Top-200 Hitter Rankings

Larry Robinson-USA TODAY Sports

After diving into the top-100 hitters, I ranked the next 100. The talent in this group is so flat that a change of 50 projected plate appearances could move a batter 50 spots in the rankings. There will be tons of disagreements and I completely understand. I kept moving guys around until the last minute.

When I did the first list, I went about 120 deep into the projections to see if anyone popped, but I missed a couple who need a plate appearance boost. For this reason, I included all the hitters this time. Besides the actual ranks, I have explained some of the up and down rankings after the table. Also, I had a tough time setting a plate appearance total for some players, so some tiered ranks.

Notes:

  • The rankings start with a weighted average of several available projections. From there, I moved hitters up or down based on my perceived playing time (PA) or talent (Talent)
  • I had to pick one format to rank off of and I went with 5×5 Roto.
  • No catchers were ranked (article coming soon).
  • I did NOT take any position scarcity into account (besides catchers). There hasn’t been any for at least a dozen years, so I don’t expect any this season.
  • I didn’t give any player a multi-position boost or DH hit with each hosting site having its own settings.
  • Replacement level is not included since that value will change based on each league’s settings.
    Name PA AVG Rank OBP Rank Points (ESPN) PA Talent
    Aaron Judge 650 1 2 7
    Jose Ramirez 660 2 3 1
    Kyle Tucker 620 3 5 4 Down
    Trea Turner 680 4 14 16
    Ronald Acuña Jr. 610 5 4 35
    Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 680 6 8 3
    Julio Rodriguez 650 7 9 30 Down
    Shohei Ohtani 650 8 7 18
    Juan Soto 660 9 1 2
    Bo Bichette 670 10 19 21 Down
    Pete Alonso 660 11 12 5
    Freddie Freeman 680 12 10 6
    Yordan Alvarez 680 13 11 8
    Mookie Betts 650 14 15 14
    Manny Machado 660 15 17 10
    Bobby Witt Jr. 640 16 22 29 Down
    Fernando Tatis Jr. 530 17 6 40 Down
    Rafael Devers 660 18 21 12
    Paul Goldschmidt 660 19 16 15
    Mike Trout 600 20 13 24
    Austin Riley 680 21 23 19
    Matt Olson 680 22 18 11
    Randy Arozarena 640 23 24 58
    Francisco Lindor 680 24 25 22
    Michael Harris II 580 25 27 49 Down
    Marcus Semien 680 26 30 27
    Jose Altuve 640 27 26 25
    Kyle Schwarber 630 28 20 41
    Nolan Arenado 640 29 36 9
    George Springer 590 30 29 32
    Luis Robert Jr. 550 31 34 43 Down
    Adolis García 650 32 40 75 Down
    Eloy Jiménez 610 33 68 40 Up Up
    Corey Seager 640 34 35 17
    Andrés Giménez 610 35 41 82
    Starling Marte 550 36 43 106
    Teoscar Hernández 600 37 50 73
    Oneil Cruz 550 38 31 87 Down
    Christopher Morel 650 39 150 217 Up
    Ozzie Albies 610 40 61 37
    Gunnar Henderson 580 41 32 63
    Dansby Swanson 650 42 45 67 Down
    Trevor Story 620 43 44 94
    Jazz Chisholm Jr. 525 44 37 110 Down
    Jake McCarthy 550 45 42 108 Down
    Bryan Reynolds 650 46 39 42
    Alex Bregman 650 47 28 13
    Tim Anderson 580 48 88 128
    Cedric Mullins II 580 49 33 61 Down
    Gleyber Torres 600 50 63 67
    Wander Franco 600 51 70 26
    Kyle Stowers 650 52 216 232 Up
    Xander Bogaerts 630 53 46 36
    Willy Adames 630 54 66 83
    Taylor Ward 630 55 75 80 Up Up
    José Abreu 640 56 52 31
    Carlos Correa 620 57 48 34
    Nathaniel Lowe 630 58 54 54
    Tyler O’Neill 530 59 69 136 Up
    Ryan Mountcastle 620 60 84 66
    Amed Rosario 630 61 108 90
    Tommy Edman 610 62 55 77 Down Down
    Brandon Lowe 580 63 56 72
    Vinnie Pasquantino 580 64 51 19
    Seiya Suzuki 600 65 60 87
    Byron Buxton 480 66 81 136
    Anthony Santander 610 67 67 30 Down
    Corbin Carroll 500 68 53 130
    Christian Yelich 650 69 38 112
    Mitch Haniger 610 70 104 115 Up
    Christian Walker 630 71 49 35 Down
    Rhys Hoskins 640 72 47 50
    Steven Kwan 620 73 76 47
    Jeremy Peña 610 74 103 128
    Jorge Polanco 600 75 78 55
    Josh Jung 600 76 153 168 Up
    Ty France 630 77 83 46
    Nico Hoerner 610 78 94 64
    Matt Chapman 640 79 64 91
    Javier Báez 600 80 111 148 Down
