Top 300 Hitters For Fantasy Baseball 2024: Intro

• 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 #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. 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.

• Yes, these ranks vary from the official PL positional rankings that I also developed in the off-season. 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 doing my best to use 5 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!

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. 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 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 the website formerly known as Twitter (@ifthechufits) or in the comments!

After doing some early drafting and looking at my rankings, I’ve come up with three things I’m going to try to do in every draft. Those three  things are:

• 1. Start adjusting your draft board after your very first pick. Every pick comes with inherent strengths, weaknesses, and risks that should be factored into how you value players the next time you’re up to make a selection. Picked a very safe guy in the first two rounds? Then your risk appetite for a player like Royce Lewis or Mike Trout in a future round can be more aggressive. Did you draft a speedy guy like Ronald Acuña Jr. or Bobby Witt Jr. in the first round? Then you might slide CJ Abrams or Esteury Ruiz down (or even off) your board. These rankings can’t make that adjustment for you, but hopefully, they can provide a starting point and highlight certain players who have significant value fluctuations based on roster construction.

• 2. The catching pool is very deep. I see at least 14 catchers you can justify drafting at some point in a single-catcher format and a couple after that who you can look at for a replacement if things start sour. This is a huge shift from prior years, and while some of the top catchers deserve a premium, the gap between the top tier and the next two or three tiers is not what it used to be.

• 3. Try to get at least one top-15 outfielder, if not two. I rarely provide such specific instructions, but this group of players is insanely talented. If you’re in a 15-team format, you will need to use a first-round pick to secure one of these guys so it may not work out based on how the first round works out, but in 12-teamers you generally have about two rounds to make this happen. There are players with elite upside after this grouping, of course, it starts to get messier in a hurry.

Read The Notes

• I took the time to write one on every single hitter, so if you’re going to argue (which is allowed and encouraged), at least try to get some idea of why I ranked the player where I did or what I generally feel about them.

• 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.