Hitter List 9/14: Top 150+ Hitters For 2022 – Week 23

First and foremost, my apologies for not having a Hitter List for you last week during the most critical time of the season. My hard drive crashed and I was without my computer until Friday morning. I know excuses won’t give us back that week, but you all should always know that if you want input on a roster move, you can always reach out to me on Discord, Twitter (@ifthechufits), or in the weekly Pitcher List Reddit AMA that I host every Friday during the regular season. Even if I can’t get an article out to you for whatever reason, I am still here to help!

As always, let’s get some basics out of the way in terms of how to interpret these rankings. None of this stuff should come as any major surprise, but it never hurts to provide background:

I would recommend not paying super close attention to the specific ranks of each player, and honing in more on the respective tiers that they’re in. Each tier represents a grouping of players that I think could arguably perform at a similar level, and/or carry similar levels of risk in terms of injury concerns or playing time obstacles. If Player X is ranked at #55 and Player Y is ranked at #65, but they’re in the same tier, it means that I personally like Player X a lot better, but think there’s a valid argument to be made for Player Y performing just as well.

I take rankings like this as more of an art than a science. Every person’s rankings are influenced by their own biases, strategic philosophies, determinations of risk, and projections. It’s why no two rankings are ever exactly alike. Jon’s way of evaluating and ranking players has worked out well for Jon (and me) over the years, but it might not be a great fit for you. I can’t possibly predict your team’s specific needs, your league mate’s player evaluations, or your current waiver wire, and if I could I be weird. In a bad way.

Yes, these ranks vary from the official PL positional rankings that I also developed in the offseason. That’s because these are only mine – no input from others. This is a safe space for me where I answer to no one but myself…and you if you leave a comment.

I’m using 20 games as the threshold for positional eligibility in the List. I have not included presumed eligibilities based on likely new positions. This is just a maintenance thing and we will update eligibility throughout the season. Feel free to let me know if I’m missing any!

And now a couple of notes on how I generally evaluate hitters before we dive in:

I’ve gotten more level-headed over the years regarding weighing stolen bases, but I still think they’re precious given how rare they’re becoming. Every steal is important, so don’t take those “chip-in” steals for granted. Finding steals at the end of the season can be a dogfight.

If I did want to get some insight on whether what I’m seeing is new or if it’s just normal fluctuation, I’d use my favorite tool—the rolling chart. While we don’t have much for rolling data in 2022, you can see where they currently are on a rolling chart and see how it compares to their career trajectory.

No stat is an island and they should all be taken in proper context. For ranking purposes, the primary starting points I use are plate discipline, wRC+, quality of contact metrics (also known as Statcast batted ball data), and lineup context. I also use various projections (some free, some I buy) and dollar value generators. Unlike Nick, I’ll also look at other rankings as I prepare my own to feel how my colleagues value certain players, positions, or stats. I recommend trying as many of these things as you can until you find what you like.

Positional eligibility, and specifically multi-eligibility, is really neat but also isn’t a huge factor in many 10- and 12-team leagues anymore due to the prevalence of multi-eligible players. It’s of more value in deeper contests like the NFBC, or in leagues with limited roster moves (draft and hold leagues, transaction limits/costs, extremely short benches, etc.), but even then the value is fairly situational and context-dependent.

On a similar note, I don’t penalize players for only qualifying in the utility slot. At most, it is a mild inconvenience if a DH-only player is available at a great value and you already have filled your utility spots.

Anyone talented enough to make it to the big leagues can be brilliant or putrid for 50 at-bats regardless of true talent. Heck, it could even last a month with no change in potential or skill. It also could be wildly meaningful. We can’t and don’t know which of these will be true until it’s over, though track record, scouting, and trends give us hints.

If you’d like input on a player or have any feedback, your best bet is to reach out to me on Twitter (@ifthechufits) or in the comments!

Ranking Notes

Check out the Hacks & Jacks podcast featuring myself and Joe Gallina, which also happened to be a finalist for Best Baseball Podcast of 2021 by the Fantasy Sports Writers Association (FSWA)!

