1 |
| 3 | Francisco Lindor | CLE | SS | 4 | 1 |
| 4 | J.D. Martinez | BOS | OF | 5 | 1 |
| 5 | Mike Trout | LAA | OF | 1 | -4 |
| 6 | Andrew Benintendi | BOS | OF | 6 | 0 |
| 7 | Manny Machado | LAD | 3B | 7 | 0 |
| 8 | Javier Baez | CHC | SS/2B | 8 | 0 |
| 9 | Nolan Arenado | COL | 3B | 9 | 0 |
| 10 | Paul Goldschmidt | ARI | 1B | 11 | 1 |
| 11 | Trea Turner | WAS | SS | 12 | 1 |
| 12 | Alex Bregman | HOU | SS/3B | 13 | 1 |
| 13 | Matt Carpenter | STL | 1B/2B/3B | 39 | 26 |
| 14 | Freddie Freeman | ATL | 1B | 14 | 0 |
| 15 | Giancarlo Stanton | NYY | OF | 15 | 0 |
| 16 | Eugenio Suarez | CIN | 3B | 16 | 0 |
| 17 | Trevor Story | COL | SS | 17 | 0 |
| 18 | Bryce Harper | WAS | OF | 18 | 0 |
| 19 | Khris Davis | OAK | OF | 24 | 5 |
| 20 | Christian Yelich | MIL | OF | 25 | 5 |
| 21 | Starling Marte | PIT | OF | 21 | 0 |
| 22 | Charlie Blackmon | COL | OF | 10 | -12 |
| 23 | Justin Upton | LAA | OF | 32 | 9 |
| 24 | Shin-Soo Choo | TEX | OF | 26 | 2 |
| 25 | Juan Soto | WAS | OF | 38 | 13 |
| 26 | Eddie Rosario | MIN | OF | 20 | -6 |
| 27 | Jesus Aguilar | MIL | 1B | 27 | 0 |
| 28 | Scooter Gennett | CIN | 2B | 28 | 0 |
| 29 | Jose Altuve | HOU | 2B | 19 | -10 |
| 30 | George Springer | HOU | OF | 29 | -1 |
| 31 | Max Muncy | LAD | 1B/2B/3B | 30 | -1 |
| 32 | Nelson Cruz | SEA | DH | 31 | -1 |
| 33 | Ozzie Albies | ATL | 2B | 23 | -10 |
| 34 | Jean Segura | SEA | SS | 34 | 0 |
| 35 | Edwin Encarnacion | CLE | 1B | 35 | 0 |
| 36 | Lorenzo Cain | MIL | OF | 37 | 1 |
| 37 | Aaron Judge | NYY | OF | 22 | -15 |
| 38 | Nick Markakis | ATL | OF | 47 | 9 |
| 39 | Cody Bellinger | LAD | 1B/OF | 40 | 1 |
| 40 | Mitch Haniger | SEA | OF | 41 | 1 |
| 41 | Xander Bogaerts | BOS | SS | 44 | 3 |
| 42 | Anthony Rizzo | CHC | 1B | 42 | 0 |
| 43 | Aaron Hicks | NYY | OF | 43 | 0 |
| 44 | Didi Gregorius | NYY | SS | 48 | 4 |
| 45 | AJ Pollock | ARI | OF | 46 | 1 |
| 46 | Brian Dozier | LAD | 2B | 45 | -1 |
| 47 | Rhys Hoskins | PHI | 1B/OF | 33 | -14 |
| 48 | Tim Anderson | CWS | SS | 49 | 1 |
| 49 | Ronald Acuna | ATL | OF | 56 | 7 |
| 50 | Jose Abreu | CWS | 1B | 59 | 9 |
| 51 | Ian Desmond | COL | 1B/OF | 50 | -1 |
| 52 | Matt Kemp | LAD | OF | 36 | -16 |
| 53 | Carlos Correa | HOU | SS | 52 | -1 |
| 54 | Travis Shaw | MIL | 3B | 54 | 0 |
| 55 | Mike Moustakas | KC | 3B | 53 | -2 |
| 56 | Anthony Rendon | WAS | 3B | 55 | -1 |
| 57 | Michael Brantley | CLE | OF | 57 | 0 |
| 58 | Whit Merrifield | KC | 2B | 65 | 7 |
| 59 | Joey Votto | CIN | 1B | 51 | -8 |
| 60 | Elvis Andrus | TEX | SS | 60 | 0 |
| 61 | Cesar Hernandez | PHI | 2B | 68 | 7 |
| 62 | Gleyber Torres | NYY | 2B/SS | 66 | 4 |
| 63 | David Peralta | ARI | OF | 89 | 26 |
| 64 | Odubel Herrera | PHI | OF | 58 | -6 |
| 65 | Wil Myers | SD | 1B/OF | 61 | -4 |
| 66 | Eduardo Escobar | ARZ | 3B/SS | 80 | 14 |
| 67 | Nicholas Castellanos | DET | 3B/OF | 64 | -3 |
| 68 | Asdrubal Cabrera | PHI | 2B/SS/3B | 79 | 11 |
| 69 | Rougned Odor | TEX | 2B | 86 | 17 |
| 70 | Chris Taylor | LAD | 2B/OF/SS | 82 | 12 |
| 71 | Gregory Polanco | PIT | OF | 84 | 13 |
| 72 | Brandon Belt | SF | OF | 62 | -10 |
| 73 | Nomar Mazara | TEX | OF | 63 | -10 |
| 74 | Dee Gordon | SEA | 2B/OF | 71 | -3 |
| 75 | Daniel Murphy | WAS | 2B | 70 | -5 |
| 76 | Andrelton Simmons | LAA | SS | 91 | 15 |
| 77 | Ender Inciarte | ATL | OF | 81 | 4 |
| 78 | D.J. LeMahieu | COL | 2B | 83 | 5 |
| 79 | Adam Eaton | WAS | OF | 76 | -3 |
| 80 | Andrew McCutchen | SF | OF | 85 | 5 |
| 81 | Maikel Franco | PHI | 3B | 96 | 15 |
| 82 | Joey Gallo | TEX | 3B/1B | 88 | 6 |
| 83 | Jurickson Profar | TEX | SS/3B/OF | 98 | 15 |
| 84 | Matt Chapman | OAK | 3B | 99 | 15 |
| 85 | Brian Anderson | MIA | 3B/OF | 94 | 9 |
| 86 | Kole Calhoun | LAA | OF | NR | N/A |
| 87 | Kyle Schwarber | CHC | OF | 73 | -14 |
