Category Power Rankings: Week 3

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

 

Batting Average (AVG)

 

Top 25

 

 

Off the list: Alec Bohm, José Abreu

Last season is looking more and more like a fluke for J.D. Martinez with each passing plate appearance. Anyone who took advantage of the discount on the 33-year old slugger this year is surely reaping the rewards thus far. Martinez appears to be someone who benefitted from using video tape to watch his at-bats and study pitchers’ tendencies, therefore having that luxury back this year is already showing massive results for Martinez. I expect him to be the elite contributor of old moving forward.

 

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

 

 

Off the list: Yuli Gurriel (ownership), Alex Dickerson, Willi Castro

Mets fans are certainly scratching their heads on this one: Jed Lowrie is off to a .360/.439/.560 start to the 2021 season with the Athletics. After not even collecting a single hit during his two years spent under contract with the Metropolitans, the 37-year old has tallied six consecutive multi-hit efforts and has also contributed 12 RBI on the young season. Health permitting, Lowrie is looking like a viable option in most mixed leagues at a position that a lot of managers are looking for help.

 

Runs (R)

 

Top 25

 

 

Off the list: Charlie Blackmon, Anthony Rendon (injury), Marcus Semien

In his first full season since taking his talents to South Beach, Starling Marte has looked as good as ever. Batting consistently in the two-hole, Marte has scored 11 runs across his last six contests and finds himself third in the majors in the category.

 

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

 

 

Off the list: Mark Canha (ownership), Mitch Haniger (ownership), Lorenzo Cain (injury), David Peralta

As long as Adam Eaton is hitting at or near the top of the White Sox order, he is going to be a reliable fantasy outfielder. As soon as Eloy Jiménez went down, that opened the door for Eaton, who really strikes me as a Tony La Russa guy. A player who doesn’t do one thing at an elite level, but does a lot of things well. Expect a good OBP, solid run numbers, a handful of swipes, and a respectable AVG from the veteran outfielder.

 

Home Runs (HR)

 

Top 25

 

 

Off the list: Cody Bellinger (injury)

Nolan Arenado has really silenced his haters to this point by hitting to a .291/.350/.564 clip in his first season with St. Louis. The All-Star third baseman has also dropped four bombs to go with ten RBI so far. Sometimes you just have to trust the talent.

 

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

 

 

Off the list: Mitch Haniger (ownership), Joc Pederson, Eduardo Escobar (ownership)

While I do not really believe in the power pace that Wilson Ramos is currently on, he needs to be rostered in all leagues. At such an abysmal position like catcher, anyone with a pulse and a starting job needs to be owned—meanwhile, Ramos is available in nearly half of Yahoo and ESPN leagues. This is a former All-Star backstop who was a consensus top five option at the position heading into last year.

 

Runs Batted In (RBI)

 

Top 25

 

 

Off the list: None

Over the past week, Ronald Acuña Jr. has driven in ten runs and is now second in the league in RBI, all while batting in the leadoff spot. He was being taken atop fantasy drafts for a reason and he is rewarding his owners in the early going. The kid is special, plain and simple.

 

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

 

 

Off the list: Mitch Haniger (ownership), C.J. Cron, Aaron Hicks

With the injury to Cody Bellinger putting the former MVP on the shelf for the forseeable future, that presents a huge opportunity for one Zach McKinstry. A pretty solid prospect, McKinstry is going to see a lot of run in the middle of that stout Dodgers order with the absence of Bellinger. McKinstry was already off to a torrid start at the dish and now with a clear path to playing time, he looks like a must-add right now, especially for Bellinger owners.

 

Stolen Bases (SB)

 

Top 25

 

 

Off the list: Jon Berti, Jonathan Villar, Andrés Giménez, Manuel Margot

You may not realize it, but Ramón Laureano is leading the league in stolen bases. The talented centerfielder for the Athletics has eight swipes including three this past week. Laureano has never run like this in his career, so it is a bit surprising to see, but certainly a welcomed sight. Let’s hope Oakland continues to let him run.

 

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

 

 

Off the list: Garrett Hampson (ownership), Jon Berti, Elvis Andrus, Nick Senzel, Kevin Kiermaier

Despite getting off to a very underwhelming start in his first year in Kansas City, Andrew Benintendi has stolen three bags in five attempts. The fact he has attempted a steal five times is a promising sight that once (if) the bat comes around, he could return to must-start status.

 

On-Base Percentage (OBP)

 

Top 25

 

 

Off the list: Cody Bellinger (injury), Carlos Santana

Max Muncy has always had a knack for getting on base, as his .363 career OBP indicates. But Muncy is seeing the ball really well right now. The slugging lefty has walked 13 times to only ten strikeouts and is posting a .469 OBP thus far.

