Carlos Gonzalez, Top 100 Hitters, 2017 Fantasy Baseball

Now that we are a few weeks into the second half, we are able to take a look at players and their rest of season rankings a little differently. For starters, we can see how players are starting the second half. Even though it is only a few days off (or not off, for those who participate in the Home Run Derby and the All-Star Game) and is not even technically the real halfway point of the season, the All-Star break seems to hit the reset button for some players.

Some players get off to a hot start in the second half and ride the wave for a hot August and September, while others seem to lose their momentum and start off ice cold. You could write a book on the different explanations and theories about why it happens or whether or not the Home Run Derby messes up your swing or the All-Star Game schedule itself is exhausting, but we all know as fantasy owners that we have to really pay attention to our squads coming out of the break.

Players who had unreal, otherworldly breakout first halves like Aaron Judge have come back to earth a little bit, while players we had come to rely on in previous years who had disappointing first halves like Christian Yelich have gotten hot. If those disappointing players don’t get off to a good start to the second half, though, we have to make the tough decision about whether or not it is time to move on.

And that is the other way we have to look at these rankings, with time in mind. Depending on your league and format, you probably have roughly two months left in your season and about a month and a half or less until the playoffs in leagues that have them. Carlos Gonzalez is the 600th ranked player in Razzball’s year-to-date player rater, but he is still owned in 93% of RCLs and 67% of ESPN leagues as apparently, Razznation is still waiting for CarGo to turn back into the hitter he has shown he is over the year.

And while Gonzalez has been somewhat better in the second half and has sown signs of life, at some point time is going to run out. I gave up on him weeks ago and have not looked back. In the leagues where I had him I am in first or second place and am clawing to either stay there or overtake the top team, and I just don’t have any more time to wait on him. Granted, I gave up on him when it looked like he wasn’t going to have regular playing time anymore, and that is no longer the case since the Rockies can’t stay healthy, but I don’t regret the decision. Even after showing he can still hit a little in the second half, he still only has a 0.02 PR15. That isn’t enough to make me regret the decision or convince me he is going to get hot.

For Gonzalez this season, his Hard%, FB%, and HR/FB% are all down, while his AVG, OBP, and SLG are all well below his career averages. Most troubling to me is the SLG, which is currently sitting at .341. It would not be surprising to find out that he has been playing through injuries all season because 1. He is pretty much always injured and 2. These numbers are awful. You know I love creating these graphs, so check out this one:

Now, someone I am finally adding to our beloved 100 is Whit Merrifield. Or as his mother calls him, Whitley David Merrifield. Homeboy is hitting .379 in the second half with four home runs, three stolen bases, 12 RBI, and 12 runs scored. He is still somehow only owned in less than 70% of ESPN leagues despite adding some 2017 power (#TheJuiceIsLoose) to his already solid batting average and stolen base potential.

He is, however, owned in 99% of RCLs, so if you are playing against other members of Razznation it is probably too late for you. Like Tommy Pham, who we went over last week, Merrifield offers some cross-category production that is even more valuable as we head down the stretch. He has 11 home runs on the season (with four already in the second half, like we said) to go with 17 stolen bases, 44 runs scored, 45 RBI, and a .300 / .341 / .489 triple slash line.

Merrifield is a guy who probably spent much of the 2017 season on the waiver wire in your league due to a perceived lack of power and some peaks and valleys throughout the year. Here is a look at Merrifield’s 10-game rolling wOBA:

As you can see, there are some deep valleys and high peaks. But with roughly two months to go in the season, a month or so of a hot Merrifield could be the difference for you in a tight league. He has the third highest PR15 in the land at 10.66, behind only Nolan Arenado and teammate Eric Hosmer. Also, this:

In his first 162 games, Whit Merrifield had 175+ h, 80+ r, 40+ doubles and 20+ steals. Only 6 other players in MLB history have done that. pic.twitter.com/MZi3w8FE5e

— Mike Gillespie (@MikeAGillespie) July 30, 2017

Here are some other notes before we get into the Top 100:

