Fantasy Baseball Power Rankings: Biggest risers and fallers just past one-third mark of MLB season

Sports

add

We’ve pushed past the one-third mark of the season; to be exact, 37% of the schedule has been played. The days are long, but the seasons are short. It’s a good time to look around the league and try to figure out what’s what.

The goal with these power rankings is to consider how fantasy-friendly every MLB team is. Simple as that. It’s certainly not a mere reflection of won-loss record, though it’s inevitable that good teams will likely help us more and bad teams will help us less.

Advertisement

[Smarter waivers, better trades, optimized lineups — Yahoo Fantasy Plus unlocks it all]

We last did this just ahead of the season, so let’s have some fun with the updates, and as always I welcome your intelligent and respectful disagreement.

30. Rockies (Previous rank: 28)

When a team doesn’t win its 10th game until the first week of June, things have bottomed out. Only two Colorado batters are above code, and at least they were waiver finds — catcher Hunter Goodman and outfielder Jordan Beck. Michael Toglia’s demotion to the minors was merited, with a batting average under the Mendoza Line and a league-worst 81 strikeouts.

29. White Sox (30)

Luis Robert Jr. is the only Chicago player rostered in more than half of Yahoo leagues, with 21 steals partially offsetting that horrid .177 average. Chase Meidroth is a solid player, despite little pop. Starting pitcher Shane Smith deserves some respect, carrying a 2.68 ERA and 1.16 WHIP. Chicago’s six saves belong to six different relievers, so there’s nothing to see there.

28. Marlins (29)

Very little power, as expected. I thought they’d run more. I didn’t know what to expect from Sandy Alcántara but he’s been a nightmare. At least everyone in the everyday lineup is under 30. Catcher/DH Agustín Ramírez is a right answer. Only the Rockies have a worse ERA in the National League.

27. Pirates (22)

Oneil Cruz seems to get better every day and Paul Skenes is still dominating, even with a notable drop in his strikeout rate. Alas, nothing else has gone right in Pittsburgh, outside of Andrew Heaney and Bailey Falter offering some occasional streamer value. Bryan Reynolds perked up a bit last week, but he’s still having his worst season in five years.

26. Athletics (25)

It’s about what we expected, a credible offense and a look-out-below pitching staff (5.78 ERA). The Sutter Health Park situation doesn’t help these pitchers, but they’re 29th in road ERA, too. Jacob Wilson is a little fortunate to be carrying that .355 average, but he rarely swings at a bad pitch and he’s elite in squaring the ball. He’s a plus defender at shortstop, too.

25. Royals (18)

Modern baseball is often smothered by the three true outcomes, but don’t blame Kansas City. The Royals rank last in walks and last in homers, and they’re the third-hardest team to strike out. All that contact hasn’t led to much — these guys are 28th in runs. Maikel Garcia is having a stunning breakthrough, with the best OPS+ on the club and a major jump in all three slash stats. All of the pitching is above code, with the third-best starting rotation (by ERA) and the seventh-best bullpen.

24. Orioles (6)

America’s crash-landing team, the most frustrating club for fantasy purposes. The Orioles were coming off two playoff berths and brought back most of the roster; to see them 14 games under .500 is shocking. Adley Rutschman looks like Matt Wieters 2.0, a touted prospect who arrives in The Show more ready than expected but perhaps with less down-the-road ceiling than expected. Baltimore likely will be sellers when the trade season opens.

23 Angels (27)

What happened to Running Ron Washington? The Angels are 29th in stolen bases. It’s nice to see Mike Trout back on the field but it’s foolish to ever project him for 500 at-bats again. Zach Neto and Logan O’Hoppe are rising talents, and although first baseman Nolan Schanuel hasn’t shown much pop, a .269 average and .372 OBP will play. Tyler Anderson might be an interesting pitcher for a contender, six weeks from now.

22. Guardians (11)

Cleveland ranks 24th in runs and 21st in ERA and has a negative run differential, and yet somehow these guys are 32-26. Steven Kwan is symbolic of the team’s success, a backwards-approach player who succeeds on high contact and rare line drives (somehow, he’s still slugging .438). José Ramírez has a Hall of Fame career just about built.

21. Astros (12)

This was a destination offense for so long, but the Astros are tracking for their worst scoring output in 11 years. Yordan Alvarez never looked right this season (he’s now on the IL) and Christian Walker might have hit the wall in his mid-30s. Jose Altuve already had a solid Hall of Fame foundation, but he’s merely an eyelash above a league average this year. At least Hunter Brown has popped on the mound, the biggest challenger to Tarik Skubal for the AL’s Cy Young Award.

20. Rays (21)

Tampa Bay has the most steals in baseball, although 19 of them just went back to the minors — Chandler Simpson was sent to Triple-A to make room for Jake Magnum off the injured list. Simpson’s .285 average was better than expected, but he carries a modest .315 OBP and a puny .317 slugging — there’s work to be done here.

19. Cardinals (26)

Somehow they’re 12th in runs despite below-average power and speed, bully for them. Nobody on this roster is on pace to hit 25 home runs. The staff has a similar ethos, with no All-Star candidate but four starters who are better than league average. St. Louis has the look of a playoff team that gets eliminated in 15 seconds. Victor Scott II is 16-for-17 on steals and might have the OBP skills to eventually bat first.

