Category Power Rankings: Week 8

Another week of baseball in the books, which means another fresh edition of CPR!

 

Batting Average (AVG)

 

Top 25

 

 

Off the list: Mike Trout (injury), Corey Seager (injury), Jeff McNeil (injury), Paul Goldschmidt, Bo Bichette, David Fletcher

Lot of movers and shakers here. The strides that Trea Turner made at the dish last year during the shortened season appear to be justified in 2021. He has been a true five-category contributor for whoever took the plunge with their first round picks this year.

 

Deep League Top 10 (>12-team leagues/65% owned or less)

 

 

Off the list: Kolten Wong

With a batting average of nearly .360 over the past month, Andrew Benintendi’s season long mark is now at .288. His turnaround has not been a total success but it has been pretty darn good so far. He should be far more owned than he is considering his contribution in AVG and steals.

 

Runs (R)

 

Top 25

 

 

Off the list: Mike Trout (injury), Manny Machado, Alex Bregman

Over the past two weeks, Kyle Tucker is slashing .347/.418/.735 with 12 RBI and 16 runs scored bringing his season total to 31, which is tied for 12th in the majors. The 24-year old former top prospect got off to a horrible start but has turned it on in a major way and it appears the buy-low window has completely closed.

 

Deep League Top 10 (>12-team leagues/65% owned or less)

 

 

Off the list: Jed Lowrie, Josh Harrison

Shouldn’t Brandon Crawford be declining at age 34? What in the world has gotten into him? The veteran shortstop has an OPS of .879 to go along with 11 HRs, 29 RBI, and 26 runs scored. For some reason, and I am assuming it is because people see the name of Brandon Crawford on their waiver wire and just yawn, he is still only owned in 63% of Yahoo leagues.

 

Home Runs (HR)

 

Top 25

 

 

Off the list: Mike Trout (injury), Manny Machado, Marcell Ozuna

With six homers over his last 13 games, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has arrived. The uber-talented slugger is putting it all together and it sure is fun to watch. Vlad now has 13 HRs and 36 RBI with a robust OPS of 1.089. Strap in and enjoy the ride.

 

Deep League Top 10 (>12-team leagues/65% owned or less)

 

 

Off the list: Adolis García (ownership), Tyler O’Neill (injury), Hunter Dozier (injury)

Miguel Sanó has put himself back on the deep league radar with six dingers in his last nine games. The power has never been a question for the 28-year old but inconsistency and injuries have been. Here’s to hoping that .190 AVG can become more palatable.

 

Runs Batted In (RBI)

 

Top 25

 

 

Off the list: Mike Trout (injury), Giancarlo Stanton (injury), Anthony Rendon, Marcell Ozuna, Corey Seager (injury), Justin Turner, Pete Alonso (injury)

While he’s only slashing a mediocre .235/.277/.480, Eduardo Escobar has still driven in 35 runs and is on a 124-RBI pace. After his breakout in 2019, like many hitters did, Escobar bottomed out in 2020. The power and run production appear to be legit for the veteran infielder so you can at the very least expect help in 2-3 categories.

 

Deep League Top 10 (>12-team leagues/65% owned or less)

 

 

Off the list: Adolis García (ownership), Jed Lowrie, Travis Shaw, Austin Hays, Adam Eaton, Brandon Belt

Kyle Schwarber in his last 13 games has just as many RBI, bringing his total to 20 on the year. Schwarber has always been a streaky hitter and it appears were smack dab in the middle of one of his heaters. If you are in need of a little pop, you could do a lot worse.

 

Stolen Bases (SB)

 

Top 25

 

 

Off the list: Dylan Moore (injury), Starling Marte, Eddie Rosario

The fact that Fernando Tatis Jr. is already up to ten swipes despite an IL stint is pretty outrageous. Tatis is on like a 50/50 pace and as long as he is healthy, he is probably the premier power/speed threat in fantasy.

 

Deep League Top 10 (>12-team leagues/65% owned or less)

 

 

Off the list: Dylan Moore (injury), Adam Frazier

Steals are just such a lost category in fantasy anymore. Either you have one of the elite sources, or you punt the category altogether. For this list you are more or less looking for stolen base attempts than anything else. Raimel Tapia has attempted eight steals thus far and has converted on five. Rockies are willing to let Tapia run a little which can only help his fantasy outlook which is, for the most part, primarily based around batting average.

 

On-Base Percentage (OBP)

 

Top 25

 

 

Off the list: Mike Trout (injury), Brandon Nimmo (injury), Nolan Arenado

Max Muncy is slashing .474/.565/.842 over the last two weeks, bringing his season-long OBP to .457. Muncy has always maintained around a 15% walk rate, but here he is pushing over a 20% mark. Absolutely elite number.

 

Deep League Top 10 (>12-team leagues/65% owned or less)

 

 

Off the list: Austin Riley (injury), Miguel Rojas, Nick Madrigal

Bryan Reynolds has already established himself as a good source of AVG but he is now walking at a career-high rate. He may not be long for the Pirates lineup come the trade deadline, but he should definitely be more owned than he is in fantasy leagues.

