Every season, there are new faces that make a splash in the major leagues. These guys seemingly coming out of nowhere to lead fantasy teams to glory. We are not talking about guys like Corbin Carroll or Anthony Volpe that were expected to make a splash starting on opening day. Nor are we looking at players that have strong pedigrees but early struggles like Nolan Gorman or Josh Lowe. These are guys that can be grabbed throughout the season without much FAAB fanfare. For this season, we are talking about Matt McLain, Josh Outman, and Edouard Julien. These types of players can be one-hit BABIP wonders or might carve out successful careers but always have a place in our fantasy hearts. With that in mind, I saw a recent completely unofficial Twitter poll indicating fantasy owners would take Matt McLain over Trea Turner in drafts next year. That is a bold strategy Cotton. Let’s see if our rankings are so bold and how the youth movement continues to change the landscape of fantasy leagues.
| Rank | Player | Movement |
| 1 | Ronald Acuna Jr. | |
| 2 | Shohei Ohtani | |
| 3 | Freddie Freeman | |
| 4 | Kyle Tucker | |
| 5 | Mookie Betts | |
| 6 | Jose Ramirez | |
| 7 | Corbin Carroll | 1 |
| 8 | Rafael Devers | 1 |
| 9 | Julio Rodriguez | 2 |
| 10 | Bobby Witt Jr. | 2 |
| 11 | Juan Soto | 8 |
| 12 | Fernando Tatis Jr. | -5 |
| 13 | Matt Olson | 1 |
| 14 | Yordan Alvarez | -1 |
| 15 | Austin Riley | 9 |
| 16 | Adolis Garcia | 1 |
| 17 | Marcus Semien | -1 |
| 18 | Vladimir Guerrero Jr. | |
| 19 | Randy Arozarena | 2 |
| 20 | Paul Goldschmidt | 6 |
| 21 | Corey Seager | 2 |
| 22 | Luis Robert | -7 |
| 23 | Trea Turner | -13 |
| 24 | Nolan Arenado | 1 |
| 25 | Francisco Lindor | 6 |
| 26 | Aaron Judge | 10 |
| 27 | Pete Alonso | 2 |
| 28 | Manny Machado | -1 |
| 29 | Bryce Harper | -7 |
| 30 | Ozzie Albies | -2 |
| 31 | Christian Yelich | 1 |
| 32 | Alex Bregman | -2 |
| 33 | Jose Altuve | 1 |
| 34 | Wander Franco | 3 |
| 35 | George Springer | -2 |
| 36 | Mike Trout | 12 |
| 37 | Bo Bichette | -17 |
| 38 | Adley Rutschman | 1 |
| 39 | Bryan Reynolds | 5 |
| 40 | Yandy Diaz | 5 |
| 41 | Josh Jung | -3 |
| 42 | Christian Walker | 9 |
| 43 | Anthony Santander | -1 |
| 44 | Will Smith | -3 |
| 45 | Sean Murphy | -2 |
| 46 | Cedric Mullins II | -6 |
| 47 | Max Muncy | |
| 48 | Kyle Schwarber | -13 |
| 49 | Xander Bogaerts | |
| 50 | Nick Castellanos | |
| 51 | Elly De La Cruz | 8 |
| 52 | Cody Bellinger | 5 |
| 53 | Andrew Vaughn | -1 |
| 54 | Nathaniel Lowe | 4 |
| 55 | Ketel Marte | |
| 56 | Michael Harris II | -3 |
| 57 | Josh Lowe | -11 |
| 58 | Giancarlo Stanton | -2 |
| 59 | Gunnar Henderson | 10 |
| 60 | J.D. Martinez | -6 |
| 61 | Nico Hoerner | 7 |
| 62 | Hunter Renfroe | |
| 63 | Dansby Swanson | 1 |
| 64 | Justin Turner | -1 |
| 65 | Matt Chapman | 1 |
| 66 | Matt McLain | 9 |
| 67 | Lane Thomas | 7 |
| 68 | Teoscar Hernandez | -7 |
| 69 | Ryan Mountcastle | 2 |
| 70 | Jonathan India | |
| 71 | J.T. Realmuto | 2 |
| 72 | Byron Buxton | -12 |
| 73 | Whit Merrifield | 13 |
| 74 | Eloy Jimenez | 2 |
| 75 | Jordan Walker | 2 |
| 76 | Josh Naylor | 2 |
| 77 | Spencer Steer | 7 |
| 78 | Ha-seong Kim | NR |
| 79 | Daulton Varsho | -12 |
| 80 | Anthony Volpe | 10 |
| 81 | Gleyber Torres | 2 |
| 82 | CJ Abrams | 15 |
| 83 | Jorge Soler | -1 |
| 84 | Spencer Torkelson | -4 |
| 85 | Salvador Perez | -13 |
| 86 | Willy Adames | -1 |
| 87 | Nolan Gorman | 7 |
| 88 | Masataka Yoshida | 10 |
| 89 | Luis Arraez | -2 |
| 90 | Jonah Heim | -2 |
| 91 | Carlos Correa | -12 |
| 92 | Jose Abreu | 1 |
| 93 | Taylor Ward | NR |
| 94 | Jazz Chisholm Jr. | -29 |
| 95 | Ryan McMahon | NR |
| 96 | Edouard Julien | 4 |
| 97 | Ian Happ | NR |
| 98 | Jake Burger | NR |
| 99 | Max Kepler | -7 |
| 100 | Triston Casas | NR |
Rising
