Welcome again sports fans to the midseason episode of Top 75 Outfielders for 2020 Fantasy Baseball, a continuation of the series that left off with last week’s Week 3 Update. With roughly 30 games left to go for the majority of teams not named the Marlins or Cardinals, now’s the time to separate the wheat from the chaff. Some guys have been just garbage *cough* Oscar Mercado, goodbye for this season. Some have injuries to account for with simply not enough time to get right. Also, there are early-season overperformers who would normally trail off during an extended season, but with only a month left to go many could coast on through the finish line. Plus full-on breakouts to account for as we shake things up and embrace the strange.
Here’s what I’ve been seeing around the league:
The Ins
Teoscar Hernandez – I’m a believer. Teo continues to mash making it feel more sustainable, currently hitting .294 with 19/11/19/4. Mookie is killing it right now and #1 on this list, but take a look at his batting line and then look at Teo’s… its not that different. And he at worst had cost you a pick in the 200s or at best free pickup. That’s some delicious value. And with the Jays calling the Bleu Sandbox home, his power should continue to produce. Please suggest a better nickname for Teo in the comments.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. – Hitting .280 over the last 7 days with 3 HR and 11 RBIs + SB; which is exactly the type batting line we were expecting from him at the beginning of the season. Speaking of Bleu Jays, LGJ is starting to come out of his funk and finding his stroke (same goes for Grichuk). I foresee him rising up this list in the coming weeks, also benefiting from the Bleu Sandbox.
Cavan Biggio – I guess this is all Jays all the time this week. So much to talk about. Last year (.234) and the beginning of this one he struggled to hit for average but the plus-plus plate discipline was there, the plus bat control was there; so it was just a matter of time. Guess where his average is now? Go ahead, guess. No peeking! He’s at .275 now with roughly the same BABIP. He’s arrived. He’ll drop some the rest of the way, but .250-.260 should be perfectly reachable.
Ronald Acuna Jr. – 2-5 with HR and SB in his first game back. Missing a lot of time chipped him down a lot on this list, plus having a wrist injury. If he’s back 100% he will vault back up this list quickly and likely back on top when I post an update as you can see by the ROS$ for him.
Brandon Lowe – The adjustments look to be real, like actually hitting off lefties. With 10 HRs now and still barreling the ball at an elite level, he’s as real as anyone else in this crazy 60 game season.
Kyle Lewis – Obligatory Kyle Lewis shoutout. He can’t stop hitting. Each of the last 3 weeks he has continued to maintain a .300+ AVG (currently at .360 for the season) and is now contributing a few more HRs and a couple SBs. Yep.
Sam Haggerty – I think we got something here, cheap steals you say? He was just called up by Seattle and he already has 4 steals in 7 games. Plus from what I saw, He’s making decent contact. SAGNOF? He’s your guy.
Sam Hilliard – They are finally letting him play. I don’t know if he kicked Bud’s dog, touched the china, or was injured—but either way, he’s getting ABs now and should be owned for some 5-tool action.
The Outs
Ketel Marte – He’s reverted to struggling with breaking balls, that was key to his success last year was crushing sliders, as laid out by yours truly HERE. At a quick glance, he’s still making good contact on everything else but his Barrel%, Hardhit%, and EV are down. And as a result, he’s not hitting HRs and for some reason not stealing. Therefore, he’s become an empty average.
Giancarlo Stanton – Anyone hear anything about his rehab yet? *cricket chirps* No? Yeesh. Without a Minor League season, we aren’t getting as many injury rehab updates as we would in a normal season – yet reports are even more silent on him. So no idea how much longer he will be out. Thusly, he’s in full freefall mode on the list, and we’ll address him when we have something. **UPDATE: He was supposed to be gone 3-4 weeks. It’s been that, and now he’s just now doing baseball things, like spit sunflower seeds, so, the usual Stanton IL stay.**
Aaron Judge – Came back from the IL, then left the game. Well, that was fun. Word is “Boone said that the belief is the injury isn’t serious, but he added that Judge going back on the IL is ‘possible’.” Doesn’t that inspire confidence? I added him here late, so if he heads back to the IL or misses a week, etc, he’ll freefall along with his muscular gym buddy.
Tommy Pham – Injured hamate and likely done for season. If that proves true he’ll fall off list by next post.
Joey Gallo – After seemingly continuing to pick up where he left off last year his production has been slipping. AVG has dipped below .200, BB% has dropped, K% back up, and SLG/HardHit down. A small bit of good news is his BABIP is under .230 so maybe there’s some hope?
Oscar Mercado – He gone. See you next season. Goodnight sweet prince.
The What-have-yous
Mike Trout – Fishman, Aquaman? Ehh whatever. He’s currently hitting .255 with his K-rate up and BB-rate down, I guess the lack of sleep with the little minnow is getting to him. IF there was ever a chance to “buy low” on Trout other than his cup of coffee, this could be it. His periphs suggest some correction is coming.
