You’ll see a lot of big swings throughout the rankings. This is to try and better illustrate the burn-and-churn nature of fantasy rosters.
- As a reminder, these rankings are geared toward a standard, daily, 12-team H2H redraft league, which 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.
- These are not best ball or draft and hold rankings. The 12-team redraft format with daily moves is the fundamental opposite of that. Pure volume plays are not valued as much here as in those no-move formats.
- I take rankings like this more as art than science. Every person’s rankings are influenced by their biases, strategic philosophies, risk assessments, and projections. It’s why no two rankings are ever exactly alike. My way of evaluating and ranking players has worked well for me, but it might not be an excellent fit for you. I can’t possibly predict your team’s specific needs, your leaguemates’ 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 leave a comment.
- 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 I’ll add them once those eligibilities are earned. 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 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.
- 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, specifically multi-eligibility, is neat but 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.). Still, the value is fairly situational and context-dependent.
- Similarly, 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.
- Regardless of true talent, anyone talented enough to make it to the big leagues can be brilliant or putrid for 50 to 100 at-bats. 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 will be valid until it’s over, though track record, scouting, and trends can give us hints.
- One of the most difficult things to account for in these rankings is the dynamic between low-ceiling players who have clear roles and players who could have higher ceilings but are without a clear path to playing time. I try to note this in the blurbs as much as I can.
- THIS IS NOT A TRADE CHART. Trade charts need to account for “market” value, which is largely perception-based.
Read The Notes
If you’d like input on a player or have any feedback, your best bet is to contact me on Bluesky (@scottchu.pitcherlist.com), X (@ifthechufits), or Reddit (u/ChusephEsquire)
I also host an AMA in the r/fantasybaseball subreddit every Friday (starting sometime in late March) with Nate Schwartz, 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.
For additional insight, also check out the Hacks & Jacks podcast! This is a hitter-focused pod with myself, Brett Ford, and occasional special guests.
Tier 1
- No changes here, and unless there’s an injury or a guy like Bobby Witt Jr. finds a new level to his game, there won’t be any changes.
Tier 2
- José Ramírez has been unlucky so far this season, at least with respect to batting average. He’ll be hitting .290 again in no time. Also, while many players around the league are a little behind on stolen bases, J-Ram already has 11 and is well on his way to notching a third straight 40-steal season.
- Welcome back, Juan Soto! Nothing else to say, really. It’s Juan Soto.
- Two more starts at second and Fernando Tatis Jr. will get that eligibility in Yahoo. What a time to be alive. No concerns about the slow start yet as he’s hitting the ball as hard as ever, though with a lower trajectory than usual. Tatis had an extended home run drought last season but hopefully that’s not what we are looking at here.
Tier 3
- Elly De La Cruz probably deserves to be in Tier 2, though his propensity for prolonged slumps still gives me pause.
- Remember when I said Nick Kurtz will be up and down due to his below-average contact ability? This is the fun part of that archetype.
- Gunnar Henderson has fallen off a cliff over his last ten games, though he’s still hitting the ball hard.
- Ronald Acuña Jr. Jr. is off to a lackluster start, but the plate discipline has been solid. Nothing really to worry about here.
Tier 4
- Since August 1, 2025, Brice Turang has played 73 games with a .314/.408/.568 line and 16 home runs. The stolen base numbers aren’t as impressive as you’d think since most of Turang’s steals in 2025 came in the first two months, but he’s been good for long enough with the bat to make me think there might be another level here (in terms of season-long performance).
- Cal Raleigh drops three spots after three straight games with a homer? What gives? Simply put, there are a few catchers who have made a huge strides, and Cal is no longer head and shoulders above the next tier of guys.
- James Wood moves up a little higher, and the big story for me so far is a rebound in his decision-making against breakers. As long as he can just be average at swing decisions against breaking balls, that top-10 upside is in reach.
- Drake Baldwin and Ben Rice have created a clear second tier of elite catchers for me and I hope they keep doing it. Rice has more projectable power than Baldwin, but Baldwin’s everyday role gives him the slight edge for now (though it’s promising that Rice was on the lineup card in five of the last six games against a left-handed starter).
- Don’t believe in Josh Naylor. Believe in Scott. Believe in the Scott who believes in Josh Naylor. It helps that Naylor is batting .353/.395/.588 in his last nine games, too.