- Ha-Seong Kim – Over the past few weeks, Ha-Seong Kim has been one of the top five hitters in the game. He has already set career highs in homers and steals with his hot summer. Prior to June 22, Kim was striking out 24% of the time and had a 25% hard hit rate. Since that time timeframe, he has cut his strikeouts down to under 13% and the hard hit rate has jumped to 37%. With any hot streak, we are looking to see if a real adjustment is taking place. Early indications are positive and give Kim a jump up the Top 100 this week. The profile is beginning to look very familiar to KBO fans where he was a multi-time all star which bodes well for the rest of the year.
- CJ Abrams – Since July 1st, Abrams has starred for the Nationals. A stat line consisting of a .327 average, three homers, and sixteen steals was a welcome July. With July consisting of 25 games for the Nationals, that put Abrams on a ridiculous 96 steal pace for a 150 game season. Anytime a player is running at that level and delivering reasonable stats elsewhere, the value is growing. Now temper expectations as July was fueled by a .358 BABIP compared to a career .296 mark. If he can’t run, the value teeters, so while he moves up this week we have to temper expectations.
Falling
- Austin Hays – Austin Hays had a breakout season in the making early in 2023. Through the end of June, Hays was hitting .316 with 42 runs, 34 RBI, and eight dingers. That early success did carry a near .400 BABIP that was nearly 100 points above his career level. Since that timeframe, his BABIP has regressed significantly to .250 and a .198 batting average across 25 games. His exit velocity has also dropped nearly four miles per hour. The truth is somewhere in between for Hays, but he is slipping for now as he will need to adjust.
- Kyle Schwarber – The big slugger in Philadelphia has nearly produced a 30 homer season in early August. However, he is having a historically bad season with his batting average which is making him almost unplayable in Roto leagues. Between Schwarber and Max Muncy, the return of the true three outcome player is here. At this point in the season, Schwarber has either walked, struck out or homered in 51% of his plate appearances. Maybe a fantasy owner needs homers, but Schwarber is only good for one thing at this point which is trading him to your opponent to torpedo their batting average.
- Bo Bichette – In the last Top 100 hitter rankings, Bo took a hit of a tumble as he simply was not producing the speed numbers we need. Unfortunately, since then, he has landed on the injured list with knee tendinitis. Initial reports were that he would not be away for long. However, with the acquisition of Paul Dejong and recent reports avoiding timetables, the writing is on the wall for a more extended absence. The uncertainty drives down the value as the season wraps up over the next few months.
Watching
- Zack Gelof – Gelof was called up to Oakland just about three weeks ago. In the minors, he provided a strong .304 average with a dozen homers and 20 steals. Since being called up, Zack has posted five homers and steals apiece in only 17 games. A high strikeout prone profile with luck in the homer department in his short stint provides pause on expectations. However, we cannot totally ignore the early numbers for what might be a solid middle infield plug-in.
- Matt Wallner – After a cup of coffee in 2022, Wallner is back with the big league club for the stretch run in 2023. In 28 games he has launched six homers and delivered a combined 25 runs and runs batted in. A guy that showed 30-homer power in the minors profiles as a high strikeout low average slugger. A common profile that is becoming less valuable in our fantasy game. He is worth watching to see if the hit tool matures, but likely will be watching the top 100 from the outside.