Christian Yelich – Yelich is on fire in the second half, hitting .328 with four home runs, 11 runs scored, 12 RBIs, and a stolen base. He was both solid and disappointing in the first half, if that makes sense. He wasn’t bad by any means, but many fantasy owners were hoping for more. Moving him up in the rankings.
Aaron Judge – Judge has probably been one of the most polarizing players this season, and not just because, you know, New Yorkers. When Judge broke out in April, most of us were waiting for some regression. When it didn’t happen through May and June, we were in awe but also confused and still slightly skeptical because of some of the peripherals. Then came a July slump and a Home Run Derby display of big man power. He does have three home runs since the All-Star break, but he is hitting .170 in the second half and .235 in July. Now we all get to argue about whether this is a slump or a regression to the mean (or a little of both?). Not going to drop him very far because he is still going to hit home runs, get on base, score runs, and drive in runs.
Mitch Haniger – Razznation member Cram It and I both really, really want Mitch Haniger to be good. He is good, or he can be. He just can’t stay healthy. This time, it was a 95 MPH deGrom fastball to the face that did the trick. Dropping him from the list with the caveat that he is still loved.

#Mariners RF Mitch Haniger is headed to the DL. Has lacerations on his face that will likely require plastic surgery. No broken bones.

— Bob Dutton (@ByBobDutton) July 29, 2017

Scott Schebler – Few players have looked as rough as Schebler has the past few weeks. Through June, he looked like he could hit 35-40 home runs and hit around .265. Now, well, he is hitting .085 since the break and just .145 in July. I traded him for Gio Gonzalez in my deep pitching league where you need at least seven reliable starters and I had maybe five, and I hated giving him up at the time. A few weeks later, it looks like I made out like a bandit in that deal.
George Springer – Hit the disabled list with a quad injury but sounds like he will be fine and be back this week. This feels like a move a team would make if they had a huge lead in their division and just wanted to make sure they got their guys healthy. Hey, look at that. Being able to replace him with Derek Fisher doesn’t hurt, either.
Ryon Healy – Healy is a guy I like a lot and is someone I am probably going to draft next year, but he is slumping HARD right now. I’m talking no homers and a .203 AVG in July hard. Like I went over in the lede, August is no time to wait around for a guy like him to figure things out. Dropping him.
Jonathan Villar – He still has some SAGNOF value, but I’m dropping him due to ineffectiveness and now a drop in playing time.
Rafael Devers – I was going to wait another week before deciding on whether or not to add Devers, but I couldn’t help myself. He went to the opposite field today for his first home run over the Green Monster while I was writing this, so I took it as a sign to add him. He has already been added in most leagues and offers plus power.
Corey Dickerson – Hitting .205 with two home runs in July.
Kyle Seager – .321 with four home runs already in the second half. I went on the Razzball Baseball Podcast with Grey and Halp a couple weeks ago and said Seager was my favorite buy-low for the second half. This is why.
Jose Bautista – Bats hit .317 in May, .200 in June, and .170 in July. If he had 30 home runs maybe we could overlook those numbers, but he only has 16 home runs in a year where pretty much everyone has 16 home runs. Elvis Andrus has 14.

Note: These rankings are considered ROS Trade Value

**Mike Maher’s Top ¹⁰⁰ Hitters**

(Rankings based on 12-team Roto. GREEN = player rising. RED = player dropping. BLUE = new to the Top 100 or Honorable Mentions.)