Tier 5
- If Shea Langeliers gives us one more week of strong plate discipline (he has five walks and just six strikeouts in his last 39 plate appearances), I can get behind Langeliers being in the same tier as Baldwin and Rice. If he goes back to striking out in bunches, he’ll stay a step behind.
- Sal Stewart keeps moving up because how can I not? He has plus contact ability, average to above-average decision-making skills, and boatloads of power. I don’t know what the ceiling looks like yet, but it may very well be in the top 15.
- Michael Harris II’s bad batted ball luck is finally turning around and it shouldn’t be long before he overtakes Albies in the lineup. Moving up in the order means more plate appearances, and more plate appearances means good things.
Tier 6
- Jazz Chisholm Jr. Jr. is a streaky hitter by nature, and while this streak is just a hair worse than any he’s had the last few years, it’s worth noting that he has shown that he can heat up in a hurry. With the state of second base being what it is, it might be worth trying to buy low from someone who can’t get over the blue bars on his Statcast page (it’s ugly because he’s popping out a ton, but he’ll adjust and those popups will revert to regular fly balls soon enough).
- Rafael Devers has a long enough track record to believe that he will probably be fine, but his incredibly low zone contact rate continues to scare the jeebies out of me. His zone contact rate is the worst among qualified hitters since the start of last year (73.%) and it’s just really tough to find any consistency when it’s that low.
- Randy Arozarena has been a beacon of consistency for the Mariners so far this season, and while they seem content to have other guys lead off, I wouldn’t be surprised if he got another bite at that apple, especially with the impressive 18.3% strikeout rate he’s shown so far this season.
Tier 7
- Oneil Cruz is hilariously strong and makes baseballs go a long, long way. I’d feel a lot better about a true breakout if he would strike out a little less or walk a little more, but with a 101.7 mph average exit velocity over his last 13 games, who am I to complain? Also worth noting: four of his seven home runs have come off lefties, which is three more than he had against them all of last year.
- Eugenio Suárez is streaky and looks ugly right now, but I still have a feeling that he’s going to have a month where he hits like 12 home runs in that bandbox of a home park. In fact, it might even start against the Tigers, the team who originally signed him and then traded him for Alfredo freakin Simón, which I am certainly not still bitter about.
- Sure, he didn’t hit any home runs this week, but he continues to avoid the strikeouts that plagued him the last two seasons. Trout has 14 walks to eight strikeouts over the last 13 games and two stolen bases as well, which is as many as he had all of last season. He remains one of the biggest injury risks in baseball (he’s played nearly 200 fewer games than Byron Buxton since the start of 2021, for reference), but he’s also still the Millville Meteor.
- Pete Crow-Armstrong might just be a really streaky hitter. It’s hard to let a guy with 30-30 upside fall too far down the rankings, and it’d make my job a whole lot easier if he could give us another glimpse of the guy we saw in the first half of last season.
Tier 8
- Munetaka Murakami will likely have an ugly slump or two, but this early-season hot streak is better than I expected him to be during these times.
- CJ Abrams set the world on fire for a bit there but has come back to earth over the last week. The walk rate is higher than usual, but I still think that’s because pitchers just aren’t throwing balls in the zone against him. That said, he’s making better decisions than usual, and that could help him avoid the long slumps that we’ve seen multiple times in his career.
- I’m not sure the home run or stolen base numbers will excite anyone, but golly does Kevin McGonigle look like a stud. He still has more walks than strikeouts, and at this rate it’s not too much of a stretch to believe in 100 runs scored.
- I get why people are worried about Salvador Perez, but don’t be. He’ll get his numbers. For what it’s worth, he was even worse than this to start last year and still ended up with 30 homers and 100 RBI.
Tier 9
- Ivan Herrera is finally getting the results from the excellent at-bats he’s had all year. Also, he should have his 10th game at catcher by the end of the week. For those who still can’t use him at catcher, drop him to somewhere near the bottom of Tier 10.
- Daylen Lile is starting to look like the guy we hoped, putting a ton of balls in play and even hitting three home runs over five games. Lile’s line drive approach means he could push for a .290 or .300 batting average all season long, and with the Nationals offense being much scrappier than predicted, perhaps the counting stats will actually be a plus even if he’s not hitting in the top-third of the order.
- Otto Lopez doesn’t have standout power or speed, but his hit tool is good enough that he should be able to cobble together a pretty decent season as the three hitter in Miami. If he can keep putting the ball in play, he could even find his way to a 20-20 season with a .275 average.