One final point: At this stage of the season, specific needs and schedules mean everything! While I may rank one player a tier or two higher than another, there are more reasons now than ever to ignore such a gap in the late tiers if you’re after a specific stat.

The big news in this tier is that I dropped Juan Soto into it. I believe in the 23-year-old outfielder long-term, but there’s little to suggest that he’s coming out of his quality of contact issues. That said, Statcast seems to think that he’s a product of terrible luck, so I suppose it could turn around at any time.

Rafael Devers has improved the ratios considerably this month, and a five-RBI game last Saturday was a sight for sore eyes (the uptick in RBI somewhat aligns with his move to fourth in the batting order, if you’re curious). I’m still a tiny bit concerned that he only has one home run since August 14, but at least the other stuff is positive.

TIER 3

Bo Bichette is back with extreme vengeance. He has seven home runs in his last 13 games to go along with a whopping 37 combined runs and RBI. That’s nearly 3 combined runs and RBI per game. This is kind of bounceback we always keep hoping for in superstar-caliber players, which is why even the harshest of slumps these guys stay near the top-50 or better. Truly unbelievable how much value he’s provided in such a short amount of time.

Michael Harris II only moves up, folks.

TIER 4

Adolis García only dropped a spot because of Michael Harris. He’s been fantastic in his own right, though.

Adley Rutschman is the new top catcher in my book. While Will Smith can hit a few more home runs than Adley right now, Adley’s walk rate is higher than his strikeout rate over the 200 plate appearances he’s had in the second half, and there’s even more growth to come.

From here on out, you’ll see a +2 to +3 shift for all players due to injured players that were dropped deep down the list.

Daulton Varsho’s ability to steal some bases may eventually convince me to put him in that top tier of catching with Will Smith and Adley Rutschman.

Nick Castellanos was heating up in a big way over the two weeks before he went on the IL with an oblique injury. He’s eligible to return today, though I haven’t seen any news that gives me an idea of his timeline.

Willson Contreras could come back at any time, in theory, and the MRI he got last week suggested things shouldn’t be too bad. He could drop further if we find out he’s out for more than a few more days or so.

Anthony Rizzo takes one of the biggest tumbles simply because I don’t know when he’s going to play. There’s talk he could return over the weekend, but until I hear a specific date I’m going to be worried a bit.

The batting average is still disappointing, but improved plate discipline has helped unlock Tyler O’Neill’s potential again. He’s not quite as hot as he was in late August, but his pair of home runs and three steals over his last 11 games is exactly the kind of thing we expected coming into the season.

Max Muncy and Eugenio Suárez continue to reward those who kept at least a little faith (or who regained it early in the power outburst). I see no reason why that shouldn’t continue because they have shown this kind of power before on many occassions.

TIER 10

Jorge Polanco should return this week, but more importantly, we need his power to return. Until I see that, I’m going to slowly keep moving him down.

Oneil Cruz has been cutting the strikeouts a bit and it’s helping him show off his extreme toolset. As you can see in the rolling chart below, his strikeout rate and wOBA are closely connected (unsurprisingly) and when he stops striking out over 35% of the time, good things happen.

TIER 11

Vaughn Grissom slowed down there for a second but was able to adjust whatever wasn’t working quickly. While doing that once doesn’t mean he will always do it that quickly, but at least Grissom has done it once. This ranking is probably too low, but I’m playing it conservatively.

Wander Franco is a nightmare to try and rank because he doesn’t have loud tools apart from batting average, but his extreme hit tool could lead to more power.

Welcome to the list, Gunnar Henderson! The biggest thing for a call-up is seeing whether they play every day, and that’s what we’re seeing with Gunnar. Additionally, they’re letting him hit fifth most of the time and the plate discipline has been strong. He’s off to a great start!

TIER 12

Jake McCarthy has amazed for several weeks now, and in more than just stolen bases. He was originally looking like a guy who’d lose time when Corbin Carroll was called up, but McCarthy keeps hitting and keeps running. Don’t even think about sitting him, though it’s always wise to reserve a little skepticism when someone is this surprising.