Rank	Name	Team	Pos
1	Mike Trout	LAA	OF
2	Paul Goldschmidt	ARI	1B
3	Bryce Harper	WSH	OF
4	Nolan Arenado	COL	3B
5	Daniel Murphy	WSH	1B/2B
6	Jose Altuve	HOU	2B
7	Mookie Betts	BOS	OF
8	Anthony Rizzo	CHC	1B
9	Charlie Blackmon	COL	OF
10	Joey Votto	CIN	1B
11	Giancarlo Stanton	MIA	OF
12	J.D. Martinez	ARI	OF
13	Aaron Judge	NYY	OF
14	Kris Bryant	CHC	3B/OF
15	George Springer	HOU	OF
16	Freddie Freeman	ATL	1B
17	Corey Seager	LAD	SS
18	Nelson Cruz	SEA	OF
19	Jose Ramirez	CLE	3B/OF
20	Francisco Lindor	CLE	SS
21	Robinson Cano	SEA	2B
22	Marcell Ozuna	MIA	OF
23	Cody Bellinger	LAD	1B
24	Jean Segura	SEA	2B/SS
25	Dee Gordon	MIA	2B
26	Manny Machado	BAL	3B/SS
27	Miguel Sano	MIN	3B/OF
28	Anthony Rendon	WSH	3B
29	Jake Lamb	ARI	3B
30	Edwin Encarnacion	CLE	1B
31	Justin Turner	LAD	3B
32	Billy Hamilton	CIN	OF
33	Kyle Seager	SEA	3B
34	Ryan Braun	MIL	OF
35	Wil Myers	SD	1B/OF
36	Yoenis Cespedes	NYM	OF
37	Khris Davis	OAK	OF
38	Brian Dozier	MIN	2B
39	Jose Abreu	CWS	1B
40	Justin Upton	DET	OF
41	Travis Shaw	MIL	1B/3B
42	Christian Yelich	MIA	OF
43	Adam Duvall	CIN	OF
44	Starling Marte	PIT	OF
45	Josh Donaldson	TOR	3B
46	Eric Thames	MIL	1B/OF
47	Ryan Zimmerman	WAS	1B
48	Andrew Benintendi	BOS	OF
49	Miguel Cabrera	DET	1B
50	Matt Carpenter	STL	1B/2B/3B
51	Rougned Odor	TEX	2B
52	Gary Sanchez	NYY	C
53	A.J. Pollock	ARI	OF
54	Lorenzo Cain	KC	OF
55	Eric Hosmer	KC	1B
56	Xander Bogaerts	BOS	SS
57	Chris Owings	ARI	2B/SS
58	Jedd Gyorko	STL	2B/3B/SS
59	Elvis Andrus	TEX	SS
60	Buster Posey	SF	C/1B
61	Andrew McCutchen	PIT	OF
62	Michael Conforto	NYM	OF
63	Jay Bruce	NYM	OF
64	Mike Moustakas	KC	3B
65	Jonathan Schoop	BAL	2B
66	Salvador Perez	KC	C
67	Justin Smoak	TOR	1B
68	Adrian Beltre	TEX	3B
69	Avisail Garcia	CHW	OF
70	Domingo Santana	MIL	OF
71	Tommy Pham	STL	OF
72	Corey Dickerson	TB	OF
73	Mark Trumbo	BAL	OF
74	Ian Happ	CHC	2B/OF
75	Evan Longoria	TB	3B
76	Mark Reynolds	COL	1B
77	Adam Jones	BAL	OF
78	Matt Kemp	ATL	OF
79	Ian Desmond	COL	OF
80	Ian Kinsler	DET	2B
81	Michael Brantley	CLE	OF
82	Yonder Alonso	OAK	1B
83	Brett Gardner	NYY	OF
84	Logan Morrison	TB	1B
85	Marwin Gonzalez	HOU	1B/3B/OF
86	Whit Merrifield	KC	2B/OF
87	Eduardo Nunez	SF	3B/SS/OF
88	Carlos Gomez	TEX	OF
89	Justin Bour	MIA	1B
90	Hanley Ramirez	BOS	1B
91	Matt Adams	ATL	1B
92	Yoan Moncada	CHW	3B
93	Paul DeJong	STL	3B/SS/2B
94	Trevor Story	COL	SS
95	Eugenio Suarez	CIN	3B
96	Steven Souza Jr.	TB	OF
97	Ender Inciarte	ATL	OF
98	Chris Taylor	LAD	3B/2B/OF
99	Rafael Devers	BOS	3B
100	Carlos Santana	CLE	1B

The Honorable Mentions (Next Five In…)

Rank	Name	Team	Pos
101	Gregory Polanco	PIT	OF
102	David Peralta	ARI	OF
103	Josh Harrison	PIT	2B/3B
104	Gerardo Parra	COL	1B/OF
105	Andrelton Simmons	LAA	SS

Dropped from the rankings: Mitch Haniger, Ryon Healy, Jonathan Villar, Scott Schebler, Jose Bautista

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Mike Maher’s Top 100 Hitters

The Honorable Mentions (Next Five In…)

**Mike Maher’s Top ¹⁰⁰ Hitters**