Matt Kemp, Top 100 Hitters, 2018 Fantasy Baseball

The 10 HR/8 SB/.302 AVG player we saw from AJ Pollock over the first month or so of the season is a top-20 player if that pace continues for a full season. However we know how this story goes, since May 4th (yes I know there was an injury in there because OF COURSE there was) Pollock has 184 ABs with only 6 HRs and 2 SBs with a .261 AVG. However, I keep him on these rankings because peak Pollock is a 20/40 threat. The only problem is peak Pollock is a pretty preposterous proposition. Whatever is hurting him this time seems to be limiting him on the base paths which is limiting you in your standings.

Falling:

Matt Kemp: Pardon my French, but what the French has happened to Matt Kemp?! Over the past month he has 11 hits in 80 at bats. Eleven! Stranger things have happened, but did he have some Rihanna fever dream that is still haunting him? Kemp 2.0 was looking pretty good before July 24th: 47 runs, 17 HRs, 63 RBI and a .318 AVG. That average is now down to .282 and just hit the “basement” button on the elevator.

Starling Marte: On July 15th I was expecting Marte to climb up to top-15 player consideration with 13 HRs, 25 SBs and a .285 AVG. Unfortunately in the 29 games since he’s stalled. 4 HRs/4 SBs with a .246 AVG. He was even recently benched for not hustling. He had a particularly cold 15 game stretch in august where he had only 10 hits in 64 ABs. The Pirates acquired Chris Archer in the hopes of making a wild card dream run, but have lost 9 of their last 11 games and that dream is starting to look like a nightmare.

Rising:

David Peralta: Peralta has always been able to make solid contact — his contact rate has hovered around 80% since he debuted in 2014. But this year has seen his hard contact rate skyrocket. His previous hard contact rate high was 35.4% way back in 2015. (What a simpler time.) This year it is up to 47.7%! That has him currently ranked 7th in the league only slightly behind sluggers like Aaron Judge and Paul Goldschmidt, but ahead of Khris Davis and J.D. Martinez. This new Peralta is looking like a 4th or 5th rounder next year when he was drafted in around the 19th this year.

Christian Yelich: Yelich has always been a pretty safe second tier outfield selection. He was a safe predictable bet for 15/15 with an average above .280 and solid counting stats. But in his first year away from Miami, Yelich is on pace to break many of his career highs (if he hasn’t broken them already.) He’s already got 22 HRs (beating his 21 from 2016.). And he’s got 14 SBs (21 is his career high from 2014.) All with 32 games still remaining! He has a good chance of going 30/20 with 100 runs and 90 RBI. And he hasn’t even reached that magical age 27 season we all think means something!

As always with these rankings — if you’ve got something to say — drop a comment below!

Or you could always find me on Twitter: @KerryKlug.