- Konnor Griffin still doesn’t look overmatched and still has one of the highest upsides in the league.
- Max Muncy is 35 years old, but the dude can still mash on any given night. The injury risk holds him back, as does the streaky nature of his three-true-outcome approach, but third base is tough to cover and Muncy has done well enough to move up.
- Vinnie Pasquantino has hit a few home runs over the last seven games, so hopefully it’s a sign of things to come. It’s somewhat discouraging, though, that he had a four-game hitless streak in the middle of that.
Tier 10
- Michael Busch now has dingers in back-to-back games, so maybe the ship is righting itself. That said, he’s hit a ton of weak grounders and it’s hard to ignore. If he was dropped in your league (I know of several where this happened), I’d scoop him up if possible.
- Jakob Marsee has hit better of late, but I have to recalibrate my expectations here based on the prolonged power outage. I had hoped to see a guy who hit 15 homers with 40+ steals and a plus batting average, but now I’m hoping I can just get two of those things.
- Jordan Walker is still hitting the ball in the air, though the strikeouts are becoming a problem. He’s certainly not a drop right now, but we will learn a lot about what kind of season to expect from Walker over the next two weeks or so as he tries to break this mini slump.
- Roman Anthony is taking a ton of walks and making some hard contact, which is great, but now has a back issue that we hope won’t result in an IL stint. I’d hold just a little longer here, though it’s easier to do in OBP leagues and points than in standard.
- The Yankees have seen an obscene number of lefties the last two weeks, which hurts Grisham both in playing time and performance. At least he’s kept the strikeouts down!
- Colson Montgomery is just going to be streaky as heck because he’s not great at making contact and he swings the bat incredibly hard. If he can clean up the zone contact a little those droughts will be a bit more bearable, but in the meantime you’ll just have to ride the roller coaster. Also, he now has 28 homers in 95 games (excluding today) in his career which is a 47 home run pace over 160 games.
- Jacob Wilson is hitting .358 over his last 12 games, which is much more like we expected. Wilson likely won’t hit more than the 13 home runs he had last season (even if he plays in 20-30 more games), but he’ll provide fantastic batting average and some decent counting stats in the middle of the Athletics lineup.
Tier 11
At this point, you can start to consider players expendable in 10-12 team leagues based on your needs and what’s on your wire. I’m not excited about cutting any of these guys and wouldn’t do it for a guy like Leody Tavares, but if there’s upside you want to chase and one of these guys isn’t providing what you need, you can consider moving on.
- Liam Hicks is a perfectly cromulent catcher who is best in points leagues but still serviceable in standard leagues. His ceiling isn’t all that high, but the floor should be much safer than other catchers in this tier.
- Luis Robert Jr. Jr. isn’t striking out. That’s good! He isn’t hitting for any power. That’s bad. But it comes with a free frogurt! That’s good! The frogurt also isn’t hitting for any power. That’s bad. But you can get your choice of toppings! That’s good! The toppings contain…
- I think the floor for Steven Kwan is a lot lower than I want it to be. We’ve seen some painful slumps since the start of last season, and the good times aren’t as good as they used to be. He’s still useful in points leagues (especially with a strikeout penalty), but he really only fits a specific niche in category leagues.
- Carter Jensen has done well to limit the strikeouts lately without sacrificing any power. He could move up a tier soon if he continues to do just that.
- No one fell further than Jarren Duran, who went from locked-in starter and top of the order hitter to platoon bat way faster than anyone could have expected. It’s not impossible for Duran to hit his way back into the role he had to begin the season, but barring an injury or trade, it’s going to be an uphill battle.
- Cam Smith has slumped lately, with just one extra-base hit in his last 11 games. His plate discipline is fine, which helps, but he’s hitting too many balls in the ground and not enough in the air to the pull field. Hopefully he can correct this soon, but in 10- and 12-teamers with three outfield spots, you don’t have to wait it out if there’s something hot on the wire.
- Josh Jung would I guess be considered a post-post-post-hype sleeper, as injuries and poor performance have stripped the luster off his once highly-touted future. He’s done well to reduce the strikeouts considerably, and while he’s not walking much, an 8.3% walk rate would be by far the highest of his career. His improved contact ability is the main driver of the improvements, and Jung still has enough power to approach 25 home runs in a season if he finally breaks out. While there’s still some tweaking to do to get to his full potential (like more pulled fly balls), there’s nothing wrong with getting a little excited about someone who could possibly solve your third base woes if you’re currently relying on a less than ideal option.
