As you may have noticed, we no longer allow comments on the site. I’m grateful to have been able to engage with you all here, and if you have questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me on Twitter (@ifthechufits), BlueSky (scottchu.pitcherlist.com), or Reddit (u/ChusephEsquire).
- As a reminder, these rankings are geared toward a standard, daily, 12-team H2H redraft league, as that is typically the most popular fantasy baseball format. They will only factor in the five standard categories: Runs, RBI, Home Runs, Batting Average, and Stolen Bases.
- 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 No. 55 and Player Y is ranked at No. 65, but they’re in the same tier, it means that I personally prefer Player X, 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. My way of evaluating and ranking players has worked out well for 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 mates’ player evaluations, or your current waiver wire, and if I could, it’d be weird. In a bad way.
- This is a safe space for me where I answer to no one but myself…and you if you hit me up on Twitter (@ifthechufits), BlueSky (scottchu.pitcherlist.com), or Reddit (u/ChusephEsquire).
- I’m doing my best to use five starts or 10 appearances as the threshold for positional eligibility. I have not included presumed eligibilities based on likely new positions, but once those eligibilities are earned, I’ll add them in. 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!
Ranking Philosophy
To keep things in the same ilk, here are a couple of notes on how I generally evaluate hitters before we dive in:
- In 12-team formats, I just don’t see much value in guys who only provide stolen bases. It’s an important category, especially in Roto, but in shallower formats, there are too many other (and better) ways to get the steals you need without sacrificing production in the other categories.
- If I 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, which I’ll also reference as appropriate. You can also get rolling charts from sources like FanGraphs or Baseball Savant. If you have any questions about how to do that or how to read these charts, reach out to me!
- 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), lineup context, and the skills we can measure using tools such as our PLV Hitter Attributes (available for PL Pro members). I also use various projections (some free, some I buy) and dollar value generators.
- Positional eligibility, and specifically multi-eligibility, is 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 to 100 at-bats, regardless of true talent. Heck, it could even last over 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 can 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 the website formerly known as Twitter (@ifthechufits) or BlueSky (scottchu.pitcherlist.com), or Reddit (u/ChusephEsquire).
Read The Notes
- These rankings talk about what I generally project for a player, but these rankings are not projections. They include projections but also take into account performance risk, injury risk, team context, ceiling, and floor.
Check out the Hacks & Jacks podcast featuring Scott Chu and Brett Ford, which also happened to be a finalist for Best Baseball Podcast of 2021 by the Fantasy Sports Writers Association (FSWA)!
I also host an AMA in the r/fantasybaseball subreddit every Friday starting around noon ET that lasts through the rest of the day and into the weekend, so feel free to join the fun and ask questions or make comments.
Tier 1
- As long as Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge are healthy, they’re the best players in their league. I might flip them here and there, but when push comes to shove, it’s a coin flip.
Tier 2
- Elly De La Cruz’s strikeout rate has been trending down, sitting at just 18.5% in June. He’ll likely have some spikes here and there with swings and misses, but he may not be as volatile as we feared. Sure, Elly has just four steals in June (at least in part due to half of his hits this month going for extra bases), but I’ll take a lower stolen base ceiling if it comes with more power and better ratios.
- In deep roto leagues, I could see an argument for ranking Bobby Witt Jr. over James Wood, as stolen bases are at such a premium, but in 12-teamers with head-to-head matchups, give me the guy with the huge power.
Tier 3
- Ronald Acuña Jr. is showing incredible plate discipline, posting an unbelievable .500 OBP over his 132 plate appearances this season along with nine home runs and four steals, three of which have come in the last week. I said before that Acuña had loads of value even if he wasn’t running, as we had been under the impression that running wasn’t likely to be in the cards for Acuña, but this last week suggests that perhaps the prohibition against stealing isn’t quite as harsh as we thought. Health remains the most significant risk for Acuña, though even if he stays healthy we have to assume that the batting average is going to drop as a .485 BABIP isn’t sustainable even with supreme batted ball quality. The biggest takeaway from Acuña’s season so far is that he is showing us power on par with his 2019 and 2023 seasons after a bit of a dud in 2024.