| 88 | Mallex Smith | TBR | OF | NR | N/A |
| 89 | Yonder Alonso | CLE | 1B | 100 | 11 |
| 90 | Jose Peraza | CIN | 2B/SS | NR | N/A |
| 91 | Matt Olson | OAK | 1B | 74 | -17 |
| 92 | Carlos Santana | PHI | 1B | 77 | -15 |
| 93 | Adrian Beltre | TEX | 3B | 90 | -3 |
| 94 | JT Realmuto | MIA | C | 72 | -22 |
| 95 | Yasmani Grandal | LAD | C | 97 | 2 |
| 96 | Brett Gardner | NYY | OF | 92 | -4 |
| 97 | Yoan Moncada | CWS | 2B | 69 | -28 |
| 98 | Brandon Nimmo | NYM | OF | 75 | -23 |
| 99 | Adam Jones | BAL | OF | NR | N/A |
| 100 | Mark Trumbo | BAL | OF | NR | N/A |
How is Muncy ahead of Nelson Cruz?
@Mike: You’re probably right. Muncy isn’t the Muncy of the first-half sure and he’ll be falling now that the dream is slowly dying right in front of our eyes. I do still like his 1/2/3 eligibility and that revamped Dodgers lineup.
Not seeing Pollock at #45. He’s stopped running. 1 SB since his return from a thumb injury, go figure the relevance. I’m guessing he’s on Dr’s orders not to get hurt anymore. Whatever….#45 is generous even for a cleanup hitter in a decent Az lineup. Just sayin….
@Chucky: In the time it took me to read this he probably just got hurt again.
Surprised with Tim Anderson so high…..past 30 days have been dreadful. And Dozier is coming on strong, but you have them pretty equal. Love reading your rankings, thanks for doing them!
@Tufloc: Thanks man. Tim Anderson and Brian Dozier are trending in opposite directions. I really don’t like Tim Anderson, but can’t complain with a possible 20/25 season. Dozier in the top half of the Dodgers line-up? Yowza!
I thought Andujar would of made the top 100.
@Eric: Andujar is definitely going to be on here next week — trying to not be too much of a fan boy here. But man he’s making the Yankees look like geniuses for not going after Manny!
Hey Kerry thank u for doing this list each week. It has to be difficult to decid3 where to rank hitters based on different stats, strengths, past performance and future prognostications. It’s a very subjective exercise and I do think you do a great job with this list. I most agree with the top of your rankings through about 30. I don’t agree with Muncy being ranked so highly and yet I love Suarez ranked at 16 even though I don’t own either guy. Gallo has to be so difficult to rank since he provides elite power numbers but his BA is such a drag. I’m in a league that has 10 hitting cats which include some H, doubles, triples, HR, RBI, SB, BB, SO, BA and OPS I wouldn’t get close to owning Gallo. For this week please pick one among, Hicks, Alonso, Puig, Renfroe, Nimmo and Josh Bell. Thanks for the info!
@Tony C: Thanks man! I’d roll with Hicks with 7 games at home.
@Mike: You’re probably right. Muncy isn’t the Muncy of the first-half sure and he’ll be falling now that the dream is slowly dying right in front of our eyes. I do still like his 1/2/3 eligibility and that revamped Dodgers lineup.
I don’t understand how Desmond stays so high on everyones list. Can you shed some light on this. Sure he has some power but most days he’s 0-4 or 1-4. There are so many better hitters below his ranking.
Thanks
@lwomack58: I know the average stinks but 60 runs, 19 HRs, 59 RBI and 13 steals is still pretty good.
It’s surprising that you continue to have Scooter Gennett so high considering his numbers over the past month. 233 1 HR 8 rbi .612 OPS over the past month. He’s slugging .244 in August. Do you go by overall season numbers? I follow the Reds and it seems like his numbers are inflated because of the crazy May he had. Thanks.
@Maryann: If I drop him the Scooter mafia will have my head on a platter Maryann! he still has an impressive 68/18/69/3/.306 .
I do see what you mean though — his numbers have tapered off since May and I’ll adjust his ranking a bit.