Top 100 Hitters

GREEN: Rising | BLUE: New Additions | RED: Falling

RANK	NAME	TEAM	POSITION	LAST WEEK
1	Mike Trout	LAA	OF	5
2	Jose Ramirez	CLE	2B/3B	2
3	Mookie Betts	BOS	OF	1
4	J.D. Martinez	BOS	OF	4
5	Francisco Lindor	CLE	SS	3
6	Javier Baez	CHC	SS/2B	8
7	Andrew Benintendi	BOS	OF	6
8	Manny Machado	LAD	3B	7
9	Nolan Arenado	COL	3B	9
10	Trevor Story	COL	SS	13
11	Paul Goldschmidt	ARI	1B	10
12	Trea Turner	WAS	SS	11
13	Christian Yelich	MIL	OF	19
14	Giancarlo Stanton	NYY	OF	15
15	Khris Davis	OAK	OF	18
16	Eugenio Suarez	CIN	3B	16
17	Bryce Harper	WAS	OF	17
18	Freddie Freeman	ATL	1B	14
19	Alex Bregman	HOU	SS/3B	21
20	Matt Carpenter	STL	1B/2B/3B	12
21	Charlie Blackmon	COL	OF	22
22	Shin-Soo Choo	TEX	OF	24
23	Jose Altuve	HOU	2B	27
24	Nelson Cruz	SEA	DH	29
25	Jean Segura	SEA	SS	31
26	Lorenzo Cain	MIL	OF	33
27	Aaron Judge	NYY	OF	34
28	Ronald Acuna	ATL	OF	35
29	Juan Soto	WAS	OF	25
30	Eddie Rosario	MIN	OF	36
31	Nick Markakis	ATL	OF	37
32	Starling Marte	PIT	OF	20
33	Justin Upton	LAA	OF	23
34	George Springer	HOU	OF	28
35	Cody Bellinger	LAD	1B/OF	38
36	Mitch Haniger	SEA	OF	39
37	Jesus Aguilar	MIL	1B	26
38	Xander Bogaerts	BOS	SS	40
39	Anthony Rizzo	CHC	1B	41
40	Edwin Encarnacion	CLE	1B	32
41	David Peralta	ARI	OF	53
42	Aaron Hicks	NYY	OF	42
43	Didi Gregorius	NYY	SS	43
44	Scooter Gennett	CIN	2B	44
45	Brian Dozier	LAD	2B	45
46	Ozzie Albies	ATL	2B	30
47	Rhys Hoskins	PHI	1B/OF	46
48	Jose Abreu	CWS	1B	48
49	Travis Shaw	MIL	3B	49
50	Anthony Rendon	WAS	3B	51
51	Michael Brantley	CLE	OF	52
52	Whit Merrifield	KC	2B	54
53	Elvis Andrus	TEX	SS	55
54	Max Muncy	LAD	1B/2B/3B	47
55	Cesar Hernandez	PHI	2B	56
56	Tim Anderson	CWS	SS	57
57	Wil Myers	SD	1B/OF	59
58	Miguel Andujar	NYY	3B	77
59	Eduardo Escobar	ARZ	3B/SS	60
60	Carlos Correa	HOU	SS	61
61	Mike Moustakas	MIL	3B	50
62	Nicholas Castellanos	DET	3B/OF	62
63	Ian Desmond	COL	1B/OF	63
64	Rougned Odor	TEX	2B	65
65	Gleyber Torres	NYY	2B/SS	68
66	Kole Calhoun	LAA	OF	69
67	Chris Taylor	LAD	2B/OF/SS	74
68	Matt Chapman	OAK	3B	75
69	Dee Gordon	SEA	2B/OF	76
70	Daniel Murphy	WAS	2B	78
71	Robinson Cano	SEA	2B	79
72	D.J. LeMahieu	COL	2B	81
73	Mallex Smith	TBR	OF	82
74	Andrew McCutchen	SF	OF	83
75	Maikel Franco	PHI	3B	84
76	Joey Gallo	TEX	3B/1B	85
77	Asdrubal Cabrera	PHI	2B/SS/3B	64
78	Joey Votto	CIN	1B	67
79	Tommy Pham	TBR	OF	70
80	Ender Inciarte	ATL	OF	80
81	Nomar Mazara	TEX	OF	73
82	Brandon Belt	SF	OF	72
83	Odubel Herrera	PHI	OF	71
84	AJ Pollock	ARI	OF	58
85	Jurickson Profar	TEX	SS/3B/OF	86
86	Yonder Alonso	CLE	1B	87
87	Matt Kemp	LAD	OF	66
88	Jose Peraza	CIN	2B/SS	88
89	Carlos Santana	PHI	1B	89
90	Marcus Semien	OAK	SS	91
91	JT Realmuto	MIA	C	92
92	Yadier Molina	STL	C	93
93	Gregory Polanco	PIT	OF	94
94	Brett Gardner	NYY	OF	95
95	Adam Jones	BAL	OF	97
96	Adam Eaton	WAS	OF	98
97	Wilson Ramos	WAS	C	100
98	Kendrys Morales	TOR	1B	NR
99	Justin Turner	LAD	3B	NR
100	Jonathan Villar	BAL	2B	NR

15 Comments

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Cabby

4 years ago

Are people going with Votto this week? Sounds like he should be back Tuesday barring a setback

Are people starting Votto this week? Its risky but sounds like he could be back Tuesday barring a setback.

Kerry Klug

Reply to Cabby

@Cabby: I don’t know if its worth it — he wasnt crushing before he got hurt anyway.

Skinny Mike

Stressing out over some big lineup decisions that I need to make today heading into my first round playoff (head-to-head, 12 category, 2-week match up). Need to choose FOUR out of the EIGHT dudes below to play, and 4 to sit. What would YOU do?!

1. Max Muncy, 2. Yasiel Puig, 3. Carlos Gonzalez, 4. Rougned Odor, 5. Dee Gordon, 6. Brandon Belt, 7. Tyler O’Neill, 8. Marwin Gonzalez.

Reply to Skinny Mike

@Skinny Mike:
Start: Muncy, Marwin, O’Neill and Odor.

Reply to Kerry Klug

Thank you! And who would your 5th be if you had to choose one of the remaining 4 – Puig, CarGo, Gordon, Belt? Is Puig still appealing his suspension and if so, is it possible that he misses time this week because of it?

@Skinny Mike: That whole suspension issue is looming but I have no idea whats going on with it to be honest.
I’d go with Gordon actually just to get a few extra SBs.

DonnieB

I think Jose Abreu had abdominal surgery this week. I think he is outside the Top 100 for a bit.

Reply to DonnieB

@DonnieB: Dang it. It’s so hard to keep track of 100 players.

Pops

Matt Carpenter is not falling. C’mon.

Reply to Pops

@Pops: Nah not really — just relative to where he was last week. I think I got a bit overzealous ranking him in the top -15 last week and he had a bad 10 game streak. 20 is more realistic to me than the 12th I had him last week.

Racehorse

16 team keeper H2H where we keep 24 …

Time to cut Greg Bird loose? He’s officially losing PT to Luke Voit, and I can use the roster spot for one more bullpen arm come playoff time.

Also, who do you like better ROS, Cedric Mullins or Kevin Keirmaier?

Thanks!

Reply to Racehorse

@Racehorse: I’d go with Kiermaier after Mullins’s little hip injury.
Bird…it’s time to let him fly away.

Prog_Nation

Kerry, how would you rate Ozuna when he returns? Will be in the playoffs and wondering if he is a better option than Polanco who is a FA in my league. Thanks.

Reply to Prog_Nation

@Prog_Nation: I’d rate Polanco higher just because we don’t know when Ozuna will return exactly or how he’ll return. It’s a tough choice, but give me definite ABs over maybe ABs.