- Cal Raleigh keeps dumping baseballs over the outfield walls, and while I think the elite power is real, the 60 home run pace is a tall order for 99.9% of hitters in the history of the game. I think some folks see this as a selling opportunity, but frankly, I have never found success attempting to trade away catchers.
- As it stands today, Pete Alonso is a first baseman in a tier of his own at the top.
Tier 4
- Hooray Riley Greene!
- Freddie Freeman’s contact numbers are fine and the plate discipline is acceptable, but the power has fallen off as he mostly hits line drives and grounders. I think he can put up numbers similar to 2024, but whether it’s injury or age, Freeman just doesn’t break out of slumps as quickly as he used to.
Tier 5
- I still believe that what we saw in 2024 from Brent Rooker wasn’t a fluke and that he can return to that level of production, especially with him running a 20.7% strikeout rate so far in 2025 (it was 28.8% last season and even worse before then).
- Welcome back, Jackson Merrill! Nice to see him smack a double in his return and hopefully he shows us again the mix of power and contact ability from last season.
- Junior Caminero keeps hitting the ball in the air and that’s the thing he needs to keep doing. I expect adjustment periods as pitchers find new ways to get him to ground out (like we experienced earlier this season), but hopefully he bounces back just as hard as he did this time.
- Oneil Cruz is still a player with an unmatched blend of raw power and speed, but there’s still some growing pains in his decision-making and on the field that are likely to continue.
- William Contreras is hitting the ball a bit harder lately and while that’s not enough to assume he’s healthier, it’s also something that would theoretically happen if he were, in fact, healthier.
Tier 6
- Wyatt Langford continues to struggle, but the talent is still in there and I expect a breakthrough again to return to the good times from the end of last season and early this season.
- Zach Neto seems to have avoided major injury, and hopefully it won’t impact his play going forward once he’s back on the field.
- I am tempted to raise Jazz Chisholm Jr. up, but every time I do he slumps or strikes out a bunch of times so I’m gonna just leave it here and see if I actually have that much influence over my reality.
Tier 7
- Jacob Wilson has slowed down, but that’s mostly the BABIP Gods demanding a sacrifice from his ratios. He also doesn’t have a barrel over the last two weeks and his hard-hit rate is 22.6% in that stretch but I think that’s more of a regular lull than a true weakness being exploited.
- Marcell Ozuna isn’t hitting the ball poorly, but it seems to be trending away from his 2023 and 2024 seasons and more into 2023. This ranking is a representation of what that 2023 version would land for me, plus the hope he could rebound.
Tier 8
- Ian Happ goes on runs like this and often follows them with long slumps, but those slumps aren’t so bad when you’re a leadoff man and your team’s offense is humming like it is with the Cubs this season.
- Taylor Ward isn’t hurting you much right now and it’s worth working through these slow times to get to his crazy hot stretches.
Tier 9
- Byron Buxton would be two tiers higher, if not more, if he wasn’t a walking injury risk.
- Eugenio Suárez has always been prone to hot and cold streaks and I’m not convinced that has changed. Still, when hot, he’s an elite power hitter.
- Usually, Yandy Díaz’s hot streaks are tied to spikes in ground ball rate and this one is not. As far as I can tell, he’s either taking strategic advantage of his very friendly home park (which will be harder to do going forward simply cause he won’t be there as often) or it’s just regular old luck. Either way, he’s a high floor bat thanks to his contact ability and decision-making.
Tier 10
For those of you in standard 10- and 12-team leagues, this is where you’ll start finding your replacement level at certain positions, particularly outfield and the middle infield.
- Nick Kurtz probably has more adjustment periods ahead as pitchers get more tape on him, but his quicker rebounds from downturns is a fantastic sign that he’s learning how to find consistency in the majors.
- Spencer Torkelson hit a home run today, which is great, but I really want to see another spike of some kind, either a slower burn or a week where he smacks three or four of them, to feel a bit better about things.
- Jung Hoo Lee never had a high ceiling, but dropping to fifth in the order and failing to find any power for a while is discouraging to say the least.
- Bryan Reynolds is similar to Lee in terms of general analysis, though I still wonder if the Pirates will trade him somewhere that will give him a boost.
- Max Muncy is a streaky hitter due to his contact issues, but when you play for a powerhouse like the Dodgers your hot streaks generate plenty of juice.
