1. Ronald Acuna Jr. LF,CF,RF (ATL)
The 22-year-old didn’t disappoint in his 2018 rookie season, slashing .293/.366/.552 with 22 homers and 16 steals in 111 games. For an encore, he tallied 41 homers and 37 steals and slashed .280/.365/.518.
2. Christian Yelich LF,RF (MIL)
Yelich broke out with 36 homers and 22 stolen bases in 2018, his first year as a Brewer. In 2019 the encore was epic, with 44 homers and 30 stolen bases. Not to mention, he’s been the batting average champ for two years running, posting marks of .326 and .329. One tweak in 2019 was more fly balls and line drives, as Yelich lowered his ground ball rate to 43.2%, the lowest mark of his career. On those fly balls and line drives, his 96.7 MPH average exit velocity ranked 15th in the majors. He was also top 10 in Brls/BBE and Brls/PA, 12th in hard hit rate, and 7th in exit velocity on ground balls. Now add to that some 87th percentile sprint speed and what you have is a fantasy baseball monster.
3. Mike Trout CF (LAA)
4. Cody Bellinger 1B,CF,RF (LAD)
5. Juan Soto LF (WSH)
6. Mookie Betts CF,RF (LAD)
7. Bryce Harper RF (PHI)
8. J.D. Martinez LF,RF,DH (BOS)
9. Starling Marte CF (ARI)
10. Austin Meadows LF,RF,DH (TB)
12. Yordan Alvarez LF,DH (HOU)
13. George Springer CF,RF (HOU)
11. Ketel Marte 2B,SS,OF (ARI)
14. Kris Bryant 3B,LF,RF (CHC)
15. Aaron Judge RF (NYY)
16. Charlie Blackmon CF,RF (COL)
17. Eloy Jimenez LF (CWS)
18. Ramon Laureano CF,RF (OAK)
19. Victor Robles CF,RF (WSH)
20. Tommy Pham LF,CF,DH (SD)
21. Luis Robert CF (CWS)
22. Jorge Soler RF,DH (KC)
23. Giancarlo Stanton LF,RF (NYY)
24. Jeff McNeil 2B,3B,LF,RF (NYM)
25. Marcell Ozuna LF (ATL)
26. Joey Gallo LF,CF (TEX)
27. Oscar Mercado LF,CF,RF (CLE)
28. Nick Castellanos LF,RF (CIN)
29. Eddie Rosario LF,RF (MIN)
30. Michael Conforto LF,CF,RF (NYM)
31. Whit Merrifield 2B,CF,RF (KC)
32. Michael Brantley LF,RF,DH (HOU)
33. Max Kepler CF,RF (MIN)
34. Rhys Hoskins 1B,LF (PHI)
35. Cavan Biggio 2B,RF (TOR)
36. Byron Buxton CF (MIN)
It looks like Buxton avoided serious injury to his left foot on Monday, July 13th while tracking down a fly ball. We’ve seen that story too frequently with him, though. The 26-year-old managed 140 games in 2017, but he’s managed only 28 and 87 at the big league level since then. This feels like an appropriate ranking, given the injury risk.
