Welcome back gang, we are making our way to the home stretch of this short season and you gotta make some tough decisions. This, as always, is a continuation of my Top 75 Outfielders for 2020: Midseason Edition and hopefully, we can steer you in the right direction. Don’t be afraid to drop a slumping power bat if you need some steals to leap up the rankings, likewise for the reverse. Without further ado, let’s dive in.
Here’s what I’ve been seeing around the league:
The Ins
Ronald Acuna Jr. – In the last 7 days, Acuna has 5 HRs, 2 SB, 10 R/RBIs, and hitting a cool .333, he’s pretty good. And I think… yep, he’s back.
Ian Happ – If anyone has been listening to me for a hot minute, I’ve been proclaiming my love for him and Grisham as my 2 favorite late draft OF targets this season, which I had on almost every team. Happ has certainly lived up to that hype.
Kyle Tucker – After getting cock-blocked by Reddick all of last year we are finally seeing the talent of this dude that went for 30/30 and 97 RBIs at AAA last year. Now he’s free to spread his wings under the Toothpick. And now I’ve seen everything. It took a few injuries, but he’s broken through the glass ceiling; he’s currently sitting as the 7th best OF on the Player Rater. Yes that’s correct, 7th.
Adam Duvall – Hold on one sec… Okay, just wanted to make sure he didn’t hit another 3 HRs. Duvall now has 13 HRs and 29 RBIs, in 42 games, with 9 of those HRs coming in the last 2 weeks. *Whispers* He already did this last year… and some of you may have forgotten, this is what he was doing on the Reds when he was the next big thing and hit 30+ HRs in 2016 and 2017 before the wheels fell off. He’s overperforming in AVG and Hardhit% but his 15.9 Barrel% is pretty legit.
Victor Reyes – The Tigers are in a pretty sad state of affairs (see losing 0-19), but he’s the one bright spot in there in a dark and dreary world. What if I told you Reyes was on pace for 92/14/46/22/.315, which is a similar line to what you hoping from Verdugo. If he’s still out there (probably not) you should go get him. Cheap steals that also boosts your average. Cedric Mullins is another.
Mike Trout – As of this writing, Trout hit his league-leading 16th HR of the year and is now slashing .300/.397/.673, he’s back too even though he never left. Some were saying it was a down year, yadda yadda. 2 weeks ago when he was batting around .250 even though his contact was still great, I told you it was the most buy-low he has ever been (not that anyone was selling, LOL) and that the correction was coming. Well, here we are.
The Outs
Brandon Lowe – He has cooled off significantly as of late. In the last 2 weeks, he’s hit a paltry .114 with a single HR. That HR, however, came in Thursday’s game so maybe this a sign of him coming out of his funk. Last year he a stretch like this, so maybe it’s his process.
Teoscar Hernandez – The hospital beds are filling up: Kepler is gone, Ketel is gone, Aaron Judge is out again and off the board, Stanton soon will be if he doesn’t get back on the field, and now Teo is likely done for the season. He had a hell of a run and was going to be sitting at #6 on this list had he not gone down. It’s going to hard to decide where to rank him for year as he was in the top 3% of all contact metrics. Is this a legit breakout? Not sure yet, will need to dig in more later. He’s got good pop and decent speed, but in a full season, his average will probably be much closer to .250 than .300 despite having an xBA of .330 this year.
Kyle Schwarber – He has 4 HR in the last 2 weeks but his AVG has plummeted to the tune of .186 in that time frame. He’s currently sitting at .210 and with an xBA of .223, that doesn’t bode well at the moment. He’s sporting the best EV of his career that’s in Top 2% of the league, but that’s coming with a career-high K-rate too at 31.3%, yowza.
Cody Bellinger – His 6 steals are saving him from having a really awful season. Yes, he’s hit 10 HRs, but his average is sitting at .211 and he’s been hitting .174 over the last 2 weeks regardless of 2 HR and 4 SB in that timeframe. Changing your swing right before a short season where nothing is routine and normal is totally a good idea. Pardon me while I roll my eyes out of their sockets.
The What-have-yous
Andrew McCutchen – and also Bryce Harper, the numbers are loving the Phillies for the rest of the season. Which, these are a bit strange I admit. So digging into their schedule I see 6 vs Marlins then Mets, 4 vs Jays, Nats, Rays. Must be giving them a boost for the Buffalo Wing Box and Rick Porcello. I kid, only slightly. The last 7 days have been forgettable, but the 7 before that he hit 3 HRs with 8 RBIs while hitting .296.