    Ian Happ 640 81 77 85
    Rowdy Tellez 570 82 80 44
    Hunter Renfroe 550 83 92 75
    Thairo Estrada 570 84 99 111
    Josh Bell 610 85 72 33
    Anthony Rizzo 570 86 59 58
    Joey Meneses 610 87 137 98 Up Down
    Ke’Bryan Hayes 590 88 93 131
    Oscar Colas 500 89 262 275 Up
    Brandon Nimmo 640 90 62 78
    Oscar Gonzalez 550 91 139 74
    Triston Casas 570 92 57 53 Down
    Oswaldo Cabrera 550 93 208 227 Up
    Giancarlo Stanton 510 94 85 105 Up
    Nick Castellanos 600 95 115 96
    Jake Cronenworth 650 96 87 51
    Eugenio Suárez 620 97 82 115
    Seth Brown 580 98 102 118
    Austin Hays 610 99 123 87
    Jose Miranda 620 100 140 60 Up
    Lars Nootbaar 580 101 131 157 Up
    Alec Bohm 630 102 130 96
    Vaughn Grissom 500 103 151 180 Up
    Riley Greene 600 104 97 138
    Max Muncy 570 105 58 70
    Lane Thomas 620 106 157 186 Up
    Andrew Vaughn 600 107 117 62
    Bubba Thompson 450 108 271 346 Up
    Alex Verdugo 600 109 126 64
    Ketel Marte 580 110 109 71
    Jeff McNeil 600 111 120 56
    Garrett Mitchell 500 112 183 277 Up
    Luis Arraez 610 113 116 56
    C.J. Cron 610 114 71 47 Down
    Michael Conforto 570 115 89 106
    Jonathan India 600 116 96 142
    Cody Bellinger 540 117 121 146
    Kris Bryant 550 118 79 86 Down
    Jose Siri 480 119 147 254
    Lourdes Gurriel Jr. 530 120 160 109
    Jean Segura 550 121 149 133
    Brandon Drury 560 122 168 126
    Jurickson Profar 600 123 113 93
    Tommy Pham 570 124 119 184
    Trent Grisham 550 125 114 172
    Yandy Díaz 550 126 86 52 Down
    Andrew Benintendi 540 127 145 123
    Randal Grichuk 500 128 190 143
    Luis Garcia 500 129 192 144
    Luis Urías 570 130 124 121
    Mike Yastrzemski 570 131 134 157
    Austin Meadows 500 132 138 120
    Luis Rengifo 560 133 217 175 Up
    Ramón Laureano 500 134 90 167 Down
    Avisaíl García 560 135 180 195
    Yoán Moncada 590 136 142 170
    Dylan Carlson 540 137 143 149
    Joc Pederson 480 138 146 160
    Bryson Stott 510 139 167 177
    Marcell Ozuna 475 140 178 169 Up
    Chris Taylor 550 141 152 217
    Chas McCormick 530 142 223 241 Up
    Jack Suwinski 500 143 221 262 Up
    Ha-Seong Kim 530 144 173 161
    Mark Canha 550 145 106 154 Down
    Trey Mancini 580 146 166 152
    Justin Turner 520 147 154 117
    Wilmer Flores 550 148 171 103
    CJ Abrams 500 149 105 141 Down Down
    Luke Voit 510 150 158 201
    Manuel Margot 480 151 155 149 Down
    Harrison Bader 450 152 110 162 Down
    Gavin Lux 500 153 127 125 Down
    Josh Rojas 450 154 91 146 Down
    TJ Friedl 470 155 163 195
    Eduardo Escobar 520 156 198 152
    Jesse Winker 520 157 122 112
    Jeimer Candelario 560 158 185 156
    Gio Urshela 520 159 213 155
    Tyrone Taylor 470 160 199 190
    Josh Naylor 450 161 135 78 Down
    Ryan McMahon 590 162 100 124 Down
    J.D. Martinez 610 163 112 101 Down
    Kolten Wong 480 164 164 184 Down
    Elvis Andrus 500 165 218 193
    Patrick Wisdom 460 166 177 244
    Jorge Soler 500 167 169 190
    Spencer Torkelson 540 168 161 164
    Jake Fraley 410 169 162 222
    Jorge Mateo 450 170 118 212 Down Down
    Bryan De La Cruz 470 171 226 215
    Eric Hosmer 470 172 205 151
    Brandon Crawford 520 173 193 174
    Jonathan Schoop 540 174 238 180
    Ramón Urías 520 175 203 193
    Dylan Moore 380 176 165 287
    DJ LeMahieu 510 177 159 145 Down
    Jarred Kelenic 440 178 201 223
    J.P. Crawford 610 179 188 135
    Anthony Rendon 450 180 107 67 Down
    Kerry Carpenter 390 181 211 209
    Leody Taveras 450 182 219 239
    Trayce Thompson 410 183 194 244
    Garrett Cooper 520 184 195 199
    Matt Mervis 390 185 207 188
    Nick Gordon 440 186 234 234
    Charlie Blackmon 540 187 179 119 Down
    Miguel Vargas 370 188 206 206
    Brandon Belt 450 189 228 249 Up
    Enrique Hernández 530 190 215 166
    Andrew McCutchen 450 191 133 140 Down
    Joey Votto 510 192 176 180
    Santiago Espinal 470 193 227 178
    Brendan Donovan 480 194 181 180
    Harold Ramírez 450 195 245 197
    Josh Donaldson 490 196 186 205
    Miguel Rojas 520 197 244 176
    Brendan Rodgers 610 198 148 81 Down
    Isaac Paredes 450 199 187 157
    Max Kepler 450 200 170 138 Down