Joey Meneses is striking out considerably more of late and that’s a little troubling. It’s not hurting the results yet, but if he doesn’t correct it soon, it will.

A slump plus an injury pulls DJ LeMahieu down the list, and any setback will drop him further.

TIER 14

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hasn’t been awesome and now he’s hurt.

I’m not sure what to make of Lane Thomas but he’s hitting well on a bad team. He’s mostly a contact guy who probably would struggle a bit to hit 20 home run power in a full season, but if he keeps up the improved plate discipline, he could be rather draftable next season.

Spencer Torkelson is looking like a much different hitter than in his first tour of duty and it’s something I’d watch closely. He was one of the best college hitters of the last decade.

Nothing Elvis Andrus is doing makes any sense and I don’t trust it as far as I can throw it (which is not far because I’m not strong). Feel free to scoop him up in whatever format but I’m dropping at the first sign of struggle. Historically, he can’t keep a 25-game wOBA for very long. Also, I’d note that in the below chart the reference line is his cumulative wOBA over that span, not the league average.

And now, once again, it’s time for the Hitter List:

Rank	Hitter	Position	Change
1	José RamírezT1	3B	-
2	Aaron Judge	OF	+1
3	Trea Turner	2B, SS	-1
4	Paul Goldschmidt	1B	+2
5	Ronald Acuña Jr.	OF	-
6	Freddie Freeman	1B	+2
7	Vladimir Guerrero Jr.	1B	-3
8	Mookie Betts	OF	+1
9	Shohei Ohtani T2	DH	+1
10	Mike Trout	OF	+4
11	Juan Soto	OF	-4
12	Yordan Alvarez	OF	-1
13	Kyle Tucker	OF	-
14	Julio Rodríguez	OF	+1
15	Manny Machado	3B	+1
16	Rafael Devers	3B	-4
17	Pete Alonso	1B	-
18	Francisco Lindor	SS	-
19	Nolan Arenado	3B	-
20	Austin Riley T3	1B, 3B	-
21	Jose Altuve	2B	-
22	Bryce Harper	OF	-
23	Cedric Mullins	OF	-
24	José Abreu	1B	-
25	Alex Bregman	3B	-
26	Randy Arozarena	OF	+1
27	Luis Robert Jr.	OF	+1
28	Bobby Witt Jr.	SS	+1
29	Starling Marte	OF	+2
30	Bo Bichette	SS	+17
31	Matt Olson	1B	-1
32	Michael Harris II	OF	+3
33	Teoscar Hernández T4	OF	-1
34	Adolis García	OF	-1
35	Marcus Semien	2B, SS	+1
36	Eloy Jiménez	OF	-2
37	Corey Seager	SS	-
38	Adley Rutschman	C	+4
39	Xander Bogaerts	SS	-1
40	Will Smith T5	C	-
41	Andrés Giménez	2B, SS	-2
42	George Springer	OF	-1
43	Rhys Hoskins	1B	-
44	Matt Chapman	3B	-
45	Dansby Swanson	SS	-
46	Giancarlo Stanton	OF	-
47	Kyle Schwarber	OF	+1
48	Daulton Varsho T6	C, OF	+2
49	J.T. Realmuto	C	-
50	Carlos Correa	SS	+1
51	Byron Buxton	OF	+2