- Luke Keaschall can probably recover his form a bit and find some more pop, but under the hood so far it looks like a serious lack of pop once you get past his initial debut last season. For that to work, he’s going to need to start hitting a bunch of line drives.
Tier 12
- Heliot Ramos started heating up just as he hit waiver wires. He’s a streaky power hitter, so that’s just the way it goes.
- Ernie Clement is the leadoff guy in Toronto right now so feel free to plug him in.
- GET TORK’D NERDS. Spencer Torkelson has home runs in consecutive games, including his first career walk-off bomb. He’s been making great decisions at the dish all season and they appear to finally be paying off. But yeah he falls 30 spots because you don’t HAVE to hold him as that position is quite deep.
- José Caballero will steal a bunch of bases and can play everywhere. He’s also hitting well of late, though that bit will come and go. Based on how much work Amed Rosario is getting, there’s a chance Caballero can carve out a decent role even after Volpe returns…assuming that they don’t also keep Rosario.
- Garrett Mitchell has massive contact issues (he’s the only guy worse than Devers this season), and he’ll likely be platooned all year. That said, he’s putting up great numbers and taking a boatload of walks, so stream it while you can before he hits the IL (which has happened many times in his career).
- Royce Lewis is back, which is great. Maybe he flies up these ranks, or maybe he hits the IL again.
- Do I expect a resurgence from Nolan Arenado? Absolutely not. Could he provide some pop while you wait for a long-term replacement at third? Absolutely yes.
- Matt McLain, Colt Keith, and Bryson Stott can all be dropped for a streamer if needed. I bet all three of them (or at least two of them) finish inside the top-150 hitters this year when all is said and done, and it’s not easy finding second basemen with upside, but if you do then go ahead.
- Ildemaro Vargas isn’t exactly from getting lucky, but there’s no chance he continues to hit 30% line drives. Vargas’s five home runs are the most he’s had in a season since the rabbit ball era of 2019, and going forward all I’d expect is some useful batting average
- Masyn Winn is hitting a lot and I guess we can see where this goes. Keep an eye on this back issue he’s managing, though.
- Ezequiel Tovar will have better days ahead and I’m holding him in one league where I’d rather chase upside than turn to a short-term streamer, but you don’t have to do that.
Taxi Squad/Injured List
Players are listed by position and in no particular order.
Catcher
- J.T. Realmuto (C, PHI) — Balky back bounces him to the IL. No need to hold.
- Austin Wells (C, NYY) — Love the walks and he’s been unlucky with batted balls. Viable second catcher.
- Ryan Jeffers (C, MIN) — Not DHing like I expected, not even against a lefty.
- Kyle Teel (C, CWS) — Starting a rehab. Won’t be ranked on return but could get there quick if he isn’t in a full timeshare.
- Edgar Quero (C, CWS) — Hasn’t done enough to carve out a bigger role when Teel returns.
- Gabriel Moreno (C, ARI) — He’ll be back on the 28th. He’d be ranked for points but doesn’t do a ton outside of ratios/making contact.
- Yainer Diaz (C, HOU) — When he was getting DH at-bats from 2023-2024, I would have said to wait this out. With the current depth at catcher and the loss of those at-bats, I say move on.
- Gary Sánchez (C, MIL) — Playing a lot, which is cool, but really just a streamer at catcher.
- Dalton Rushing (C, LAD) — Love the talent and he has plenty of power upside. Unfortunately, even with the ability to play in the OF, there’s just no current path to anything close to regular playing time, even if he’s absolutely mashing. At the moment, Smith, Teoscar, Tucker, Pages, and Ohtani all block his path.
First Base
- Andrew Vaughn (1B, MIL) — The hamate bone claims another. He’ll miss a little over a month.
- Kyle Manzardo (1B, CLE) — Streaky lefty platoon guy.
- Spencer Horwitz (1B, PIT) — Replacement-level first baseman in points and OBP leagues.
- Gavin Sheets (1B/OF, SDP) — Streaky lefty platoon guy.
- Coby Mayo (1B/3B, BAL) — Not looking good.
- Jake Bauers (1B/OF, MIL) — Super hot start and fine to stream if you want a spark, at least while he’s hitting fourth.
- Dominic Smith (1B, ATL) — Not playing enough to hold.