    Notes:

    • Vaughn Grissom: Grissom’s playing time is tough to set. I see him with less than 100 PA (most of the season in the minors), 250 PA to 350 PA (bench bat), or near 600 PA (full-time).Those totals are entirely based on if the Braves do or don’t resign Dansby Swanson.

    • Lane Thomas: The playing time will be way up for him. He leadoff in 31 of the last 32 games while hitting .244/.333/.390 during that time.

    • C.J Cron (all the other current Rockies): They are tough to ever start on the road. Cron for instance has a 1.010 OPS in Colorado and a .671 OPS on the road. None of them are good enough to start on the road. The one exception might have been Kris Bryant, but now that he has plantar fasciitis (career killers for Chase Utley and Albert Pujols) so I’m staying away.

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    • Marcell Ozuna: There are a ton of issues surrounding Ozuna, but at the season’s end, he showed some decent signs of life (.321/.368/.585 in September). I’d not be surprised if he gets a shot to start the season, but gets relegated to the bench if he struggles any bit.

    • CJ Abrams: I’m just not sure the 22-year-old is a major-league hitter (.604 OPS in 2022) and could spend some time in the minors.

    • Harrison Bader: First, he’s dealing with plantar fasciitis, so I’m out (see Kris Bryant). Also, he hasn’t had over 500 PA in a season since 2017, so why should he start this season? I gave him a bit under his season high.

    • Josh Naylor: The Guardians have pretty much come out and said Naylor will sit against lefties (.565 OPS vs LHP, .781 OPS vs RHP).

    • Bryan De La Cruz: He has some solid skills starting with a 86th percentile Hard Hit% but dealt with a May forearm injury. Before the injury, he was hitting .325/.417/.475. Until September 1st, he struggled and just posted a .181/.211/.304 triple slash line. He finally got healthy in September when he hit .388/.419/.718.

