Some of you are already D-U-N for the year and are looking forward to fantasy football season. I’ll post my traditional Top 100 below, but for right now I want to highlight a few guys who have performed so well this season that they are flirting with being a first-round pick for 2020.
Rafael Devers: 113/28/104/8/.321. This shouldn’t be completely out of the blue — Devers was a top-20 prospect heading into the 2017 season. Unfortunately, in his first full season in 2017 (as a 21-year-old mind you) he disappointed with a .240/.298/.433 slash line. Now, as a 22-year-old he would be in the MVP conversation if his team was winning games. Look at his line at the beginning of this blurb. Now realize that he could have 15 solid productive years if he’s healthy. This is a hall-of-famer in the making if he keeps this up.
Pete Alonso: 82/43/102/.265. Your 2019 NL Rookie-of-the-Year followed up on his 92/36/119/.285 line in AA/AAA last season with one of the best rookie seasons of all time. Alonso’s 30.3% HR/FB rate is third in all of a baseball and with a 42.3% hard contact rate and 40.3% fly-ball rate his power numbers should be easily repeatable. If the Mets finally open up the purse strings a little bit to improve their offense this off-season he could and should have more than 82 runs. I don’t think he’ll be first-round material, but he could fill the void that is going to be left after Giancarlo Stanton’s lost season.
Josh Bell: 91/35/110/.280. In 2017 Bell showed uncharacteristic power with 26 HRs/90 RBI (his HR high in the minors was 14) but didn’t show the stellar OBP skills he showed in the minors (.334 vs .373 career OBP in the minors.) In 2018, he showed more of the OBP capabilities (.357,) but the power all but disappeared (12.) In 2019 Bell has put it all together setting career-highs in every offensive category. Yes, there’s been a drastic drop off in the second half that I really don’t want to blame on his participation in the HR Derby, but what else can I blame it on? First half: 24 HRs, 1.024 OPS. Second-half OPS: 8 HRs, .774 OPS. He’ll probably end up a late-second or third-round pick in 2020.
Jonathan Villar: 93/20/62/33/.278. Do I really think Villar will flirt with being a first-round pick in 2020? No. And the reason has more to do with his 2017 than his 2019. In 2017 Villar was coming off a 92/19/63/62/.285 line and inched up into those early draft rounds. He responded in 2017 with a 49/14/40/23/.241 disappointment. So while his possible 20/35 power/speed combo looks nice — our memory isn’t so short-term that we will forget 2017’s drop-off. Also: the Orioles. Yikes.
Top 100 Hitters
| Rank | Name | Position | Team | Last | Change |
| 1 | Christian Yelich | OF | MIL | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | Cody Bellinger | 1B/OF | LAD | 2 | 0 |
| 3 | Mike Trout | OF | LAA | 3 | 0 |
| 4 | Ronald Acuna Jr. | OF | ATL | 4 | 0 |
| 5 | Freddie Freeman | 1B | ATL | 6 | 1 |
| 6 | Trevor Story | SS | COL | 5 | -1 |
| 7 | Nolan Arenado | 3B | COL | 7 | 0 |
| 8 | Rafael Devers | 3B | BOS | 9 | 1 |
| 9 | Anthony Rendon | 3B | WAS | 10 | 1 |
| 10 | Mookie Betts | OF | BOS | 11 | 1 |
| 11 | Alex Bregman | 3B/SS | HOU | 12 | 1 |
| 12 | Francisco Lindor | SS | CLE | 13 | 1 |
| 13 | Juan Soto | OF | WAS | 40 | 27 |
| 14 | Xander Bogaerts | SS | BOS | 14 | 0 |
| 15 | Javier Baez | 2B/SS/3B | CHC | 8 | -7 |
| 16 | Charlie Blackmon | OF | COL | 15 | -1 |
| 17 | Pete Alonso | 1B | NYM | 16 | -1 |
| 18 | Starling Marte | OF | PIT | 17 | -1 |
| 19 | Trea Turner | SS | WAS | 18 | -1 |