- Jose Fernandez (1B/SS, ARI) — Swinging a hot bat, but it’s mostly driven by batted ball luck. Deep league streamer at best, and not one I’d be very attached to.
Second Base
- Jackson Holliday (2B, BAL) — Very scared now. Hamate bone injuries aren’t a big deal UNLESS there are setbacks. When we see setbacks, the outcomes get a lot worse.
- Brett Baty (2B/3B, NYM) — Still hitting the ball in the air, though the strikeouts are troublesome. Not a must hold by any means in 12-teamers but still a guy I’m keeping my eye on.
- Andrés Giménez (2B/SS, TOR) — Bats last, but has a little bit of speed. Not the worst short-term replacement in 12-teamers.
- Luisangel Acuña (2B, CHW) — Drop.
- Travis Bazzana (2B, CLE) — They didn’t call him up with Arias’s injury, which suggests it may be quite a while. That was the perfect moment.
- Cole Young (2B, SEA) — The plate discipline has improved, but there’s just not that much category juice in this bat.
- Nick Gonzales (2B/3B, PIT) — He should be eligible at third on most sites now (10 appearances), and he’s knocking on the door to shortstop eligibility too. This really only matters in very deep leagues, though, as the upside is too low to make an impact in 10-12-teamers.
- Max Muncy (2B, ATH) — The bottom fell out.
- David Hamilton (2B/SS, MIL) — Middle infielder who plays most of the time and steals bases. Might be slightly more interesting if he keeps walking.
- Sam Antonacci (2B/OF, CWS) — Antonacci is a slap-hitting speedster who can provide ratios and steals, but likely little else. He’d be ranked at the back of the list in OBP.
- Jorge Polanco (2B/3B, NYM) — He can be dropped in most 10-12 teamers, though keep him on your watch list as he could get hot eventually.
- Edouard Julien (1B/2B, COL) — He’ll keep bouncing on and off the list unless he makes a significant change. No need to hold during this upcoming road trip as he’ll face the top of the Mets rotation and then two lefties against the Reds.
- Willi Castro (2B/3B/OF, COL) — Not enough upside to hold him while he’s both cold and on the road.
- Mauricio Dubón (2B/3B/SS, ATL) — Hits are dropping less often than a few weeks ago and he doesn’t need to be held in any 10-12 teamers.
- Oswald Peraza (2B/3B, LAA) — I don’t really buy the hot streak.
Third Base
- Addison Barger (3B/OF, TOR) — I’m not holding him on my IL in 12-teamers.
- Jordan Westburg (2B/3B, BAL) — Won’t be back until at least June.
- Marcelo Mayer (3B, BOS) — It’s going to be a bumpy ride due to his issues with breakers, though he still has potential and shouldn’t be discarded in dynasty.
- Jordan Lawlar (3B/OF, ARI) — Finally gets an opportunity only to have injury snatch it away. He’s on the 60-day IL and I’m not holding in mixed redraft leagues.
- Matt Shaw (3B, CHC) — Part-timer with Suzuki back. Easy drop.
- Brendan Donovan (2B/3B/SS/OF, SEA) — Sounds like he’ll be back within the next two weeks, so hold if you can.
- Hao-Yu Lee (3B, DET) — He’ll mostly just play against lefties and doesn’t have the upside to draw much attention outside of deeper AL-only leagues.
- Alec Bohm (3B, PHI) — Deep leaguers have to hold him for the volume and lineup spot but I’m moving on in 12-teamers. He’ll likely have one or two good months during the season, but it’s not worth waiting for in shallow leagues.
- Caleb Durbin (2B/3B, BOS) — No need to keep holding.
Shortstop
- J.P. Crawford (SS, SEA) — Getting some looks in the leadoff spot with Donovan out, but the lack of upside means he’s not much more than a deep-league streamer.
- Colt Emerson (SS, SEA) — He’ll need to get fully healthy from his foot injury, but with a contract, there aren’t many other reasons to keep him down.
- Nasim Nuñez (SS, WSN) — Speed streamer.
- Mookie Betts (SS, LAD) — Smooth sailing so far with this oblique issue.
- Hyeseong Kim (2B/SS, LAD) — Mostly a speed streamer, though I like the improved walk rate so far.
- Jeremy Peña (SS, HOU) — A mild hammy injury will keep him out for two or three weeks, but nothing long-term to worry about.
- Francisco Lindor (SS, NYM) — It’s his first trip to the IL since August of 2021. Amazing. No long term concerns here, he just has a bum calf.