    • Eric Hosmer: I can’t get a read on his playing time at all. I could see the Red Sox going with him all season as the 1B/DH or he gets just 150 PA as a bench bat.

    • DJ LeMahieu: He’s dealing with a messed up foot that will require surgery or he’ll try to play through it. Either way, I’m way down on him.

    • Jarred Kelenic: I don’t buy he showed any improvement in September when all he faced were the A’s, Royals, Rangers, and Tigers pitching staffs. Editor & Tigers fan Note: RUDE!

    • Anthony Rendon: I can’t trust he’ll be healthy. I’m fine missing out if he happens to rebound this season.

    Here are several guys I had a tough time guessing their playing time. I added several options here to see how much they would go up or down depending on their projected role.

    • Garrett Mitchell: The 24-year-old projects to be a nice power-speed threat but with a 41% K% in 68 PA. Projections have him around 400 PA, probably hedging for a demotion. I gave him a small PA bump but if he plays more, this ranking jumps.

    PA: Rank
    400: 183
    450: 129
    500: 107
    550: 83
    600: 55
    650: 36

    • Jose Siri: He has had a problem staying healthy and has not been able to hit lefties (career .570 OPS vs LHP).

    PA: Rank
    450: 131
    500: 110
    550: 80
    600: 52
    650: 35

    • Christopher Morel: The Cubs just jacked him around by moving him up and down and in and out of their lineup. He is a really nice fantasy option if playing.

    PA: Rank
    450: 140
    500: 117
    550: 86
    600: 57
    650: 40

    • Oswaldo Cabrera: There seems to be a ton of Anthony Volpe hedging with the projections. I think the Yankees shortstop job is Cabrera’s or he’s on the bench or in the minors. I don’t see any 50/50 split.

    PA: Rank
    450: 145
    500: 121
    550: 95
    600: 65
    650: 42

    • Trayce Thompson: The Dodgers have a couple of open outfield spots and Thompson can fill one of those roles. Steamer Projections have him with 24 HR in 471 PA or prorated to 31 HR over 600 PA. It’s tough to find that kind of power going with an NFBC ADP of 511. James Outman could also be in play for one of these jobs.

    PA: Rank
    450: 158
    500: 125
    550: 105
    600: 76
    650: 51

    Kyle Stowers: He has 25 HR power with a full season of at-bats with a non-negative batting average. Currently, he’s projected for the 5th highest OPS on the Orioles but some other bats (Cameron, McKenna, Mazara, and Cordero) might get a crack.

    PA: Rank
    450: 163
    500: 127
    550: 108
    600: 77
    650: 53

    • Luis Garcia: He has some split issues (.589 OPS vs LHP. .729 OPS vs RHP) so his playing time might be limited. As a 22-year-old, his power profile has some interesting age-similar comps.

    Some good and some bad.

    PA: Rank
    450: 179
    500: 135
    550: 117
    600: 89
    650: 61

    • Leody Taveras: I think the 23-year-old gets the first shot at being the center fielder but he’s not been a replacement-level hitter (career .624 OPS). His range of outcomes seems all over the place.

    PA: Rank
    450: 195
    500: 153
    550: 125
    600: 109
    650: 82

    • Isaac Paredes: Since he is on the Rays, his playing time could be all over the place.

    PA: Rank
    450: 210
    500: 173
    550: 135
    600: 118
    650: 96

    Previous ranking articles with notes:





Jeff, one of the authors of the fantasy baseball guide,The Process, writes for RotoGraphs, The Hardball Times, Rotowire, Baseball America, and BaseballHQ. He has been nominated for two SABR Analytics Research Award for Contemporary Analysis and won it in 2013 in tandem with Bill Petti. He has won four FSWA Awards including on for his Mining the News series. He's won Tout Wars three times, LABR twice, and got his first NFBC Main Event win in 2021. Follow him on Twitter @jeffwzimmerman.

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Kevbot034
3 years ago

So are you thinking Kelenic is a totally bust? Avoid unless he’s basically free end of draft?