37. Andrew Benintendi LF,CF (BOS)
38. Franmil Reyes RF,DH (CLE)
39. Kyle Schwarber LF (CHC)
40. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. 2B,SS,LF (TOR)
41. Tommy Edman 2B,3B,SS,RF (STL)
42. Scott Kingery 2B,3B,SS,LF,CF (PHI)
43. David Dahl LF,CF,RF (COL)
44. Kyle Tucker LF,RF (HOU)
45. Bryan Reynolds LF,CF,RF (PIT)
46. Hunter Dozier 1B,3B,RF (KC)
47. J.D. Davis 3B,LF (NYM)
48. Adam Eaton LF,RF (WSH)
49. Willie Calhoun LF (TEX)
50. Lorenzo Cain CF (MIL)
51. Avisail Garcia CF,RF,DH (MIL)
52. Yasiel Puig RF (FA)
53. Justin Upton LF (LAA)
54. Brian Anderson 3B,RF (MIA)
55. Andrew McCutchen LF,CF,RF (PHI)
56. Garrett Hampson 2B,SS,CF (COL)
57. Austin Hays CF,RF (BAL)
58. Alex Verdugo LF,CF,RF (BOS)
59. Joc Pederson 1B,LF,RF (LAD)
60. Danny Santana 1B,2B,3B,SS,LF,CF,RF (TEX)
61. Shin-Soo Choo LF,RF,DH (TEX)
62. Mallex Smith CF,RF (SEA)
63. Ryan Braun LF (MIL)
64. Nick Senzel 2B,CF (CIN)
65. Mark Canha 1B,LF,CF,RF (OAK)
66. Jo Adell LF,CF,RF (LAA)
67. Domingo Santana LF,RF (CLE)
68. David Peralta LF (ARI)
69. Nomar Mazara RF (CWS)
70. Trent Grisham LF,CF,RF (SD)
71. Gregory Polanco RF (PIT)
72. Ian Happ 2B,3B,LF,CF (CHC)
73. Mike Yastrzemski LF,RF (SF)
74. Austin Riley 3B,LF (ATL)
75. Wil Myers 1B,3B,LF,CF (SD)
76. Shogo Akiyama LF,CF (CIN)
77. Randal Grichuk CF,RF (TOR)
78. Corey Dickerson LF (MIA)
79. Brandon Nimmo LF,CF,RF (NYM)
80. Sam Hilliard CF,RF (COL)
81. Dylan Carlson CF,RF (STL)
82. Teoscar Hernandez LF,CF (TOR)
83. Kole Calhoun RF (ARI)
84. Luis Arraez 2B,3B,LF (MIN)
85. Cameron Maybin LF,RF (DET)
86. Anthony Santander LF,CF,RF (BAL)
87. Kevin Pillar CF,RF (BOS)
88. A.J. Pollock LF,CF (LAD)
89. Yoenis Cespedes LF,CF (NYM)
90. Aristides Aquino RF (CIN)
91. Yoshi Tsutsugo 3B,LF (TB)
92. Hunter Renfroe LF,RF (TB)
93. Aaron Hicks CF (NYY)
94. Kyle Lewis CF,RF (SEA)
In a short sample in 2019, Lewis flashed some tremendous power hitting six home runs in 18 games. His 98.3mph average exit velocity on line drives and fly balls would have ranked fourth, between Nelson Cruz and Franmil Reyes. Despite the high strikeout rate, he hit .268 in those 18 games. So in a short 60-game season, he could put up some decent numbers with full playing time before things stabilize.
95. Jesse Winker LF,CF,RF (CIN)
We may be looking at a post-hype sleeper in Jesse Winker. Winker benefits from the universal DH, and despite a disappointing 2019, he shows good plate discipline, contact skills, and hits in a great park. The only real blemish in Winker’s profile is his inability to hit lefties.
96. Brett Gardner LF,CF (NYY)
97. Jason Heyward CF,RF (CHC)
Heyward will likely hit sixth in the lineup. He showed last season that he’s capable of going on a hot stretch, hitting .326 with six home runs in June.
98. Stephen Piscotty RF (OAK)
A league-average hitter that will have his spot in the bottom third of the Oakland lineup.
99. Kevin Kiermaier CF (TB)
While Kiermaier is always a threat to hit 15 home runs and steal 20 bags, he’s a sink in batting average. And there’s always the platoon risk with Tampa Bay, and rightfully so with Kiermaier. He hit .311 against left-handed pitching in 2019 and only .197 against right-handers.
100. Eric Thames 1B,RF (WSH)
Eric Thames looks to be a beneficiary of playing time after Ryan Zimmerman opted out of 2020. You could get the most of Thames in a daily league against right-handed pitching, and more so in OBP leagues. He hit 25 home runs and posted a .346 OBP in 459 plate appearances.