Brandon Belt – The skies are filled with smoldering ash and Belt is hitting over .300, what a world we live in. The Bad news is its buoyed by a .397 BABIP with a silver lining being his .324 career average. Some good news is an 18.7 Barrel% and 49.3% Hardhit%, both career highs (small sample sizes are fun sizes). Finally that 30 HR pace we’ve been waiting for! Maybe.
Ramon Laureano – In the last 2 weeks he’s hit 2 HR with 6 RBIs while hitting .278, yet he still has only 1 steal. This is not the meal I ordered… I specifically asked for the legs. I suppose they could come at any time and he’s now taking walks at nearly double the rate of 2019 and a BABIP below his career average. The last 2 weeks could be a sign of things to come.
D.J. Stewart – What is it with these Orioles? DJ has 5 HRs in the last 4 days and is hitting .571 over that span… now that’s a beat I can dance to. Not sure how long he can keep this up, but might as well find out with the Yankees and Braves decimated rotations coming up. The bird is the word.
The Board
| Rank | Name | Team | Pos | $ | ROS$ | CW$ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mookie Betts | LAD | OF | 44.4 | 31.4 | 44.1 |
| 2 | Mike Trout | LAA | OF | 39.7 | 32.4 | 43.5 |
| 3 | Juan Soto | WSH | OF | 25.2 | 43.7 | 42.3 |
| 4 | Bryce Harper | PHI | OF | 21.5 | 43.3 | 39.1 |
| 5 | Ronald Acuna Jr. | ATL | OF | 22.4 | 38.3 | 38.1 |
| 6 | Luis Robert | CHW | OF | 28.5 | 29.2 | 33.4 |
| 7 | Marcell Ozuna | ATL | OF | 32.1 | 17.1 | 29.8 |
| 8 | Kyle Tucker | HOU | OF | 30.8 | 7.3 | 28.5 |
| 9 | Christian Yelich | MIL | OF | 13.3 | 42.4 | 28.0 |
| 10 | Eloy Jimenez | CHW | OF | 19 | 21 | 28.0 |
| 11 | Michael Conforto | NYM | OF | 31.1 | 12.5 | 27.7 |
| 12 | Cody Bellinger | LAD | 1B/OF | 17.6 | 33.2 | 26.9 |
| 13 | Franmil Reyes | CLE | OF | 18.8 | 15 | 26.4 |
| 14 | Andrew McCutchen | PHI | OF | 8.5 | 28.4 | 25.5 |
| 15 | Ian Happ | CHC | 1B/2B/3B/OF | 19.6 | 5.4 | 24.6 |
| 16 | Charlie Blackmon | COL | OF | 22.1 | 20.8 | 24.2 |
| 17 | Starling Marte | MIA | OF | 18 | 32.1 | 23.8 |
| 18 | Mike Yastrzemski | SF | OF | 30.8 | 0.2 | 23.5 |
| 19 | Whit Merrifield | KC | 1B/2B/OF | 22.6 | 16.7 | 22.8 |
| 20 | Adam Duvall | ATL | OF | 23.4 | -13.9 | 22.7 |
| 21 | Eddie Rosario | MIN | OF | 17.5 | 12.7 | 22.1 |
| 22 | Kyle Schwarber | CHC | OF | 8.1 | 14.8 | 21.7 |
| 23 | Randal Grichuk | TOR | OF | 15.6 | 7.6 | 21.6 |
| 24 | Wil Myers | SD | 1B/OF | 27.8 | -4.1 | 21.5 |
| 25 | George Springer | HOU | OF | 9.5 | 19.4 | 21.4 |
| 26 | Alex Verdugo | BOS | OF | 16.8 | 12 | 20.4 |
| 27 | Brandon Lowe | TB | 1B/2B/OF | 16.8 | 6 | 20.2 |
| 28 | Nick Castellanos | CIN | OF | 17.6 | 15.9 | 19.9 |
| 29 | Trent Grisham | SD | OF | 23.1 | 2.9 | 19.1 |
