Hitter List 4/18: Ranking The Top 150 Batters Every Tuesday

The third week of the MLB regular season is underway, and the list of the top 150 hitters has been adjusted to reflect the most viable, productive fantasy bats across the game right now. Highly touted stars who are slumping have been penalized, while guys who are unequivocally manufacturing offense saw an ascent in the rankings. Injury prognoses and recent DL entrants have been handicapped accordingly. Twelve new players who are generating buzz with their offense have debuted toward the bottom, meaning we said goodbye for the time being to 12 players who weren’t doing enough to merit elite consideration. For elaboration on some of the changes you’ll see, refer to the notes appended to this post below the list itself.

Without further ado, let’s review who the Top 150 hitters in fantasy baseball are:

[table id=15 /]

• Josh Donaldson has been nixed from Toronto’s active roster for what’s reported to be a 2-4 week stint on the DL. He is one of the best players in fantasy baseball, but the fact that you cannot rely on his skills until some time in May means he has been tentatively demoted to account for his current lack of availability.
• Bryce Harper has overtaken Manny Machado to occupy the No. 6 spot after a strong week that comprised a 5-19, 7 R, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 4 BB (1 IBB), 3 K performance. Machado, meanwhile, only has a .175/.298/.375 slash line to show for his efforts
• Following some electric batting performances, notable risers featured in the Top 25 are Francisco Lindor, Daniel Murphy, Yoenis Cespedes and George Springer.
• Other big promotions include Khris Davis, Brian Dozier, Mike Moustakas, Yasiel Puig, Jacoby Ellsbury, Eugenio Suarez, J.T. Realmuto, Cesar Hernandez, Jonathan Schoop and Michael Brantley.
• Trea Turner, Gary Sanchez, Jackie Bradley, Jr. and Buster Posey are examples of players who are enduring DL time to recover from minor injuries: they need not be dropped by any means from your rosters. Their respective values, normally much higher, have been discounted in the rankings to account for their absence and uncertainty of when exactly their return to action will be (even though it is believed to be in the short term). Similarly, but with a little more optimism swirling around a reactivation from the DL as soon as it is possible, Matt Kemp, Jason Kipnis and Jean Segura are all slotted far lower than they would be at full health; they will rebound upward upon entrance to their franchise’s active rosters.
• Adrian Beltre, D. Martinez, Ian Desmond and David Dahl are also  accordingly, based on the murky nature of the timetables for their respective returns from the DL. Dahl and Martinez likely have rehab assignments in front of them, while Desmond is easing back into baseball activities. As soon as something happens that returns them to fantasy relevance, you’ll see changes here.
• Some of the biggest performance-based tumbles within the rankings that are not related to injury belong to Carlos Gonzalez, Todd Frazier, Jose Bautista, Greg Bird and Tim Anderson. Relatedly, Marcus Semien also struggled but was additionally placed on the DL. He was previously at No. 107 but has been removed from the list for the aggregated reasons of subpar health and poor performances.
• Falling out of the Top 150—with their previously held rank in parentheses—are Tommy Joseph (100), Travis Jankowski (106), the aforementioned Marcus Semien (107), Kevin Kiermaier (113), Byron Buxton (117), Mike Napoli (122), Joc Pederson (130), C.J. Cron (134), Dansby Swanson (144), Jason Heyward (146) and Justin Bour (147).
• Making their first appearances on the Hitter List are Chris Owings (128), Asdrubal Cabrera (131), Mitch Moreland (133), Brandon Crawford (134), Avisail Garcia (140), Chase Headley (141), Aaron Judge (143), Corey Dickerson (144), Logan Morrison (145), Matt Davidson (146), Mark Reynolds (148) and Brandon Drury (150).