AL Tiered Outfielder Ranks: June 2016

It once again is time for the monthly update for my AL Outfield Tiers! As always, these are my rest of the season ranks for the position and you can check out my previous versions below as well as Alex Chamberlain’s NL versions.

AL Tiered Outfielder Rankings: Preseason

NL Outfield Rankings: March/April

AL Tiered Outfielder Rankings: April 2016

NL Outfield Rankings: May

AL Tiered Outfielder Rankings: May

NL Outfield Rankings: June

This month I have named my tiers based upon my favorite breakfast foods.

 

Tier 1: BACON

Mike Trout

Nothing is better than bacon.

 

Tier 2: Biscuits and Gravy

Mookie Betts

George Springer

Mookie is the biscuits and Springer is the gravy.

Tier 3: Pancakes

Ian Desmond

Nelson Cruz

Mark Trumbo

Chris Davis

Adam Jones

Desmond is swinging at pitches outside of the zone less and striking out less. I almost put him in Tier 2, but he has a really high BABIP and HR/FB rate which will lead to some obvious regression. However, I still believe in a lot of the adjustments he made at the plate this season.

I keep waiting for Mark Trumbo to fall off, but it is hard not to buy into the production. In seasons past he has faded in the second half, so I would sell him if I could get good value.

I got a fair amount of grief for my ranking of Adam Jones in the May update, but he had a pretty great June hitting ten home runs and a .315/.348/.639 line. His hard contact percentage for the month of June was over 40% and he is not swinging at pitches outside the zone as much as he did last season. He is a good bet to get to 30 home runs and get his average up towards .280.

 

Tier 4: Monkey Bread

Lorenzo Cain

Khris Davis

Brett Gardner

Jose Bautista

Michael Saunders

Nomar Mazara

Justin Upton

Kole Calhoun

Jacoby Ellsbury

I was torn about moving Lorenzo Cain down into this tier, but with the recent hamstring strain and his history of hamstring injuries, I thought I needed to play it safe.

With nineteen home runs already, I feel pretty good about being so high on Khris Davis preseason. He has raised his average and on base percentage each month and the power plays in any park. Since he is still under club control for a few more seasons, I don’t expect him to get moved in Oakland’s yearly fire sale, which is unfortunate because you’d love to see him in a contender’s line up.

Michael Saunders has been a godsend to fantasy squads this year. He made a swing adjustment this year and it is really paying off. Of course, not tripping over sprinkler heads helps too. The question rest of the way is health, but given that I think he can hit another 14-17 home runs in that great Blue Jays lineup. The average will come down but I would be surprised if it dropped below .260 rest of the way.

Justin Upton has started putting it together. While it may not show in the results quite yet, he is walking more and striking out less. I still believe he gets over 20 home runs and double digit steals. You aren’t getting what you paid for him on draft day, but there are very encouraging signs.

 

Tier 5: Chicken Fried Steak and Eggs

Adam Eaton

Hanley Ramirez

Leonys Martin

Melky Cabrera

Josh Reddick

Colby Rasmus

Rajai Davis

Jackie Bradley Jr

Tyler Naquin

Jose Ramirez

Danny Valencia

Kevin Pillar

Melky is quietly putting together a pretty nice year. He is hitting .294/.344/.462 while walking more and striking out less than last season. He doubled his home run total in the month of June and is looking more like the 2014 version of himself.

I recently wrote about Rajai Davis as a guy who is under owned in fantasy.

I still can’t completely buy into Tyler Naquin, but his numbers have been out of this world.

It is easy to forget that he does have some pedigree. However, regression is coming. He has a .458 BABIP and a 31.1% strikeout rate.

Kevin Pillar has hit 5 home runs and has hit .290/.317/.500 in the month of June. It is nice to see signs of life from him, but he is still striking out more and walking at an abysmal 2.9% for the month. I think the true talent level is something in between April/May and June.

 

Tier 6: Eggs Benedict

J.D. Martinez

Miguel Sano

Michael Brantley

Chris Young

Steve Pearce

Kevin Kiermaier

Steven Souza

It is the injury tier!

Martinez is supposed to miss another 2-4 weeks, but that seems pretty optimistic.

Michael Brantley is hitting off a tee, but there is still no timetable to return.

Sano is on a rehab assignment and should be back soon. While, Souza should be starting his own pretty soon.

 

Tier 7: BACON

Alex Gordon

Shin-Soo Choo

Corey Dickerson

Carlos Gomez

Carlos Beltran

Max Kepler

Billy Burns

Dickerson will turn it around, Dickerson will turn it around, Dickerson will turn it around. Has it happened yet? No? I still believe it will, but at some point it becomes harder and harder to stand by my convictions.

Carlos Beltran is having an amazing season, but who knows what kind of situation he ends up at the trade deadline and if he can stay healthy rest of the way.

I’ve been an ardent supporter of Max Kepler and it is nice seeing him getting the playing time, but I worry that will be lessened once Sano returns.

 

Tier 8: Waffles

Ryan Rua

Oswaldo Arcia

Steven Moya

Byron Buxton

Coco Crisp

Paulo Orlando

Brad Miller

Lonnie Chisenhall

Joey Rickard

Whit Merrifield

Danny Santana

Seth Smith

Jarrod Dyson

Franklin Gutierrez

Desmond Jennings

Ezequiel Carrera

Brandon Guyer

Avisail Garcia

Brock Holt

Mark Canha

Rua has been a pretty successful platoon player that as had a pretty great June. Still, outside of the deepest of leagues, he can’t be trusted to get regular playing time.

If you have time, go listen to Paul Sporer’s impression of Whit Merrifield.

 

Tier 9: Omelets

Aaron Judge

Bradley Zimmer

Clint Frazier

Lewis Brinson

Joey Gallo

Delino DeShields

Rafael Ortega

Dalton Pompey

Eddie Rosario

The minor leaguer tier! At some point all of these guys will be up, but your guess is as good as mine to when.

 

Tier 10: Coffee and Cigarettes and BACON

Austin Jackson

Robbie Grossman

Hyun Soo Kim

Aaron Hicks

It bothered me that I wasn’t at a round number. Ranking 75 outfielders was better than 71.





Justin is the co-host on The Sleeper and The Bust Podcast and writes for Rotographs covering the Roto Riteup as well as other periodic articles. In addition to his work at Rotographs, Justin is the lead fantasy writer/analyst and co-owner for FriendswithFantasyBenefits.com, and the owner of The Great Fantasy Baseball Invitational. He is also a certified addiction treatment counselor. Follow Justin on Twitter @JustinMasonFWFB.

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nickolai
7 years ago

Two questions:
1) Why is Bacon your tier 1 and tier 7 brekky food? Is there good bacon and bad bacon?
2) Tier 10 seems a bit harsh for HS Kim. Is this due to his huge BABIP despite the grounder-happy ways?

Goms
7 years ago
Reply to  nickolai

Thought the same thing about Kim