We do have leaderboards for this sort of thing, but the problem is that if you’re looking at horizontal movement, PITCHf/x data for lefties and righties is very different. For example, the average four-seam fastball for a lefty goes 91 mph, but breaks +5.5 inches. The average four-seam fastball for a righty goes 92.2 mph and breaks -4.2 inches. So if you sorted one way or the other for horizontal fastball movement, you would just be getting the best lefties and righties.

So I did the work for you. Voila, the straightest fastballs in the game. It may be the least important facet of a fastball, behind location and velocity, but it’s still a facet we don’t talk about much.

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I couldn’t get to all the position players where my rank was significantly different than the consensus, and mostly because there are so many dang outfielders. So Tonto, let’s jump on it.

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We just finished ranking week (find them easily on the right-hand nav bar), and since I’m apparently a masochist, I’m going to jump right back in and examine where I was different from the consensus. We’ll do as many positions as possible today — I’ll focus on those players that are most differently positioned in my rankings — before checking out the pitchers.

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Starting pitching is so tough to evaluate. First, you get massive amounts of information every five days, but each of those bursts of information is tied to a single park or team and is so context dependent. Second, there are only five starting slots, and if you’re the sixth-best starting pitcher on your team, you’re outta luck.

That last part is really the reason for the delay on these rankings. Tony Cingrani was a starting pitcher yesterday and we were about to pub the rankings — and then news came out that Mat Latos would take his slot this week. Now Cingrani is suddenly among the prospects — who are impossible to project given their uncertain role — and waiting for Alfredo Simon to pumpkin or Latos to hurt again. That’s not great for his ranking.

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Judging from my twitter comments, it looks like there’s a window of opportunity for those of you that want to buy Kevin Gausman, for this year or for your keeper teams. But we know that Gausman has flaws. The question is: how likely is he to correct those flaws and become the fantasy superstar that his velocity and minor league record seems to suggest is possible?

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When you start ranking outfielders, all you can think about is how many there are. It seems impossible. And then something funny happens, somewhere in the 60s for me — you run out of ones you really want in your lineup. And then there’s a ton left, yes, but they’re all mix and match fantasy platoon outfielders. And they aren’t super easy on the eyes.

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Third base has had some nicks and cuts but has survived fairly intact. Sure, Evan Longoria has takent some time to get going, and David Wright looks like he won’t be that counting stat monster going forward. And Nolan Arenado’s injury has been a disappointment. I’m sure some of you are even upset about the terrible start Mike Moustakas has had.

But, generally, the position looks pretty good still.

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Whoo boy. What a turd of a position.

Sure, in the shallower leagues, you’re okay. There’s about 5-10 shortstops that I want to have and another seven or so that look okay to me. If you waited and picked Dee Gordon (or got him off waivers), congrats. Alexei Ramirez was another great late pick. Jimmy Rollins is resurgent. It looks like a good Alcides Escobar year — not a bad one at least.

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The key word for second base is: close. When it comes to the top three, apparently the rest-of-season projections have changed the order daily over the past three days. Jeff Zimmerman had to call it, at some point, and it was Jose Altuve by the slimmest of margins.

For me, the closest rankings came later.

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Okay, maybe I was wrong about the catchers (You can follow along using the rankings links on the right hand navigation bar). The top group definitely wasn’t performing well. I just never shop there, so maybe it was a blind spot.

But I do shop among the top first basemen. No shares of Miguel Cabrera — no number one picks, and no willingness to spend that much — and just a couple shares of Paul Goldschmidt, Edwin Encarnacion, Jose Abreu and the like. Hey! Those guys are doing fine!

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