Kole Calhoun – He found his way onto this list now via 8 HRs to date, but he’s hitting .224… I see someone’s doing their best Joey Gallo impersonation.
Austin Slater – He was in the midst of a real breakout, and has been sidelined by 2 injuries in the process. Word is he’ll resume baseball activities this week. To which he commented, “Can’t wait to get back on the field, preppie! *flex* Show you all how it’s done.” Ummm, so hopefully he gets back soon, but right now there’s no timetable. If he’s unable to get back or not until the end, I’m looking forward to getting him at a Grisham-Lewis discount next year.
Mark Canha – For reasons I can’t fully explain, he currently sits at #34 channeling his inner Hatteberg, is Billy Beane running this thing? I can’t tell. “Canha has that Can-do attitude!” With 3 HR and 3 SBs you look at it and yawn, but he’s sporting a .404 OBP that has led to counting stats. Say it with me now, “Because he gets on base.”
The Board
Behold the freshly renovated board! Using a mix of science, math, and art, I constructed a formula that uses our Season to Date Player Rater dollar values (STD$) and the Rest of Season dollar values (ROS$) as a starting point and added in my own adjustments, some current and some predictive. Anddddd voilà! I give you, Coolwhip Dollars (CW$). A quick note: you’ll see some guys like Austin Meadows lower, don’t be alarmed! Looking at their ROS value, if they live up to it, they will continue to rise on this list going forward. This List is 1 part Current, 1 part Future, 2 parts End of Season Prognostication. Enjoy.
| Rank | Name | Team | Pos | STD$ | ROS$ | CW$ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mookie Betts | LAD | OF | 44.9 | 32.5 | 43.3 |
| 2 | Bryce Harper | PHI | OF | 33 | 39.1 | 41.1 |
| 3 | Juan Soto | WSH | OF | 24.2 | 43.2 | 39.8 |
| 4 | Mike Trout | LAA | OF | 29.1 | 33.2 | 38.5 |
| 5 | Cody Bellinger | LAD | 1B/OF | 19.5 | 35.7 | 32.9 |
| 6 | Christian Yelich | MIL | OF | 12.7 | 40.0 | 32.5 |
| 7 | Luis Robert | CHW | OF | 23.9 | 29.8 | 31.8 |
| 8 | Teoscar Hernandez | TOR | OF | 33.8 | 7.7 | 31.0 |
| 9 | Eloy Jimenez | CHW | OF | 22.2 | 20.2 | 30.8 |
| 10 | Charlie Blackmon | COL | OF | 29.6 | 21.5 | 30.5 |
| 11 | Ronald Acuna Jr. | ATL | OF | 2.5 | 43.2 | 28.5 |
| 12 | Brandon Lowe | TB | 1B/2B/OF | 32.8 | 4.9 | 28.1 |
| 13 | Whit Merrifield | KC | 1B/2B/OF | 30.1 | 19.5 | 26.9 |
| 14 | Anthony Santander | BAL | OF | 31.1 | 8.4 | 26.8 |
| 15 | Aaron Judge | NYY | OF | 21.1 | 26.7 | 26.6 |
| 16 | Nick Castellanos | CIN | OF | 19.8 | 18.0 | 25.8 |
| 17 | Eddie Rosario | MIN | OF | 22.9 | 15.6 | 24.9 |
| 18 | Marcell Ozuna | ATL | OF | 16.9 | 19.2 | 24.8 |
| 19 | Franmil Reyes | CLE | OF | 15.3 | 15.3 | 24.1 |
| 20 | Cavan Biggio | TOR | 1B/2B/OF | 27.1 | 8.9 | 23.4 |
| 21 | Kyle Tucker | HOU | OF | 29.7 | 5.1 | 23.4 |
| 22 | Mike Yastrzemski | SF | OF | 33.3 | -1.0 | 23.3 |
| 23 | Michael Conforto | NYM | OF | 15.9 | 16.0 | 23.2 |
| 24 | Starling Marte | ARI | OF | 18.3 | 19.6 | 22.5 |