Tier 11
- Jordan Westburg is an aggressive hitter early in counts, which I suspect is at least part of the root cause of his ups and downs. Adjusting to how pitchers attack you is naturally difficult when you’re not seeing many pitches. He should rebound, but to what level is yet to be determined.
- I’m less impressed by Jo Adell’s power (I already knew it was there) and much more impressed by his quick rebound from a fairly brutal (yet short) stretch last week. Quick adjustments like that are a much clearer sign of taking a step up than a couple of home runs.
- Tyler Soderstrom hasn’t shown us more than a fleeting glimpse of power since his early surge, and the longer he goes without another makes him easier to drop in shallower leagues. The real trouble is trying to trade him, as most teams likely already have a first baseman they feel comfortable with and his eligibility in the outfield doesn’t add a whole lot of value unless you have a very limited bench.
- TJ Friedl may be serviceable for the remainder of the season due to his speed, but I still don’t trust him to ever consistently provide power. His ratios seem to be improved from last season, but I have a sneaking suspicion that they’ll be more variable than stable.
Tier 12
- Lars Nootbaar was building some momentum before missing the last few games with injury and assuming he keeps grooving when he returns to the lineup, he should be able to get back to the leadoff spot by the Break.
- Luis García Jr. isn’t flashy, but he’s been a decent second baseman in standard leagues (and better than that in points leagues) and with all the flux at the position I feel as though his relative reliability adds just a pinch of value.
- Marcus Semien’s home run rate has slowed down considerably, but we already knew that was coming. As long as he keeps putting the ball in play with any kind of authority, he should stay ranked.
- I was worried Agustín Ramírez was going to hit a longer adjustment period, but it seems he has rebounded a bit.
- Lourdes Gurriel Jr. remains the second most difficult player for me to rank due to his streaks and lack of high production in any specific category. Somehow or another, the whole ends up being greater than the sum of its parts.
- Luis Robert Jr. remains the most difficult player for me to rank, but that’s simply because the talent and production are so incredibly mismatched.
- Kerry Carpenter’s slump continues and he’s replaceable in three outfield formats.
Tier 13
- Ben Rice would be at least one tier higher if I had any idea how to project his playing time. The catcher eligibility helps, though.
- Jasson Domínguez and Trent Grisham have the same issue as Rice.
- Caleb Durbin is getting those line drives now, making him interesting in points leagues. These singles won’t keep turning into this many runs and RBI, though. The floor is fairly high, but the ceiling is not.
- I’m still not a huge fan of Josh Lowe’s overall profile but when hot, he’s a great stream.
- Chandler Simpson is worth grabbing if you need steals, but if you don’t, then you can mostly ignore him.
- Giancarlo Stanton will pop home runs when he plays, but when he plays is an open question, and his floor is lower than the Yankees above him due to both the strikeout issues and the general health risk that comes with him.
- Wenceel Pérez is likely just on a heater, but it’s gone on long enough that he deserves to be ranked here in case something jumps out at me as a more long-term change than “hitting the ball well”. Please note that in samples of this size a high barrel rate is not an indicator of a long term change and is more a symptom of being locked in.
- Casey Schmitt is likely just on a heater as well, but his infield eligibility is useful. Hopefully the hit on the hand on Wednesday is nothing serious.
- Nick Gonzalez is keeping the strikeouts down and has heated up lately, which makes him a decent stream for the folks in need of power in the middle infield.
- Josh Jung is a lackluster week away from the Taxi Squad (as are most guys in this tier), but his ceiling is generally higher than many of these names.
- Matt Shaw has a much lower floor than I’d like due to his incredibly low exit velocities, but he plays every day and has enough speed to be a multi-category contributor if he makes some adjustments.
- I won’t stop you from dropping Ozzie Albies.
- Josh Smith has a fairly low ceiling and is only really interesting when both playing daily and hitting near the top of the order, but as it turns out he’s doing both of those things right now.
Taxi Squad
Players are listed in no particular order. This list is not every interesting guy out there, but a running list of players who either almost made the list or have been topics of interesting conversation.
NEW FEATURE: I will put blurbs in bold if they are new to the Taxi Squad or if there’s a significant update to their note.