52	Bryan Reynolds	OF	+3
53	Nathaniel Lowe T7	1B	+3
54	Christian Walker	1B	+9
55	Josh Bell	1B	+2
56	Ian Happ	OF	+2
57	Willy Adames	SS	+3
58	Jeff McNeil	2B, OF	+6
59	Luis Arraez	1B, 2B, 3B, OF	+2
60	C.J. Cron	1B	+2
61	Salvador Perez	C	+4
62	Mitch Haniger T8	OF	+4
63	Nick Castellanos	OF	-11
64	Christian Yelich	OF	+4
65	Ketel Marte	2B, OF	+4
66	Willson Contreras	C	-12
67	Tommy Edman	2B, OF	+4
68	Amed Rosario	SS, OF	+4
69	Hunter Renfroe T9	OF	+8
70	Trevor Story	2B, SS	-
71	Austin Hays	OF	+7
72	Brandon Drury	2B, 3B, OF	-5
73	Anthony Rizzo	1B	-47
74	Anthony Santander	OF	+5
75	Tyler O’Neill	OF	+22
76	Justin Turner	3B	+4
77	Max Muncy	1B, 2B, 3B	+11
78	Eugenio Suárez	3B, SS	+13
79	Ryan Mountcastle	1B, OF	+6
80	Jorge Polanco T10	2B, SS	-6
81	Tommy Pham	OF	-
82	Alex Verdugo	OF	-
83	Gavin Lux	2B, SS, OF	-
84	Brandon Nimmo	OF	-
85	Jose Miranda	1B, 2B, 3B, OF	+5
86	J.D. Martinez	OF	+3
87	Oneil Cruz	SS	+21
88	Steven Kwan T11	OF	+6
89	Nico Hoerner	2B, SS	-3
90	Alec Bohm	3B	+3
91	Jonathan India	2B	+1
92	Alejandro Kirk	C	+6
93	Seiya Suzuki	OF	+16
94	Joc Pederson	1B, OF	+1
95	Vaughn Grissom	2B	+17
96	Ty France	1B, 2B	+17
97	Jean Segura	2B, SS	+3
98	Kolten Wong	2B	+1
99	Andrew Vaughn	1B, OF	-12
100	Wander Franco	3B, SS	+UR
101	Gunnar Henderson	2B, 3B	+18
102	Jake Fraley	OF	-1
103	Yandy Díaz T12	OF	-1
104	Brendan Rodgers	2B, SS	-28
105	Rowdy Tellez	1B	-
106	Jake McCarthy	OF	+38
107	Joey Meneses	1B, OF	-
108	Jake Cronenworth	1B, 2B, SS	+2
109	Vinnie Pasquantino	1B	+2
110	Luis Rengifo	2B, 3B	+6
111	DJ LeMahieu	1B, 2B, 3B	-38
112	Bryson Stott T13	2B	-8
113	Lars Nootbaar	OF	-17
114	David Fletcher	2B, SS	-
115	Riley Greene	OF	+2
116	Sean Murphy	C	+2
117	Corbin Carroll	OF	+3
118		SS, OF	-12
119	Ramón Laureano	OF	+22
120	Josh Jung	3B	+UR
121	Jurickson Profar	1B, 2B, OF	-
122	Franmil Reyes	DH	-7
123	Luis Urías	2B, 3B, SS	+2
124	Luke Voit	1B	+2
125	Ryan McMahon	2B, 3B	+3
126	MJ Melendez	C	+3
127	Mark Canha	OF	+3
128	Bubba Thompson	OF	+UR
129	Wilmer Flores	1B, 2B, 3B	-5
130	Lourdes Gurriel Jr. T14	OF	-55
131	Ke’Bryan Hayes	3B	-
132	Patrick Wisdom	1B, 3B, OF	-
133	Rodolfo Castro		+10
134	Josh Rojas	2B, 3B, SS, OF	-12
135	Brendan Donovan	1B, 2B, 3B, OF	-2
136	AJ Pollock	OF	-2
137	Lane Thomas	OF	+UR
138	Nick Gordon	2B	-3
139	Alek Thomas	OF	-3
140	Ozzie Albies		+UR
141	CJ Abrams	SS	+UR
142	Gleyber Torres	2B, SS	-5
143	Jeremy Peña	SS	+UR
144	Cody Bellinger	OF	-6
145	Isaac Paredes	2B, 3B	-5
146	Spencer Torkelson	1B	+UR
147	Gio Urshela	3B, SS	-1
148	Josh Naylor	1B, OF	-1
149	TJ Friedl	OF	+UR
150	Randal Grichuk	OF	-11