| 25 | Randal Grichuk | TOR | OF | 18.5 | 7.7 | 21.7 |
| 26 | Giancarlo Stanton | NYY | OF | -0.2 | 25.4 | 21.4 |
| 27 | Kyle Lewis | SEA | OF | 36.4 | -12.1 | 21.2 |
| 28 | J.D. Martinez | BOS | OF | -0.1 | 28.7 | 20.7 |
| 29 | Max Kepler | MIN | OF | 14.4 | 14.6 | 20.4 |
| 30 | Jorge Soler | KC | OF | 12.2 | 12.6 | 20.1 |
| 31 | Joey Gallo | TEX | OF | 10 | 9.8 | 19.5 |
| 32 | Andrew McCutchen | PHI | OF | 5.9 | 19.6 | 19.1 |
| 33 | Kyle Schwarber | CHC | OF | 4.1 | 17.3 | 19.1 |
| 34 | Mark Canha | OAK | 1B/OF | 21.3 | 0.4 | 17.6 |
| 35 | Alex Verdugo | BOS | OF | 16.7 | 11.1 | 17.5 |
| 36 | Trent Grisham | SD | OF | 22.1 | 2.4 | 17.2 |
| 37 | George Springer | HOU | OF | 0.2 | 19.9 | 16.4 |
| 38 | Wil Myers | SD | 1B/OF | 18.4 | -0.6 | 15.9 |
| 39 | Ketel Marte | ARI | 2B/SS/OF | 5 | 17.6 | 15.1 |
| 40 | Austin Meadows | TB | OF | -0.3 | 18.0 | 14.1 |
| 41 | Ian Happ | CHC | INF/OF | 11.2 | 4.3 | 14.0 |
| 42 | Kole Calhoun | ARI | OF | 13.8 | 0.4 | 13.9 |
| 43 | J.D. Davis | NYM | 3B/OF | 6.6 | 6.3 | 13.8 |
| 44 | David Fletcher | LAA | INF/OF | 20.7 | 2.4 | 13.5 |
| 45 | Nick Solak | TEX | 2B/3B/OF | 7.2 | 6.4 | 12.5 |
| 46 | David Peralta | ARI | OF | 11.7 | 3.9 | 12.4 |
| 47 | Adam Eaton | WSH | OF | 5.2 | 13.1 | 12.2 |
| 48 | Stephen Piscotty | OAK | OF | 16.8 | -6.9 | 11.4 |
| 49 | Lourdes Gurriel Jr. | TOR | 2B/OF | 2.9 | 9.5 | 11.4 |
| 50 | Jesse Winker | CIN | OF | 9.3 | 3.1 | 11.2 |
| 51 | Brian Anderson | MIA | 3B/OF | 5.6 | 3.1 | 10.6 |
| 52 | Ramon Laureano | OAK | OF | 0.6 | 10.5 | 10.5 |
| 53 | Dominic Smith | NYM | 1B/OF | 16.7 | -11.7 | 10.1 |
| 54 | Niko Goodrum | DET | INF/OF | 5.2 | 1.8 | 9.9 |
| 55 | Brandon Belt | SF | 1B/OF | 8.7 | -1.1 | 9.5 |
| 56 | JaCoby Jones | DET | OF | 10.5 | -7.0 | 8.3 |
| 57 | AJ Pollock | LAD | OF | 11.3 | -8.2 | 8.2 |
| 58 | Brandon Nimmo | NYM | OF | 6.3 | -2.5 | 7.7 |
| 59 | Jon Berti | MIA | SS/3B/OF | 11.2 | -7.2 | 6.9 |
| 60 | Jason Heyward | CHC | OF | 2.1 | 1.5 | 6.9 |
| 61 | Hunter Renfroe | TB | OF | -0.2 | -4.4 | 6.6 |
| 62 | Tommy Pham | SD | OF | 2.8 | -1.8 | 5.9 |
| 63 | Jurickson Profar | SD | 2B/OF | 2.1 | -2.2 | 5.4 |
| 64 | Victor Reyes | DET | OF | 8 | -6.5 | 4.1 |
| 65 | Garrett Hampson | COL | 2B/SS/OF | 0.3 | 0.1 | 3.9 |
| 66 | Kevin Pillar | BOS | OF | 5.8 | -12.1 | 2.6 |
| 67 | Yoshitomo Tsutsugo | TB | OF | 0.1 | -7.9 | 2.6 |
| 68 | Dylan Moore | SEA | INF/OF | 19.2 | -28.4 | 2.5 |
| 69 | Mike Tauchman | NYY | OF | 5.3 | -12.0 | 2.5 |
| 70 | Robbie Grossman | OAK | OF | 12.2 | -19.1 | 2.2 |
| 71 | Adam Duvall | ATL | OF | 2.6 | -14.6 | 1.7 |
| 72 | Byron Buxton | MIN | OF | 2.2 | -10.3 | 1.3 |
| 73 | Brian Goodwin | LAA | OF | 7.7 | -19.8 | 1.1 |
| 74 | Manuel Margot | TB | OF | 2.9 | -13.7 | 0.7 |
| 75 | Austin Slater | SF | 1B/OF | 13.1 | -27.8 | 0.1 |
The Bubble: Raimel Tapia, Brad Miller, Sam Haggerty, Phil Gosselin, Sam Hilliard, Corey Dickerson, Clint Frazier
If you want more Coolwhip to top-off your baseball experience, fantasy or otherwise, you can follow me on Twitter: @CoolwhipRB.