- Ronny Mauricio (SS, NYM) — Mauricio will get a few days to try and prove he’s a more useful utility infielder than the others on the roster. Given what we’ve seen in 89 games so far, it doesn’t seem likely.
Outfield/DH
- Jackson Chourio (OF, MIL) — He should be back by the start of May, but man, that came out of nowhere.
- Jung Hoo Lee (OF, SFG) —Not leading off, but getting some hits. Streamable in points.
- Cedric Mullins (OF, TBR) — This rough start is not the path to being more than a platoon guy in Tampa.
- TJ Friedl (OF, CIN) — He’s not much of a hitter, but he leads off for a decent offense with a fantastic home park.
- Mike Yastrzemski (OF, ATL) — Streaky lefty platoon guy.
- Matt Wallner (OF, MIN) — Streaky lefty platoon guy.
- Josh Lowe (OF, LAA) — Streaky lefty platoon guy.
- Luke Raley (1B/OF, SEA) — Streaky lefty platoon guy.
- Dominic Canzone (OF, SEA) — Streaky lefty platoon guy.
- Mickey Moniak (OF, COL) — When he’s healthy, he’ll be a streaky power-hitting lefty who you’ll turn on when he’s in Coors against a righty and off at all other times.
- Jake McCarthy (OF, COL) — I am certain he cannot hit, but he can run.
- Brenton Doyle (OF, COL) — He’ll be a streamer at home unless something changes.
- Jordan Beck (OF, COL) — He’ll be a streamer at home unless something changes.
- Kyle Isbel (OF, KCR) — Batting ninth for the Royals is bad for fantasy.
- Owen Caissie (OF, MIA) — The strikeouts are untenable at the moment.
- Christian Yelich (OF, MIL) — He’ll miss at least a month, but hey, at least it’s not his back!
- Noelvi Marte (OF, CIN) — Easy drop if you hadn’t already.
- Tyler O’Neill (OF, BAL) — Returning soon, but the outfield remains super crowded.
- George Springer (OF, TOR) — Unless it’s a 10-team league with three OF, I’m doing what I can to figure out a way to hold on.
- Brent Rooker (OF, ATH) — He should be back sometime before the end of the month, but these oblique things can be a little touch-and-go.
- Victor Robles (OF, SEA) — No need to hold in mixed leagues.
- Sal Frelick (OF, MIL) — Not leading off or playing every day, so I’ll pass.
- Colton Cowser (OF, BAL) — With the O’s getting a little healthier, this will get worse before it gets better.
- Jacob Young (OF, WAS) — Young has been just a slap-and-run type of player so far in his career, but an interesting article by Anthony Licciardi shows that there might be a little more to his profile. I’m not huge on buying into swing changes for long-term growth, but his speed gives him a chance to be someone who provides a plus average with plenty of speed, and the glove keeps him in the lineup.
- Esteury Ruiz (OF, MIA) — He’ll likely steal some bases but can’t hit. I’m only mentioning him because I’m sure someone will ask me about him for steals.
- Wyatt Langford (OF, TEX) — One of the most frustrating young players I can think of. As soon as he starts to get rolling, he either gets hurt or the season ends. Some of you in 10- or 12-teamers with three outfield spots, very limited IL spots, and some injured players with more priority (such as Chourio, Betts, Yelich, or Rooker) have a tough decision to make. Unless your IL is very small or you’re very unlucky, I’d try to hold.
- Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (OF, ARI) — Streaky as heck, but hits in the middle of the order for the Diamondbacks. Deep leaguers will appreciate him a lot more than you will in a 10-12 teamer as he’s mostly just a replacement-level volume guy.
- Adolis García (OF, PHI) — At some point he probably has a hot streak that gets him back on the list, but I’m not waiting for it.
- Leody Taveras (OF, BAL) — Likely sits more when O’Neill returns. His track record strongly suggests that he will soon return to his career norms.
- Carson Benge (OF, NYM) — It would have been cool if he kept leading off, but it was not to be. The limited upside compared to other rookies makes Benge a tough hold outside of dynasty and NL-only.
- Justin Crawford (OF, PHI) — It’s hard to hold on to a guy who is only giving you ratios while batting ninth. Without the steals, there’s nothing here to chase.
- Marcell Ozuna (UT, PIT) — He’s still got a little left in the tank but he’s hard to roster unless you have two UT spots and no one else demanding them.
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