| 20 | Josh Bell | 1B | PIT | 19 | -1 |
| 21 | Jonathan Villar | 2B | BAL | 27 | 6 |
| 22 | J.D. Martinez | OF | BOS | 20 | -2 |
| 23 | Eddie Rosario | OF | MIN | 21 | -2 |
| 24 | Eduardo Escobar | SS/3B | ARI | 22 | -2 |
| 25 | Anthony Rizzo | 1B | CHC | 23 | -2 |
| 26 | Ketel Marte | 2B/SS/OF | ARI | 24 | -2 |
| 27 | Whit Merrifield | 2B | KC | 25 | -2 |
| 28 | Carlos Santana | 1B | CLE | 26 | -2 |
| 29 | DJ LeMahieu | 1B/2B/3B | NYY | 31 | 2 |
| 30 | Jose Altuve | 2B | HOU | 30 | 0 |
| 31 | Kris Bryant | 3B/OF | CHC | 28 | -3 |
| 32 | George Springer | OF | HOU | 29 | -3 |
| 33 | Bryce Harper | OF | PHI | 34 | 1 |
| 34 | Manny Machado | SS | SD | 33 | -1 |
| 35 | Gleyber Torres | 2B | NYY | 35 | 0 |
| 36 | Nelson Cruz | DH | MIN | 36 | 0 |
| 37 | Elvis Andrus | SS | TEX | 37 | 0 |
| 38 | Michael Brantley | OF | HOU | 38 | 0 |
| 39 | Eugenio Suarez | 3B | CIN | 53 | 14 |
| 40 | Jose Abreu | 1B | CHW | 39 | -1 |
| 41 | Trey Mancini | OF/1B | BAL | 41 | 0 |
| 42 | Max Kepler | OF | MIN | 42 | 0 |
| 43 | Aaron Judge | OF | NYY | 49 | 6 |
| 44 | Marcell Ozuna | OF | StL | 44 | 0 |
| 45 | Jorge Soler | OF | KC | 46 | 1 |
| 46 | Ozzie Albies | 2B | ATL | 47 | 1 |
| 47 | J.T. Realmuto | C | PHI | 48 | 1 |
| 48 | Jorge Polanco | SS | MIN | 52 | 4 |
| 49 | Matt Chapman | 3B | OAK | 54 | 5 |
| 50 | Mike Moustakas | 3B | MIL | 43 | -7 |
| 51 | Tim Anderson | SS | CHW | 55 | 4 |
| 52 | Max Muncy | 1B/3B | LAD | 32 | -20 |
| 53 | Yuli Gurriel | 1B/3B | HOU | 66 | 13 |
| 54 | Michael Conforto | OF | NYM | 64 | 10 |
| 55 | Andrew Benintendi | OF | BOS | 56 | 1 |
| 56 | Paul Goldschmidt | 1B | StL | 57 | 1 |
| 57 | Shin-Soo Choo | OF | OAK | 58 | 1 |
| 58 | Yoan Moncada | 2B | CHW | 50 | -8 |
| 59 | Yasiel Puig | OF | CIN | 51 | -8 |
| 60 | Tommy Pham | OF | TBR | 60 | 0 |
| 61 | Yordan Alvarez | OF | HOU | 61 | 0 |
| 62 | Paul DeJong | SS | STL | 62 | 0 |
| 63 | Vlad Guerrero Jr. | 3B | TOR | 65 | 2 |
| 64 | Josh Donaldson | 3B | ATL | 87 | 23 |
| 65 | Victor Robles | OF | WAS | 72 | 7 |
| 66 | Rhys Hoskins | OF | PHI | 67 | 1 |
| 67 | Adalberto Mondesi | SS | KC | 68 | 1 |
| 68 | Eric Hosmer | 1B | SD | 70 | 2 |
| 69 | Danny Santana | 1B/2B/OF | TEX | 71 | 2 |
| 70 | Jean Segura | SS | PHI | 73 | 3 |
| 71 | Lourdes Gurriel Jr. | 2B/SS/OF | TOR | 94 | 23 |
| 72 | Austin Meadows | OF | TBR | 75 | 3 |
| 73 | Edwin Encarnacion | 1B | NYY | 76 | 3 |
| 74 | Gary Sanchez | C | NYY | 79 | 5 |
| 75 | Luke Voit | 1B | NYY | 59 | -16 |
| 76 | Justin Turner | 3B | LAD | 80 | 4 |
| 77 | Nicholas Castellanos | OF | CHC | NA | NA |
| 78 | Hunter Dozier | 1B/3B | KC | 81 | 3 |
| 79 | Amed Rosario | SS | NYM | 82 | 3 |
| 80 | Shohei Ohtani | DH | LAA | 83 | 3 |
| 81 | Keston Hiura | 2B | MIL | 84 | 3 |
| 82 | Franmil Reyes | OF | SD | 86 | 4 |
| 83 | Yasmani Grandal | C | MIL | 74 | -9 |
| 84 | Eloy Jimenez | OF | CHW | 88 | 4 |
| 85 | Matt Olson | 1B | OAK | NA | NA |
| 86 | Alex Gordon | OF | KC | 89 | 3 |
| 87 | Aristides Aquino | OF | CIN | 98 | 11 |
| 88 | Adam Eaton | OF | WAS | 90 | 2 |
| 89 | Willson Contreras | C | CHC | 92 | 3 |
| 90 | Avisail Garcia | OF | TBR | 93 | 3 |
| 91 | Bo Bichette | SS | TOR | NA | NA |
| 92 | Marcus Semien | SS | OAK | 95 | 3 |
| 93 | Bryan Reynolds | OF | PIT | NA | NA |
| 94 | Hunter Renfroe | OF | SD | 77 | -17 |
| 95 | Jeff McNeil | 2B/3B/OF | NYM | 96 | 1 |
| 96 | Byron Buxton | OF | MIN | 99 | 3 |
| 97 | Joc Pederson | OF | LAD | 100 | 3 |
| 98 | Mallex Smith | OF | SEA | NA | NA |
| 99 | Kevin Pillar | OF | SFG | NA | NA |
| 100 | J.D. Davis | 3B/OF | NYM | NA | NA |
