Fantasy Baseball Hitter Rankings: Rest-Of-Season

The Major League Baseball season has reached the half-way point. It is crazy to think there is only a month left of the season when it is just getting started. Samples are small and unexpected players have found themselves as some of the top performers in the game. Who can you count on over the final month of the season? These Fantasy Baseball hitter rankings will break down every position with top 30 rankings for catcher, first base, second base, third base, and shortstop while featuring the top 80 outfielders. This is how I expect the players to perform during the rest of the season. A reminder that there are some high profile players on the injured list, and that is reflective in the rankings. I tried to take into account the estimated return date, which factors into the rankings, and why you will find Bo Bichette higher than Alex Bregman. Bichette has progressed well, while Bregman is expected to be out at least three more weeks. These rankings are intended for standard 5×5 roto leagues.

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Hitter Rest-Of-Season Rankings

Catcher

The catcher position has been downright dreadful for Fantasy Baseball, with J.T. Realmuto being the lone exception. Realmuto is by far the best player at the position, batting .294 with eight home runs to this point.

• Gary Sanchez was the consensus second catcher coming off the board in Fantasy drafts. I only dropped him to four because Sanchez can go on a hot streak at any point. Unfortunately, he has not been good this season, hitting .132 with five home runs in 79 plate appearances.
• Travis d’Arnaud has been a pleasant surprise for the Braves, getting the majority of at-bats rather than platooning with Tyler Flowers. d’Arnaud is batting .333 with four home runs and 17 RBI to this point. He could continue rising in the rankings if he plays at this level for the rest of the season.
• Sean Murphy has an interesting profile. Based on his stats, he should not be considered a top-ten catcher in the rankings. He is batting .222 with two home runs and five RBI. His strikeout rate is over 30 percent right now. The reason he is ranked this high is due to how hard he is hitting the ball. Murphy’s 60 percent hard-hit rate is fourth-best in all of baseball. If Murphy continues to hit the ball hard, things should be looking up for him.

First Base

• The Pete Alonso ranking is sure to rile some people up. I have been low on him all year and could not get behind his ADP this season. Alonso is a streaky hitter, so it would not surprise me to see him go on a hot streak at some point. But given his 2019 second half and his start to 2020, I cannot justify ranking him higher than fifth at the moment.
• Luke Voit has been a monster this season! In reality, he has been incredible since joining the Yankees, and more people should have seen this coming. Voit is hitting .311 with ten home runs and 20 RBI. He is hitting the ball incredibly hard, and his statcast data helps confirm what he has done so far. Voit has been the second-best first basemen so far in standard 5×5 leagues behind only Jose Abreu. There is no reason to believe this is a fluke, either. Voit has solidified himself as one of the top first basemen in the league.

Second Base

Second base has been a wasteland for Fantasy purposes just like many thought during draft season. Sadly, several of the high-end selections at second base have been disappointing. Marte remains in the top spot despite the lack of power and speed. The good news is he is hitting .328 still. I genuinely believe the power will come around though. You can find more info on that in my Twitter thread below.

Ketel Marte has been an interesting player in 2020.
After an impressive 2019 where he slashed .329/.389/.592 with 32 HR/10 SB, Marte had an ADP of 39 on NFBC

In 116 PA in 2020 Marte has seemingly lost his power. He is slashing .336/.353/.445 with 1 HR/1 SB. Let's dive in.
(1/5) pic.twitter.com/dmzkUrZCkr

— Chris Clegg (@RotoClegg) August 23, 2020

• Brandon Lowe has been a pleasant surprise at second base. Most notably, he has cut his strikeout rate from 34.6 percent to 22.9. He is the top-ranked second basemen in standard 5×5 leagues to this point, hitting .301 with nine home runs and 25 runs and RBI a piece. Lowe looks the part as he barreling the ball well and hitting it hard. There is plenty of reason to believe his hot start is legitimate.
• Gleyber Torres’s ranking hinges on when he is able to return. Right now with uncertainty surrounding his situation, there are plenty of guys who will be playing every day who I want over him. Hopefully, he recovers quickly and can return to form and finish the 2020 season strong.

Third Base

• Alex Bregman will be out at least three weeks, meaning at best he will likely only play the final two weeks of the season. Hamstring strains can be tricky, but hopefully, he can return healthy before seasons end. I debated leaving him off the list. But with his talent, two weeks of Bregman level production can give you a boost in the final weeks of the Fantasy season.
• Eugenio Suarez has struggled this season, but so have many other third basemen. He currently has five home runs, but his batting just .158 through 111 plate appearances. Looking deeper into his profile, better days appear to be ahead for Suarez.

Shortstop

• Fernando Tatís Jr. takes the top spot at a deep shortstop position for the rest of the season. He is the top overall performer in 5×5 leagues so far, and he shows no signs of slowing down. His power/speed combo is a league-winner as Tatís currently has 12 home runs and six stolen bases. He has the highest hard-hit rate in baseball and is third with a 96.4 mph average exit velocity. There are no reasons to believe that Tatís will not continue to perform at this high level, moving forward.
• Corey Seager has already given Fantasy owners a full return on investment of his ADP of 136. He is enjoying an excellent comeback season and is returning to the MVP caliber form that many thought he had after the 2016 season. Seager is currently hitting .309 with eight home runs. His expected stats are even better with an xBA of .371 and an xSLG of .780. Corey Seager is back and better than ever!

Outfield

• Kyle Tucker is a player that I have been in on for a long time. While many waivered, I have stayed true to believing in Tucker. He is currently hitting .262 with five home runs and four stolen bases but has been heating up over the last week. During the last week, he is hitting .400 with three home runs. The talent has always been there; Tucker just needed a chance to play every day, which he is now getting. Tucker could continue to rise in the rankings as the season progresses.
• Mike Yastrzemski has been a pleasant surprise for the Giants, batting .304 with seven home runs. He is walking at an extremely high rate of 17.3 percent, giving him a .422 OBP. He was a nice sleeper pick for Fantasy drafts this season, and it is working out well for owners who drafted him.
• Trent Grisham has become a legit power/speed threat this season. At the time of the trade, many questioned why the Padres gave up Luis Urías and Eric Lauer for Grisham and Zach Davies. That trade is working out well for San Diego as Grisham has blossomed and has seven home runs and four stolen bases to this point. Grisham is still just 23 years old and coming into his own. What he has shown so far is legitimate, and if he continues this pace, he will quickly move into the top 25 outfielders.

I hope you find these rankings helpful as you make roster decisions for the final month. If you have any questions, feel free to hit me on Twitter @RotoClegg as I am always happy to answer any question you may have.

In the meantime, check out Jake Devereaux’s “Top 100 Starting Pitcher Rankings.”

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