Top 100 Hitters, Week 3: Showtime Ohtani!

Boy, this Ohtani is all anybody’s ever talking about. I’m so sick and tired of hearing about how brilliant that Ohtani is. I was so tempted to put Shohei Ohtani on this list. So tempted! Unfortunately he only has 30 at-bats compared to the league leader, his teammate, Albert Pujols’s 67. That’s too small of a sample size for me to overreact and 3-4 batting games per week can leave you in a hole. It is fun to see that he has a 0% soft contact rate though. But that Ohtani is some kind of something, huh?

This winter weather is messing with a lot of players. At the bottom of my top 100 you’ll see a list of hitters who shoulda, coulda, woulda been in the top 100 if they were healthy. I think most of them will return and find themselves back on the top 100 list, but for now, due to their missed games and health uncertainty — they get their own list.

Rising:

Ozzie Albies, ARI, 2B: This kid is putting up — dare I say it — MVP caliber numbers right now. “But Kerry! You only have him ranked at 61!” Right — because he has less than 300 career major league at bats. I hope he keeps it up because it’s a great debut — but I’m going to hold my horses for now. A 13/4/7/1/.288 line ain’t bad doe.

Gregory Polanco, PIT, OF: Polanco’s .239 batting average isn’t fantastic, but his double-digit runs and RBI are great to see. Polanco’s career batting average the past three years ranges from .251 to .258 so it’s not like he’s ever been a batting average stud. I think he’ll settle back into the .250 area and finally give us that 20/20 season we’ve all been hoping for. Maybe even a chance for 25+/25+. Gasp!

Falling:

Edwin Encarnacion, CLE, 1B: E5’s WAR has fallen every year since 2015 and now he’s setting a new low so far in 2018. We have to remember that he’s 35 this season and his best days are behind him. I think we’re about to see that Albert Pujols adjace decline after a great career. He’ll still hit 25+ HR, but how low will that average go?

Billy Hamilton, CIN, OF: What do you want me to say? That stolen bases are scarce so Hamilton deserves to be in the top-50 because he can single-handedly win you that category? Well he’s batted mostly out of the 9-hole this season so he’s not going to score as many runs, he was always going to hurt you in HRs and RBI and now he’s only batting .184. I’m not even convinced Hamilton deserves a starting spot at this point. The Reds should make him their designated pinch runner. And then he’d almost be guaranteed 5 steals, 5 runs per week.

Top 100 Hitters:

Rank	Name	Team	Position
1	Mike Trout	LAA	OF
2	Jose Altuve	HOU	2B
3	Bryce Harper	WAS	OF
4	Mookie Betts	BOS	OF
5	Trea Turner	WAS	SS
6	Nolan Arenado	COL	3B
7	Charlie Blackmon	COL	OF
8	Paul Goldschmidt	ARI	1B
9	Carlos Correa	HOU	SS
10	Giancarlo Stanton	NYY	OF
11	Kris Bryant	CHC	3B
12	Manny Machado	BAL	3B
13	Aaron Judge	NYY	OF
14	Joey Votto	CIN	1B
15	Francisco Lindor	CLE	SS
16	Freddie Freeman	ATL	1B
17	J.D. Martinez	BOS	OF
18	Jose Ramirez	CLE	2B/3B
19	George Springer	HOU	OF
20	Cody Bellinger	LAD	1B/OF
21	Brian Dozier	MIN	2B
22	Jose Abreu	CHW	1B
23	Dee Gordon	SEA	2B
24	Gary Sanchez	NYY	C
25	Corey Seager	LAD	SS
26	Justin Upton	ARI	OF
27	Alex Bregman	HOU	SS/3B
28	Anthony Rendon	WAS	3B
29	Marcell Ozuna	STL	OF
30	Andrew Benintendi	BOS	OF
31	Rhys Hoskins	PHI	1B/OF
32	Buster Posey	SF	C/1B
33	Starling Marte	PIT	OF
34	Robinson Cano	SEA	2B
35	Edwin Encarnacion	CLE	1B
36	Khris Davis	OAK	OF
37	Yoenis Cespedes	NYM	OF
38	Eric Hosmer	SD	1B
39	Nelson Cruz	SEA	DH
40	Tommy Pham	STL	OF
41	A.J. Pollock	ARI	OF
42	Gregory Polanco	PIT	OF
43	Miguel Sano	MIN	3B
44	Byron Buxton	MIN	OF
45	Willson Contreras	CHC	C
46	D.J. LeMahieu	COL	2B
47	Jean Segura	SEA	SS
48	Lorenzo Cain	MIL	OF
49	Nicholas Castellanos	DET	3B/OF
50	Whit Merrifield	KC	2B
51	Andrew McCutchen	SF	OF
52	Didi Gregorious	NYY	SS
53	Domingo Santana	MIL	OF
54	Ender Inciarte	ATL	OF
55	Mike Moustakas	KC	3B
56	Trevor Story	COL	SS
57	Carlos Santana	CLE	1B
58	Travis Shaw	MIL	3B
59	Kyle Seager	SEA	3B
60	Ozzie Albies	ATL	OF
61	Ian Desmond	COL	1B/OF
62	Yasiel Puig	LAD	OF
63	Adam Jones	BAL	OF
64	Rafael Devers	BOS	3B
65	Billy Hamilton	CIN	OF
66	Matt Carpenter	STL	1B
67	Justin Smoak	TOR	1B
68	Matt Olson	OAK	1B
69	Brett Gardner	NYY	OF
70	Jose Martinez	STL	1B
71	Joey Gallo	TEX	3B/1B
72	Miguel Cabrera	DET	1B
73	Javier Baez	CHC	SS/2B
74	Ryan Braun	MIL	OF
75	Eduardo Nunez	BOS	2B/3B/OF
76	Eddie Rosario	MIN	OF
77	Adrian Beltre	TEX	3B
78	Marwin Gonzalez	HOU	SS/1B/2B/OF
79	Nomar Mazara	TEX	OF
80	Jay Bruce	NYM	OF
81	Hanley Ramirez	BOS	DH
82	Evan Gattis	HOU	C
83	Chris Taylor	LAD	2B/OF
84	Matt Chapman	OAK	3B
85	Josh Bell	PIT	2B
86	Yadier Molina	STL	C
87	Kyle Schwarber	CHC	OF
88	Yoan Moncada	CHW	2B
89	Mitch Haniger	SEA	OF
90	Tim Anderson	CWS	SS
91	Dansby Swanson	ATL	SS
92	Josh Reddick	HOU	OF
93	Josh Harrison	PIT	2B/3B
94	Cesar Hernandez	PHI	2B
95	Carlos Gonzalez	COL	OF
96	Eric Thames	MIL	1B/OF
97	Ian Kinsler	LAA	2B
98	Jed Lowrie	OAK	2B
99	Corey Dickerson	PIT	OF
100	Andrelton Simmons	LAA	SS

Dubious List (Unranked):

DL	Josh Donaldson	TOR	3B
DL	Jonathan Schoop	BAL	2B
DL	Xander Bogaerts	BOS	SS
DL	Rougned Odor	TEX	2B
DL	Adam Eaton	WAS	OF
DL	Christian Yelich	MIL	OF
DL	Anthony Rizzo	CHC	1B
DL	Elvis Andrus	TEX	SS
DL	Wil Myers	SD	1B
DL	Manuel Margot	SD	OF

Who did I rank wrong? Sound off in the comments!