[hitter_list list_id=”24464″ 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.
We’re entering the home stretch of the 2018 season, so expect to see plenty of aggressive adjustments to the List each week. In particular, injuries will take on added importance as even a minimum DL stint will cost a player a decent chunk of their remaining games. Rest assured that any rankings you vehemently disagree with were explicitly an attempt to insult you and/or your favorite player(s) personally. Seriously, before you work yourself into a rage in the comment section, understand that this is only one person’s opinion. I’m wrong a lot! Comes with the territory of doing this sort of thing.
On to the highlights!
- Injury roundup: Edwin Encarnacion (arm) was the only major casualty since last week, although Brian Dozier’s situation (irregular heartbeat) should be closely monitoring. Let’s check in on the rehab status for the handful of big names currently on the shelf. Mike Trout (wrist) did end up needing a stint on the disabled list, and now is attending to a family issue that may keep him from returning when first eligible on Thursday. Jose Altuve (knee) was unable to resume running over the weekend as planned. Aaron Judge (hand) still isn’t swinging a bat, while teammate Gary Sanchez (groin) reports that he’s pain free but isn’t running at full speed yet. Kris Bryant (shoulder) has been taking dry swings but has not progressed to participating in batting practice. Josh Donaldson, meanwhile, is still “ramping up intensity” and at this point it would be a surprise to see him back before September. George Springer (thumb) won’t be back when first eligible, but should return by the end of the week. Wilson Ramos (hamstring) and Nomar Mazara (thumb) are currently on rehab assignments and should also be back soon. Not much news on Tommy Pham (foot) but the early reports were encouraging.
- New to or back on the List this week: Robinson Cano, Aledmys Diaz, Randal Grichuk, Ryan Zimmerman, Harrison Bader, and Nick Ahmed. With his suspension served, Cano will reportedly see time at first and perhaps even third base in addition to his usual spot at the keystone. Diaz is hitting .328 with seven home runs since the break. Teammate Grichuk has been quietly effective since returning from injury on June 1, hitting .264/.313/.524 with 14 homers and good run production. Bader’s taking advantage of the opportunity for everyday at-bats in the wake of Dexter Fowler’s injury, slashing .325/.372/.550 with a pair of homers and three stolen bases thus far in August. Finally, Ahmed has probably been better than you realize, since a horrific May has dragged his overall numbers down.
So who ends up with the NL ROY….Soto or Acuna?
I kinda wonder if some writers won’t use whichever team wins the East/makes the playoffs as a tiebreaker. Or just whichever of the two finishes stronger.
I have Dee Gordon in a h2h points league, and I can’t understand why he’s this high. Between his shoulder and his toe, hes clearly playing hurt, not running, walking, or hitting for average. It looks like a lost season for him, and once my DL guys (Edwin, Lourdes Gurriel, and Wilson Ramos) come back, he will surely be one of the casualties. No longer see any upside unless he goes on the DL and gets healthy.
As a Dee Gordon enthusiast, I agree. He was really great early but he seems to have a bunch of issues. That said, he is ranked among guys with flaws. If he can magically get better then he is higher than that – its hard to say because he is not on the DL, but yeah, he has been bad lately and there is legitimate concern that his value is done for the year. I am not sure where I would rank him… maybe low 100s but with potential to shoot up 50 spots if he looks healthy.
Dee Gordon doesn’t draw walks when he’s healthy though, your otherwise totally fair and even compelling argument is now 100% invalidated. ;)
I dropped him significantly back when he first had the toe injury and then felt I’d overreacted and reversed course the following week. Perhaps I should’ve trusted my gut more.
Kyle Schwarber Yahoo H2H 5X5 ranks:
L7: 652
L14: 575
L30: 641
Season: 246
It’s getting had to justify hanging on to him. Any reason in particular you see top 70 value ROS with just a month and a half left? Could dump for guys in your 100-150 range (Braun and Semien to name two) who look to be finishing strong but am hesitant to do so. Thanks for the help!
He’s certainly slumped badly over the last month or so…and upon closer inspection, the strong start has done more work to prop up his overall numbers than I’d realized. Unless he snaps out of this funk he’s probably headed down 20+ spots next week.
You’re right to be reluctant to drop him for Semien. Braun might have been interesting but, hey, shocker, he’s banged up again (ribs this time).
Ditto what Paul said re: Schwarber
Would you really want Turner and Story over Baez? If its close, the eligibility should probably tip the scales. Early in the year you were having a hard time moving JoRam up the list just because it seems weird pushing out the established names and I get that. I think Baez is that guy at this point.
Whats up with G Polanco climbing the list? I would rather have Mitch Haniger…
I don’t see J Bauers as a top 150 bat. It looks like the league may have started taking him seriously and Aug has been miserable to him. Production at 1B is easy to come by.
Lowrie has been hot.
Bellinger isn’t a top 50 asset anymore – he hits in the back of the lineup now so the run production is gone. He also is not hitting for power anymore, which is the one reason you would want to own him. His average is trending up, but its not the Bellinger that anyone wants.
As always, I appreciate the work and I am not envious of the task. Those are a few things that stood out to me.
I’ve moved Baez further up since the start of the year than almost any other player. Story is a similar, uh, tale. I just have a hard time buying either guy as a high-average hitter. And it ain’t like we’ve never see Trea hit for average before. I’ll take 15 SBs at the expense of 10 HR, so it comes down to run production. Baez and Story will drive in more, but Turner will score more (and if the Nats’ bats are truly waking up as it appears, possibly a lot more). But there is very little separation between 16 and 18 in my mind.
Need to drop a hitter for a pitcher-which is the drop Eaton, Belt or Trumbo?
Thanks
Trumbo, it’s possible that his recent hot streak persists but it is equally if not more likely that he’ll go 4-for-50 over the rest of August.
I dont see how Cutch is still top 150. He’s been so unbelievably mediocre all year.
Yahoo has him 119 overall in 5×5, ESPN 150. He hasn’t stood out in any category, but he’s pitched in enough across the board to be decently valuable. .253 is meh but not an anchor in this environment.
I did drop him by a good bit this week, FWIW, but I would also point out that his post-break slump seems more BABIP driven than anything else. I had him too high before, I’m comfortable with where he is now. The gaps between players in the middle tiers of the list aren’t really that large in my mind.