 

Wins (W)

 

Top 25

 

 

Off the list: Luis Castillo, Charlie Morton

Over his last six starts, Trevor Rogers has gone 5-1 with an impressive 1.47 ERA. Rogers may have some competition with his teammate Jazz Chisholm Jr., but he is looking like a no doubt Rookie of the Year winner in the National League.

 

Deep League Top 10 (>12-team leagues/65% owned or less)

 

 

Off the list: Madison Bumgarner (ownership), Taijuan Walker (injury), Anthony DeSclafani (ownership), Kyle Gibson (ownership), Tyler Anderson, JT Brubaker, Wade Miley (injury)

With three wins over is last five starts, Johnny Cueto finds himself back on the streaming radar in deep leagues.

 

Earned Run Average (ERA)

 

Top 25

 

 

Off the list: Luis Castillo

Kevin Gausman has a 1.06 ERA over the past month spanning five starts as he continues to settle in to his new home in SanFran. Here’s to hoping he does not get moved at the deadline.

 

Deep League Top 10 (>12-team leagues/65% owned or less)

 

 

Off the list: Wade Miley (injury), Domingo Germán (ownership), Kyle Gibson (ownership), Tyler Anderson, J.A. Happ, Anthony DeSclafani (ownership), Taijuan Walker (injury)

While it has already been reported that Casey Mize’s workload will be monitored as the summer rolls on, he is still looking great and improving over every start. Over his last three turns, Mize has an ERA of 1.83. He should be owned until they start to limit him.

 

Strikeouts (K)

 

Top 25

 

 

Off the list: Luis Castillo, Charlie Morton

After averaging under eight punch outs per nine a year ago, Chris Bassitt has bumped those numbers up to over a strikeout per inning. Across his last seven outings he has K’d 54 batters spanning 44.2 IP. He has turned his 2020 breakout into an excellent 2021 and appears to be a pretty legit starter and fantasy option.

 

Deep League Top 10 (>12-team leagues/65% owned or less)

 

 

Off the list: Dylan Cease (ownership), Domingo Germán (ownership), Garrett Richards, Adam Wainwright

It cannot be overstated just how great Robbie Ray has looked thus far since returning from injury. Velocity is up, walks are down, and he has gone at least six innings in five of his eight outings. Ray has compiled 35 K’s over his last four and needs to be owned everywhere.

 

Saves (SV)

 

Top 25

 

 

Off the list: Kendall Graveman (injury)

Kenley Jansen has been absolutely stellar over the past two weeks. He has gone 6-for-6 in save chances and has not allowed a run. There were some doubts about Jansen heading into 2021 but he has silenced them for the most part.

 

Deep League Top 10 (>12-Team leagues/65% owned or less)

 

 

Off the list: Greg Holland, Gregory Soto, Kendall Graveman (injury)

Michael Fulmer appears to have settled in to the closer’s role in Detroit. It is good to see Fulmer healthy and with a prominent role for the pitching staff, even if it isn’t quite what we had in mind a few years ago. He will more than likely have a long leash as the Tigers’ stopper.

 

WHIP (Walks+Hits/Innings Pitched)

 

Top 25

 

 

Off the list: Pablo Lopez

Hyun Jin Ryu keeps getting better with age. Once he moved to the AL East, many doubted he would be able to carry over his effectiveness into the American League. Could not be further from the truth. Ryu has been incredibly effective since coming to the Jays and has limited baserunners to the tune of a 1.08 WHIP since last year.

 

Deep League Top 10 (>12-team leagues/65% owned or less)

 

 

Off the list: Wade Miley (injury), Anthony DeSclafani (ownership), Tyler Anderson, Kyle Gibson (ownership)

Over his last five starts, Carlos Martinez has a WHIP a hair under 1.00 and an ERA of 2.51. CarMart is not striking guys out like he used to but he has done a decent job of limiting baserunners and damage as well. Consider him a streamer in good matchups.

 

Quality Starts (QS)

 

Top 25

 

 

Off the list: Luis Castillo, Dylan Bundy, Zac Gallen (injury)

Take a guess as to who leads the entire majors in quality starts. Raise your hand if you guessed Kyle Gibson… just as I suspected, nobody. NINE quality starts across ten outings in 2021 for Gibson. He is well on his way to his first All-Star nod.

 

Deep League Top 10 (>12-team leagues/65% owned or less)

 

 

Off the list: Kyle Gibson (ownership), Anthony DeSclafani (ownership), Domingo Germán, Wade Miley (injury), Tyler Anderson, Jose Ureña

Definitely not on the must-own radar, but Drew Smyly has posted three consecutive quality starts. Two of which came against weaker lineups, but as long as the confidence is there for Smyly, he could be a decent add in deeper leagues. We have seen him be a useful fantasy arm before.

 

Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter)