Hitter Rankings, Week 5, 2018 Fantasy Baseball

Hey Yoan! There he is! Moncada’s bat is officially awake! Through his first 49 ABs Moncada had 1 HR, 0 SB and a .604 OPS. Since then? 42 ABs, 5 HR, 4 SB and a 1.295 OPS. Here’s my worry — will Moncada continue to be streaky and see a 700 point swing in his OPS every few weeks? Or did he just get off to a slow start?

Rising:

Didi Gregorius: I have to keep mentioning my man Didi until his performance tells me not to. Didi is currently the highest scorer on ESPN’s player rater and shows no sign of slowing down. When the Yankees acquired Didi as their Jeter replacement I was a fan of Didi from a fielding perspective and saw him as a proper bridge to a Yankee shortstop prospect (at the time Jorge Mateo.) Now, Didi should be serving as an example to all underperforming players on how to completely transform your career. He’s gone from an after-thought, defense first placeholder to the most valuable player on the most important franchise in baseball.

Falling:

Corey Seager: On the flip side, Corey Seager has struggled out of the gate. Before Opening Day this year you could ask anyone who follows baseball which shortstop they’d rather have on their team (fantasy or real) and the answer would have easily been Seager. Now you have some hesitation, huh?

Gregory Polanco: Two weeks ago Polanco found himself under the “rising” column of this series. Way back then I said, “Polanco’s .239 batting average isn’t fantastic.” Since that time, I’m now going to say “His .213 batting average isn’t acceptable.” He’s only scored 4 runs 1 HR and 1 RBI in that time. However, two weeks ago I also said “Polanco’s career batting average the past three years ranged from .251 to .258.” I still thinks he ends up there, but if not, chalk this up to yet another frustrating year for Polanco owners.

Guys I’m Cyclopsing:

Anthony Rizzo: Going into 2018 Rizzo was the most safely predictable player. His HR totals the past four years have been: 32, 31, 32, 32. His OPS had almost an equally small range: .913, .899, .928, .899. So far through 63 ABs he has 1 HR and a .510 OPS. Again in the last four years, his AB/HR has been 16.4, 18.9, 18.2 and 17.9. This year it’s 63 AB/HR obviously. Something isn’t right. Maybe Rizzo is nursing an injury and trying to be a good christian soldier and play through it? His hard hit percentage is down 5% from his career number. His walk rate is way down, but his strikeout rate isn’t too out of line with his career numbers. His 79% contact rate is only 1 percentage lower than his career. But here’s what I think is going on: that dreaded BABIP is rearing it’s ugly head. .204 this year compared to his career .285 line. Bad luck? Maybe. Maybe Rizzo just needs to summon Jobu to wake up his bats. Could be a good chance to buy low on Rizzo.

Tim Anderson: In the land of SAGNOF, the man with the the highest ADP is king. Of the top six stolen base leaders Anderson’s 228.6 ADP is the highest. In many ten team leagues he even probably went undrafted. It has already been well-documented that Tim Anderson went into this season saying he wanted to steal more bases. But if you couldn’t tell, I live by the Ruff Ryder Anthem motto of “talk is cheap mutha—–.” But Anderson has backed it up with 8 stolen bases. Maybe I should’ve taken that song and Tim Anderson more seriously. “Oh you think it’s funny | then you don’t know me, money.”

Mitch Haniger: Of the top 10 outfielders on the ESPN Player Rater, only one man had an ADP over 70. Only one man had an ADP over 100. Only one man had an ADP over 200. Only one man — okay you get the idea — his ADP was 229. Haniger is going to show up on a lot of league winning rosters this year — if he can stay healthy. Haniger has a fantastic 41.8% hard hit rate and a 47.8% FB rate. Among outfielders, Haniger is in elite company with his 9 HRs. Only player above him? Mike Trout with 10. The three players tied with 8 under him? Mookie Betts, Charlie Blackmon and Bryce Harper. If Haniger keeps this up (and I think he can and will) he’ll be a top-25 pick in 2019.

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

Top 100 Hitters:

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

Yell at me in the comments about our differing opinions!