Catcher
- Carlos Narváez (C, BOS) — Streaming catcher with a little bit of upside.
- Ryan Jeffers (C, MIN) — Hitting first or second lately, but sitting more.
- Sean Murphy (C, ATL) — Playing time is gone. Drop.
- Dalton Rushing (C, LAD) — Dynasty only.
- Carson Kelly (C, CHC) — Not exactly making great use of the extra playing time. Just a streamer.
- Drake Baldwin (C, ATL) — Playing fine, but the playing time is frustrating.
- Tyler Stephenson (C, CIN) — The strikeouts make him feel more like a streamer than a fantasy lineup regular in single-catcher leagues.
First Base
- Spencer Horwitz (1B/2B, PIT) — May not rebound to his Toronto numbers as quickly as I hoped
- Carlos Santana (1B, CLE) — OBP streamer who somehow still has something in the tank. What a career.
- Pavin Smith (1B/OF, ARI) — Streamer against soft righties.
- Spencer Steer (1B/3B/OF, CIN) — Was never a huge fan of the underlying skills, but has utility in deeper leagues and is a streamer in shallow leagues.
- Kyle Manzardo (1B, CLE) — Has lost most of the playing time against lefties.
- Dominic Smith (1B, SFG) — The playing time has dried up with the arrival of Devers.
- Christian Encarnacion-Strand (1B/3B, CIN) — Couldn’t take advantage of a prime opportunity, unfortunately.
- Michael Toglia (1B, COL) — Worth streaming at home but not interested away from Coors.
Second Base
- Trevor Story (2B, BOS) — Ratios are too bad to stomach.
- Hyeseong Kim (2B, LAD) — It will be very exciting when he has anything close to a regular role.
- Jorge Polanco (2B/3B, SEA) — Streamer with a little pop.
- Jonathan India (2B/3B/OF, KCR) — Deep points league only.
- Gavin Lux (2B/OF, CIN) — Points league streamer.
- José Caballero (2B/3B/SS/OF, TBR) — Speed streamer.
- Andrés Giménez (2B, TOR) — Not batting ninth anymore, viable in points leagues.
- Otto Lopez (2B, MIA) — Stole a pair of bases and hit a pair of home runs recently, though he’s struggled to sustain success.
- Ronny Mauricio (2B/3B, NYM) — Likely loses some time with Vientos’s return.
- Brett Baty (2B/3B, NYM) — Vientos’s return comes at a terrible time as Baty continues to slump.
- Kristian Campbell (2B, BOS) — Still a promising player in dynasty, but no need to torture yourself in redraft.
Third Base
- Joey Ortiz (3B/SS, MIL) — Does just enough in four of the five hitting categories to be relevant. If this list were for OBP, he might crack the end of it.
- Connor Norby (3B, MIA) — Swings hard and misses often. Chasing the hot streaks is a dangerous game.
- Dylan Moore (2B/3B/SS/OF, SEA) — Streaky utility man.
- Willi Castro (2B/3B/SS/OF, MIN) — Streaky utility man.
- Max Muncy (2B/3B/SS, OAK) — The hit tool is a big concern for me.
- Abraham Toro (1B/3B, BOS) — Has playing time but not enough underlying skills for long-term intrigue.
- Marcelo Mayer (3B/SS, BOS) — The long-term ceiling remains high, but inconsistent playing time and normal development curves make him a drop in most standard redraft leagues.
Shortstop
- Isiah Kiner-Falefa (2B/3B/SS, PIT) — Hits for a decent average and might steal 20 bases.
- Brooks Lee (2B/3B/SS, MIN) — Not enough production to consider despite being eligible everywhere.
- Trey Sweeney (SS, DET) — Cooled off in a big way.
- Zach McKinstry (2B/3B/SS/OF, DET) — Striking out a lot of late and not walking, which is not great for a player who has a very low ceiling.
- Javier Báez (3B/SS/OF, DET) — He ain’t dead yet!
Outfield/DH
- Evan Carter (OF, TEX) — Streamer until he cools off. Rank-worthy in points.
- Isaac Collins (OF, MIL) — No longer playing with enough regularity for 12-team consideration.