| 30 | Cavan Biggio | TOR | 1B/2B/OF | 17.5 | 8.7 | 19.0 |
| 31 | Kyle Lewis | SEA | OF | 27 | -8 | 18.5 |
| 32 | J.D. Martinez | BOS | OF | -7.3 | 24.6 | 18.2 |
| 33 | Tommy Edman | STL | 2B/SS/3B/OF | -0.8 | 26.8 | 18.2 |
| 34 | Lourdes Gurriel Jr. | TOR | 2B/OF | 12.2 | 7.9 | 16.9 |
| 36 | Joey Gallo | TEX | OF | 1.7 | 10.9 | 16.2 |
| 37 | Ramon Laureano | OAK | OF | 0.2 | 17.1 | 15.9 |
| 38 | Dominic Smith | NYM | 1B/OF | 18.4 | -10.4 | 15.9 |
| 39 | Jesse Winker | CIN | OF | 12.1 | 3.7 | 15.8 |
| 40 | Mark Canha | OAK | 1B/OF | 5.4 | 6.9 | 15.8 |
| 41 | Dylan Moore | SEA | INF/OF | 17.7 | -17.1 | 15.0 |
| 42 | Brandon Belt | SF | 1B/OF | 11.6 | 1.4 | 14.8 |
| 43 | Nick Solak | TEX | 2B/3B/OF | 6.8 | 8.2 | 14.6 |
| 44 | Victor Robles | WSH | OF | -3.5 | 14.5 | 14.2 |
| 45 | Austin Meadows | TB | OF | -10.7 | 19.5 | 14.2 |
| 46 | Brian Anderson | MIA | 3B/OF | 1 | 8.8 | 14.1 |
| 47 | Austin Riley | ATL | 1B/3B/OF | 5.6 | -0.8 | 13.7 |
| 48 | Alex Dickerson | SF | OF | 9.8 | -8.6 | 13.4 |
| 49 | Stephen Piscotty | OAK | OF | 10 | 0.6 | 13.4 |
| 50 | Ryan Mountcastle | BAL | 1B/OF | -1 | 2.7 | 13.1 |
| 35 | Michael Brantley | HOU | OF | 10 | 11.5 | 13.0 |
| 51 | Jurickson Profar | SD | 2B/OF | 8.3 | -1.7 | 12.8 |
| 52 | Corey Dickerson | MIA | OF | -5.3 | 9.5 | 12.6 |
| 53 | AJ Pollock | LAD | OF | 14.3 | -7.2 | 12.3 |
| 54 | Clint Frazier | NYY | OF | 2 | -19.6 | 12.2 |
| 55 | Jeff McNeil | NYM | 2B/3B/OF | 2.7 | 7 | 12.2 |
| 56 | Jason Heyward | CHC | OF | 4.1 | 0.7 | 12.1 |
| 57 | Ryan Braun | MIL | OF | -11.5 | 14.9 | 11.7 |
| 58 | Victor Reyes | DET | OF | 14.8 | -1.3 | 11.6 |
| 59 | Jon Berti | MIA | 2B/SS/3B/OF | 4.7 | 1.1 | 11.5 |
| 60 | David Peralta | ARI | OF | 4.1 | 3.2 | 11.0 |
| 61 | Jackie Bradley Jr. | BOS | OF | 1.5 | -0.3 | 10.6 |
| 62 | Hunter Dozier | KC | 1B/3B/OF | -1.6 | 2.3 | 10.5 |
| 63 | Adam Eaton | WSH | OF | -6.8 | 15.5 | 10.5 |
| 64 | Kole Calhoun | ARI | OF | 4.6 | -0.1 | 10.2 |
| 65 | Byron Buxton | MIN | OF | -3.3 | 7.8 | 9.9 |
| 66 | Teoscar Hernandez | TOR | OF | 35.5 | -30.7 | 9.8 |
| 67 | Kevin Pillar | COL | OF | 8.2 | -10.8 | 9.5 |
| 68 | Avisail Garcia | MIL | OF | -7.7 | 11.1 | 9.4 |
| 69 | Yoshitomo Tsutsugo | TB | 3B/OF | -1.8 | -4.3 | 9.3 |
| 70 | Brad Miller | STL | 2B/3B/OF | 4.2 | -18.8 | 9.2 |
| 71 | Aaron Hicks | NYY | OF | -5.3 | 5.5 | 9.1 |
| 72 | Brandon Nimmo | NYM | OF | 3.9 | -3.9 | 8.9 |
| 73 | Garrett Hampson | COL | 2B/SS/OF | 4.8 | -1.2 | 8.8 |
| 74 | Giancarlo Stanton | NYY | OF | -9.4 | 7 | 8.7 |
| 75 | Garrett Cooper | MIA | 1B/OF | -10.8 | -2.4 | 8.2 |
The Bubble
DJ Stewart, Tyler Naquin, Austin Slater, Randy Arozarena, Raimel Tapia, Cedric Mullins, Tyler O’Neill