 

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

 

 

Off the list: Mark Canha (ownership), Chris Taylor (ownership), Jason Heyward, César Hernández, Joey Votto, Brandon Belt, Aaron Hicks

Adam Frazier has a .389 OBP over the past week and his mark currently sits up over .400 on the year. The Pirates’ Swiss Army Knife typically bats at the top of the order and if that continues we have seen Frazier be a useful fantasy asset before to justify him maintaining his success.

 

Wins (W)

 

Top 25

 

 

Off the list: Max Fried (injury), Zach Plesac

Aaron Civale is tied for the most wins in baseball right now with three. Civale has been dealing through three starts with a 2.18 ERA and 0.73 WHIP to go with the trio of victories.

 

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

 

 

Off the list: Michael Pineda (ownership), Yusei Kikuchi, Johnny Cueto (injury), Nathan Eovaldi (ownership), Adam Wainwright

Anthony DeSclafani has been superb to start the year with his new team in San Francisco. He has only managed one victory through three starts so far but if he keeps up the efficiency the wins will come.

 

Earned Run Average (ERA)

 

Top 25

 

 

Off the list: Max Fried (injury)

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Tyler Glasnow looks like a top of the line, elite starter. The 27-year old has an ERA under 1.00 through four starts and with improved control from a year ago, will we finally see Glasnow take that next step?

 

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

 

 

Off the list: Michael Pineda (ownership), Trevor Rogers (ownership), Johnny Cueto (injury), Nathan Eovaldi (ownership), Steven Matz (ownership), Ryan Yarbrough

Dane Dunning has allowed only a single run through three starts. He has worked his way through the AL East in those starts so it does not look like anything to balk at. While the innings may not be there for Dunning, he is still worthy of a roster spot in 12-team leagues.

 

Strikeouts (K)

 

Top 25

 

 

Off the list: Stephen Strasburg (injury), Patrick Corbin

With his velocity up a tick from last year, Sandy Alcantara has also cut his walk rate down thus far through four starts in 2021. He owns a 4.00 K/BB ratio and is really looking like a serious breakout candidate for the Marlins young talented pitching staff.

 

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

 

 

Off the list: Freddy Peralta (ownership), Drew Smyly (injury), Kris Bubic, Tarik Skubal, Trevor Rogers (ownership), Mike Minor

While he was never a top prospect, Huascar Ynoa has always shown very good strikeout stuff. This has carried into the majors in 2021 as well as a lessened walk rate which has helped him immensely. Ynoa currently has 20 K’s to just three walks across 16 innings. He is definitely on the streaming radar in mixed leagues.

 

Saves (SV)

 

Top 25

 

 

Off the list: Julian Merryweather (injury), James Karinchak, Rafael Montero

With three saves over this past week, it is looking like the unfortunate truth that James Karinchak is not the preferred closing option in Cleveland. The Emmanuel Clase era has begun. While Clase certainly has the ability to close and has been prepped for this role, Karinchak was looking like an absolute stud closer in the making. Oh well.

 

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

 

 

Off the list: Matt Barnes (ownership), Scott Barlow, Wade Davis

Kendall Graveman is now the established closing option in Seattle. Let that sink in for a minute. The closer carousel across the league really just causes so much stress and frustration.                                                                                                        

 

WHIP (Walks+Hits/Innings Pitched)

 

Top 25

 

 

Off the list: Corey Kluber, Stephen Strasburg (injury), Zach Plesac

Hyun Jin Ryu continues to be one of the most underrated starters in baseball. He has established himself as one of the most elite pitchers in terms of run prevention and limiting baserunners. Ryu currently holds a WHIP of 0.89.

 

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

 

 

Off the list: Drew Smyly (injury), Johnny Cueto (injury), Michael Pineda (ownership), Trevor Rogers (ownership), Nathan Eovaldi (ownership), Mike Minor

The biggest thing separating Matthew Boyd from insane mediocrity and fantasy relevance has been his inability to keep the ball in the park. Through four starts in 2021, Boyd has allowed only one home run to this point. While the strikeouts have not been quite where we would expect them for the lefty, he has limited baserunners to the tune of a 0.98 WHIP.

 

Quality Starts (QS)

 

Top 25

 

 

Off the list: Max Fried (injury), Zach Plesac

Innings are going to be a question with Walker Buehler, but he is 3-for-3 in quality starts in 2021. The strikeouts have oddly not been there for the talented right-hander, but it appears manager Dave Roberts will not have a problem sending Buehler out there into the sixth or seventh inning. And that can only be a good thing for us fantasy owners.

 

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

 

 

Off the list: Michael Pineda (ownership), Drew Smyly (injury), Trevor Rogers (ownership), Steven Matz (ownership)

Pitching in one of the weaker divisions in baseball, Danny Duffy is back on the streaming radar. He has two quality starts to begin the season to go along with a pair of wins and a 0.75 ERA as well.

 

Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter)