Hitter List 5/23: Ranking the Top 150 Hitters To Own ROS

[hitter_list list_id=”20381″ include_stats=”1″ season=”2018″]

Welcome back to Hitter List. Every Wednesday during the regular season, I’ll rank the current value of the top 150 hitters for the remainder of the year. Use these rankings to help get a sense of both a player’s expected performance and his trade value in your fantasy leagues moving forward.  They’re constructed with 12-teamer, H2H, 5×5 leagues in mind; adjust as needed for your specific setup. Position eligibility does factor in to a degree.

As a reminder: There’s a ton of baseball left to be played, and these are rest of season rankings. We’re interested in the long view ’round these parts. That said, adjustments to the List are becoming more aggressive as we move deeper into the year. With that should come the acknowledgment that small shifts in a specific player’s ranking are often as much a consequence of other players’ more drastic movements as anything else. This is especially true when injuries occur. Put another way, please do not @ me if a guy moved up like two spots even if he’s failed to get a hit in the last couple games. I do, however, welcome more substantive grievances in the comments.

On to the highlights!

• Injury roundup: Another week, another marquee MI-eligible player down as Dee Gordon’s broken toe could cost him the rest of the first half. Paul DeJong isn’t quite on the same level, but his broken hand will keep him out until after the break. Both take a serious tumble in the ranks as a result. Starling Marte’s oblique strain isn’t thought to be serious, while Ryan Braun could return as early as Thursday after landing on the DL with back tightness. Steven Souza is back on the shelf with a strained pectoral muscle, the same injury that has kept him out for all but 14 games this year. Khris Davis hadn’t been placed on the disabled list as of Tuesday night, but reports suggest that his groin strain will put him there. Lastly, keep an eye on Nelson Cruz’s status – he was hit by a pitch on the elbow on Saturday and hasn’t played since.
• New to or back on the List this week:  Jesus Aguilar, Brandon Crawford, Travis Jankowski, John Hicks. Justin Bour, and Francisco Cervelli. Aguilar has been outstanding filling in for Eric Thames, though once Thames and Braun are healthy it may be tough for him to find at-bats. A shame, really, as he’s slashed .281/.346/.527 with 23 home runs in just 434 plate appearances dating back to last season. Crawford has been insane in May; he hit his second homer in three nights on Tuesday while logging his 10th multi-game game since the calendar flipped. Jankowski is hitting .354 and is a perfect 7-for-7 in stolen base attempts across just 20 games. With so many Padres outfielders either hurt or scuffling, he’s at least a great short-term play. Hicks has filled in admirably for Miguel Cabrera at first base, though fantasy owners should be plugging him in at catcher, his primary position. Let’s hope the Tigers just let Miggy DH and finally stop trying to make Victor Martinez happen so Hicks can keep playing regularly. Bour has quietly put up a 1.027 OPS this month while walking in nearly 30 percent of his plate appearances. Imagine if he was on an actual major league team! Finally, Cervelli probably should have been on the List before now, and I’m surprised nobody yelled at me about it. He’s nearly doubled his FB% and is already one homer shy of tying his career best.
• Why isn’t Billy Hamilton stealing bases? He’s just 8-for-10 so far, and we’re almost a third of the way through the season. He’s as terrible at the plate as ever, so the unfortunate souls who drafted him have gotten nothing for their trouble. You have to think he’ll start running at some point, but until he does he’s completely useless.