- Jesus Sanchez (OF, MIA) — Power streamer with a tough home park and poor supporting cast.
- Emmanuel Rodriguez (OF, MIN) — Triple-A strikeout rates above 30% are extremely troubling, even if they come with an OBP well above .400.
- Mike Yastrzemski (OF, SFG) — The definition of a replacement-level fantasy outfielder in 12-teamers.
- Denzel Clarke (OF, ATH) — Trevor Hooth likes him, I guess. Very deep league streamer for now. Glove gets him playing time.
- Lane Thomas (OF, CLE) —Playing fairly consistently, but still feels more like a short-term streamer in five outfield formats.
- Cedric Mullins (OF, BAL) — Still playing almost every day, viable streamer.
- Kyle Stowers (OF, MIA) — Misses way too often in the zone to think he will find consistency.
- Matt Wallner (OF, MIN) — The extreme contact issues make him horribly streaky.
- Brenton Doyle (OF, COL) — Go ahead and hold as a streamer, as four of the next five series for the Rockies are at home.
- Wilyer Abreu (OF, BOS) — Slumping for about a month, and now has more competition when he returns. Not a hold for me in shallow leagues.
- Parker Meadows (OF, DET) — He’s lost the leadoff gig for now, but keep him on your radar in case he heats up and gets back to the top of the order.
- Michael Harris II (OF, ATL) — There was a bit of a flash of production, but it continues to vanish as quickly as it appears.
- Roman Anthony (OF, BOS) — He has star potential long term, but short term has playing time issues and will need more time to adapt to major league pitching.
IL Stashes
Players are listed by position and not by projected value.
- Adley Rutschman (C, BAL) — Should be back right after the Break.
- Iván Herrera (C, STL) — Should be back by the end of July, if not sooner.
- Keibert Ruiz (C, WSN) — Not a hold unless your IL is wide open.
- Gabriel Moreno (C, ARZ) — Borderline hold in 12-teamers if your IL is full. Catcher is deep enough that you can probably stream.
- Miguel Amaya (C, CHC) — Droppable in redraft if your IL is full, as he’ll be out for at least a month.
- Shea Langeliers (C, ATH) — Expected to miss four to six weeks with an oblique injury.
- Bryce Harper (1B, PHI) — More issues with the wrist issue that he played through last year. I’m expecting him to be out at least a month, if not two.
- Ryan Mountcastle (1B, BAL) — Not holding in 12-teamers.
- Jake Burger (1B/3B, TEX) — No need to hold in standard leagues.
- Ha-Seong Kim (2B/SS, TBR) — Looks quite bad on rehab right now, and the EV is down over five ticks from 2024 (82.1 mph).
- Alex Bregman (3B, BOS) — Hopefully, he’s back by August. Bummer.
- Matt Chapman (3B, SFG) — They’re hoping this IL stint only lasts a month.
- Royce Lewis (3B, MIN) — Not holding him in most formats.
- Mark Vientos (3B, NYM) — Assuming he is back today, he’d either be at the very end of the list or on the Taxi Squad until we get a feel for playing time and whether he looks any better than he did before bring hurt.
- Ezequiel Tovar (SS, COL) — Yet another core injury on the left side. Mild oblique strains usually put guys on the IL for about four to six weeks.
- Victor Robles (OF, SEA) —May be out until September. Drop.
- Yordan Alvarez (OF, HOU) — No, I can’t tell you what the heck is happening in Houston, but he’s a hold.
- Dylan Crews (OF, WAS) — Seems closer to coming back.
- Daulton Varsho (OF, TOR) — Not holding in 12-teamers if my IL is already full of ranked players.
- Jordan Walker (OF, STL) — Not holding in 12-teamers if my IL is already full of ranked players.
- Anthony Santander (OF, TOR) — Trying to hold if I can, as perhaps this is the reason for the exceptionally long slump?
- Austin Hays (OF, CIN) — Not holding in 12-teamers if my IL is already full of ranked players.
- Corbin Carroll (OF, ARZ) — We won’t likely have a clear timeline for his return until the Break, but at least he avoided the worst possible outcomes.
Photo by Icon Sportswire | Design by J.R. Caines (@JRCainesDesign on Twitter and @caines_design on Instagram)