Taxi Squad

Hitter	Position	Team	Comment

J.P. Crawford	SS	SEA	Plays a lot and puts the ball in play, but doesn’t do much else.
Charlie Blackmon	OF	COL	One homestand left, but wow he’s looked bad.
Kiké Hernández	2B/OF	BOS	Still batting seventh.
José Iglesias	SS	COL	Dealing with a hand injury.
Harold Castro	INF/OF	DET	Versatile and playing well.
Jesse Winker	OF	SEA	What an anticlimactic roller coaster his season has been.
Michael A. Taylor	KCR	OF	Power and speed come in flashes, but it’s there.
Kris Bryant	OF	COL	He’s still without a timetable which means you can cut him in redraft.
Leody Taveras	OF	TEX	Speed streamer unless your league penalizes getting caught.
Rodolfo Castro	PIT	2B/SS	Maybe he heats up again?
Corey Dickerson	OF	STL	The guy can still hit righties, I’ll give him that.
Jo Adell	OF	LAA	Hitting for some power but not much else.
Jose Siri	OF	TBR	Inconsistent but insanely fast.
Shea Langeliers	C	OAK	Sunday was his first MLB appearance without a strikeout.
Drew Waters	OF	KCR	Pitchers seem to have found some holes. Hopefully, he can adjust.
Cal Raleigh	C	SEA	Power-hitting catcher with contact issues.
Albert Pujols	1B	STL	Crushes lefties, can be streamed when the schedule is right.
Harold Ramírez	OF	MIA	Has slowed down a bit, but still hits third or fourth.
Nick Madrigal	2B	CHC	Hitting the IL makes him very droppable if you need the IL spot.
Jarred Kelenic	OF	SEA	A 102 wRC+ in triple-A since demotion won’t get him back in the bigs.
JJ Bleday	OF	MIA	I like that he’s still taking walks, but he’s making absolutely no contact.
Elvis Andrus	SS	CWS	I still have no idea what’s happening here but it’s happening.
Ji-hwan Bae	2B/SS	PIT	Hitting well since coming back from injury in triple-A.
Nick Pratto	1B	KCR	Pitchers have found the holes in his swing.
Tony Kemp	2B/OF	OAK	Ratios and a little bit of speed, but not at all exciting.
Stone Garrett	OF	ARI	Power-hitting prospect with three home runs in his last five starts.
Javier Báez	SS	DET	Somehow provided an empty batting average over the last few weeks.
Jon Berti	INF	MIA	Playing and running a bit, but speed-only streamer at best.
Joey Wendle	INF	MIA	Points streamer in the right matchups.
Donovan Solano	2B	CIN	Points streamer. Limited power, but can make a lot of contact.
Elehuris Montero	3B	COL	Finally back at home this week!
Isiah Kiner-Falefa	SS	NYY	Absolutely no power, but OK batting average and some speed.
Brandon Lowe	2B/OF	TBR	Back on the IL. OK to drop.
Dylan Carlson	OF	STL	On the IL. OK to drop.
Akil Baddoo	OF	DET	Just trying to manifest this.
Ha-Seong Kim	2B/SS	SDP	Puts the ball in play. He’s a points streamer when he leads off.
Oscar Gonzalez	OF	CLE	Runs extremely hot and cold, but has plenty of power when hot.
Nelson Cruz	UT	WAS	The power has evaporated.
Gavin Sheets	1B/OF	CWS	Hitting for tons of power, but only against righties.
Cavan Biggio	1B/2B/3B	TOR	Heating up and can play almost anywhere in your infield.
Tyrone Taylor	OF	MIL	Hitting well of late, let’s see if he keeps hitting.
Danny Jansen	C	TOR	Streamable catcher.
Tim Anderson	SS	CWS	Waiting on a timeline to return.
Manuel Margot	OF	TBR	Constant injury risk, but shows power and speed when active.

AL East

AL Central

AL West

NL East

NL Central

NL West

Hitter List 9/14: Top 150+ Hitters For 2022 – Week 23

Scott Chu

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