Welcome! I’m digging the week we had in baseball..a few walkoffs, a 3 HR punishing session by a Mr. Rizzo, and some absolute pitching gems albeit of the 6 INN variety. Guess we got to get used to that being the norm from now on. All right well let’s get to the rankings at the hot corner shall we?
TOP DOGS
1. Jose Ramirez Guardians Ramirez has a stranglehold on the top position here. Batting .344 with an 1.067 OPS while everybody else it seems like is struggling to stay above .200 is impressive.
2. Manny Machado Padres Machado has jumped in front of Devers, Arenado, and Riley here as he has now added 3 SB to his impressive start to the season. 6 out of 19 games so far he has multiple hits seeing the ball very well as well. The top 5 here are very close to each other.
3. Nolan Arenado Cardinals Has cooled off slightly from his hot start and woof that throwing error on Monday cost the Cards a win but that happens. Expect a nice week this week from Mr. Arenado.
4. Rafael Devers Red Sox Not doing anything poorly to warrant a drop it’s just Machado and Arenado are elite hitters as well and outperforming him at the moment. I don’t see anything worrisome going on. All 3 of these players are very close.
5. Austin Riley Braves Still is hitting the ball really hard and putting up great at-bats. A little concerned regression is coming soon from where he currently is as chase rate is still higher than most. A lot of boom or bust days with Riley.
SOLID PROS
6. Alex Bregman Astros Almost as many BBs as Ks (10/11) from a power hitter is a great indicator Bregman is locked in at the plate. Chase Rate is 99% and is primed for a nice hitting streak.
7. Ke’Bryan Hayes Pirates As I thought he would Hayes had a really great two weeks and is hitting .364 with a .911 OPS. He had a 3 hit game yesterday and a nice 5 game hitting streak going. Hayes is capable of a .300 avg season or higher with counting stats in runs/rbi’s that rival the big boys up top. It’s a shame the Pirates are so bad he won’t get there but hopefully, the Pirates don’t waste a great career in the making and give Hayes some players to set the table in front of him so he can drive them in.
8. DJ LeMahieu Yankees Bet you didn’t know D.J. has a 12 game hitting streak. D.J. has looked great at the plate the last two weeks. I don’t believe it’s sustainable over the long run but he should settle in this range.
9. Anthony Rendon Angels I’m not ready to move Rendon out of the top 10 quite yet. A little rough start to the year but in his last three games, he has gotten on base 7 times out of 13 plate appearances. Rendon is not striking out and is seeing the ball well. Matter of time before he starts stringing together some hits.
10. Matt Chapman Blue Jays Chapman had a nice 7 game hitting streak before the weekend hit and in his last 3 games he has been a combined 1-14 so no surprise it’s the player we know he was. Streaky .240 hitter who hits the ball really hard and can go on a tear at any moment. Nothing has changed here still is in the middle of a very potent lineup that will produce numbers.
STUCK IN MIDDLE
11. Joey Wendle Marlins Nice jump in the rankings for Wendle. Hitting the ball well for the Marlins and has always been a solid contact hitter. Even has 3 SB’s and gets on base at a high clip. Really solid player.
12. Kris Bryant Rockies Hasn’t looked too great of late and could be banged up. We will see what the next couple of weeks brings but for now, this is where he is slotted.
13. Ryan McMahon Rockies
14. Eugenio Suarez Mariners Eugenio has hits in his last 5 games and has cut his K’s down significantly during that time only striking out 3 times in 19 plate appearances. Suarez barrel % is at a high number as well and has also walked 10 times already so far. Seeing the ball well lately. Looks good in that Mariner uni.
15. Alec Bohm Phillies Has started 5 straight games with middling results. Looks like the Phillies are going to give him every opportunity to be their guy. Has great tools, knows the strike zone well, and can barrel up the ball. We just have to figure out if this guy is for real or not.
16. Hunter Dozier Royals Barrel % and xSLG rate are unsustainable but he has shown he can be a useful fantasy CI in the past. Temper expectations but a nice solid bat worthy of taking a slumping veteran’s spot such as Turner or Donaldson.
17. Josh Donaldson Yankees Donaldson and Turner below are in similar boats. Veteran hitters off to a slow start. I don’t see anything terribly alarming with either of them but both are in their late 30s and the decline will come fast.
18. Justin Turner Dodgers
19. Eduardo Escobar Mets
HAZY FUTURE
20. Wilmer Flores Giants Nice start to the season. Contact skills in the upper tier of 3B so far. Limited to what he will bring you but won’t hurt you in any way.
21. Santiago Espinal Blue Jays Similar to Flores above. Does have some sneaky SB potential as well in a good lineup. Could move past the struggling veterans soon.
22. Bobby Witt Jr. Royals 5 game hitting streak for the uber-talented IF. I believe he can get it going sooner than later. You have to realize any prospect entering the majors in 2022 for the first time is facing some of the toughest conditions ever for hitters. I think the Royals knew Witt likely would struggle at first based on several factors. He faced a good Seattle pitching staff over the weekend and had hits in all of them so that’s a great sign. Royals will be patient with him. There is a long documented list of prospects struggling when they first reach the majors. I’m not worried.
23. Gio Urshela Twins
24. Patrick Wisdom Cubs
25. Luis Arraez Twins
Yoan Moncada White Sox (INJ) Luis Urias Brewers (INJ)
Hope you all have a great rest of your week and I’ll be back next Wednesday to talk up some first baseman for ya..
