[hitter_list list_id=”24179″ 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 officially in the back half of the season, which means that adjustments to the List will be more aggressive than they’ve been previously. 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!
- A bunch of trades happened since last week, because yesterday was the non-waiver deadline and MLB general managers are notorious procrastinators. Wilson Ramos probably loses some value since he won’t play as often without the luxury of being able to DH. Ian Kinsler, Mike Moustakas, Jonathan Schoop and Brian Dozier get slight boosts by virtue of landing with much better teams, which should help their counting stats. While he’s not currently on the List, I’ll be interested to see if a change of scenery/consistent playing time do anything for Jonathan Villar.
- Injury roundup: This was a rough week. Lourdes Gurriel would have made his debut on the List, but he suffered ankle and knee sprains on an awkward slide. The Jays have announced that he’ll miss between two and six weeks, which at this juncture of the season is sort of like when the cable company says they’ll send out a tech between 8:00 and 3:00. Gurriel had collected multiple hits in a whopping 11 straight games. Not long after making his List debut, Jesse Winker’s season is over. His injured shoulder required surgery, which isn’t great for a guy who already had fringy power. Corey Dickerson strained his hamstring but should be back when first eligible on Saturday. Rafael Devers is in the same boat, though his return will be further away since his injury happened more recently. (Come for the rankings, stay for the hard-hitting analysis!) Finally, not one but two of the top six hitters on the List hit the other, less fun list (i.e., the disabled): Aaron Judge suffered a chip fracture in his wrist that will sideline him well into August, while Jose Altuve’s sore knee lands him on the DL for the first time in his career. It’s expected to be a minimum stint, at least. If I may be so bold, banning injuries should probably be Rob Manfred’s top priority for the 2019 season. Never mind pitch clocks, commish.
- New to or back on the List this week: Kinsler, Ketel Marte, and Nick Williams.