18. Giants (23)

San Francisco recently removed Ryan Walker from the ninth inning, but the rest of the bullpen has been unreal — with a 2.39 ERA and 1.04 WHIP, this is easily the best relief staff in the majors. Keep an eye on Randy Rodríguez, who has been almost perfect: 0.68 ERA, 0.64 WHIP, 38 strikeouts against just three walks. He’s not closing right now, but if Camilo Doval has a misstep, Rodríguez might get a look. Rodríguez did work Monday in the ninth in a tie game at home, which shows how his importance has grown. The San Francisco offense hasn’t been as much fun; average in runs scored, below average in category juice.

17. Nationals (24)

Somehow Washington sits 11th in runs scored despite most of the batters being under league average in OPS+. This speaks to how well the team’s two signature hitters have played — James Wood is a monster (16 homers, nine steals) and CJ Abrams has his swag and focus back. Lefty ace MacKenzie Gore leads the majors in strikeouts and has also trimmed his walk rate; all of his starts are appointment viewing.

16. Rangers (15)

It’s been a trick or treat season for the Arlington boys, ranking 26th in runs scored but first in starting pitcher ERA. Jacob deGrom’s reinvention (pitch to contact, less max-out effort) seems to be working (2.34 ERA, 0.98 WHIP), even as he’s outpacing the ERA estimators. I almost had a heart attack when deGrom had a zero-strikeout game two turns ago, but heck, watching any ace pitcher can be an invitation for stress. Home cooking matters to the Rangers; they have 20 wins at home, just nine on the road.

15. Red Sox (5)

Somehow they’re still sixth in runs scored but it feels tenuous, with the infield falling apart (Triston Casas is out for the year, Alex Bregman hurt, Kristian Campbell and Trevor Story slumping). Roman Anthony is percolating in the minors and likely comes up this month, though the Red Sox have no opening in the outfield (Jarren Duran and Wilyer Abreu are hitting, and the Sox love Ceddanne Rafaela for his defense). Carlos Narváez looks like a long-term solution behind the plate. Maybe Garrett Crochet is Chris Sale 2.0 after all.

14. Blue Jays (16)

A plus bullpen has allowed Toronto to overcome a mediocre offense and average starting staff. Maybe Bo Bichette is never going to be the star we all expected — his 46-game rookie debut is still the best baseball he’s ever played — but the Jays would probably take this year’s .277/.325/.430 slash in perpetuity. The Jays have stuck with closer Jeff Hoffman (13 saves) despite his 5.81 ERA.

13. Brewers (19)

An offense that’s outkicked the metrics — despite ranking 21st in average, 16th in OBP and 25th in slugging, Milwaukee sits eighth in runs scored. Brice Turang has been better than expected, Jackson Chourio a slight disappointment (but I’m not fading him in any way). Christian Yelich started to hit over the last couple of weeks.

12. Reds (14)

Everyone knows Andrew Abbott isn’t as good as that 1.51 ERA, but just how good is he? Probably better than you think. His expected ERA is a solid 3.05 and his expected average against is a slight .202. And his extreme fly-ball rate is not a detriment, either; the great Gene McCaffrey taught us many moons ago, whenever a pitcher shows a major bias in either direction with fly balls or ground balls, it represents a good thing, control over his outcomes.

11. Mariners (20)

The .237 average is garish but the OBP and slugging are both above code, so the offense has more octane than expected. Cal Raleigh would be a top 5 MVP pick today. George Kirby needs monitoring after two messy starts in his return. Bryan Woo has done a nifty Kirby imitation in the meantime — pound the strike zone, don’t give anything away.

10. Braves (2)

To rank them this high is a vote for speculation and a nod to the name-brand value. They’ve been disappointments: 22nd in runs scored, 16th in OPS. Maybe Ozzie Albies has leveled off. But you wonder if a healthy Ronald Acuña Jr. could light this offense on fire.

9. Twins (13)

I’d love to see what a healthy Byron Buxton could do with 140 games; he’s one of the 10 best players in the American League. The Twins need the thumping Buxton in the lineup; it hurts to have two non-power guys (Ty France, Brooks Lee) manning the infield corners. The staff of all-underrated guys is fifth in starter ERA, to be expected. This is an eat-your-veggies kind of team, drink the milk to the bottom of the glass.

8. Diamondbacks (8)

We don’t talk about Chase Field that much as an offensive environment, but if you consider the three-year rolling averages on Baseball Savant, this ballpark is tied for third for the biggest scoring boost (even with Great American Ball Park; trailing just Coors Field and Fenway Park). Seven of the Arizona regulars have an OPS+ better than league average, and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. is just an eyelash below. Arizona needs to figure out the bullpen, with a messy 5.28 ERA there.

Advertisement

7. Padres (9)

The offense has been less than expected, the pitching better than expected. Jackson Merrill has a 20-point jump in OPS+, but he hasn’t shown interest in running since his hamstring injury. The Xander Bogaerts contract was a bad one the day it was signed — he’s been under code for OPS+ the last two years — but at least he’s 11-for-11 on steals. Michael King had Cy Young vibes before his shoulder injury.

6. Tigers (17)

The favorite David Bowie record in Detroit? Station to station. The Tigers have just 21 steals and 27 steal attempts, the fewest in baseball for both columns. Comerica Park is a perfect place if you want to see a triple, but it ranks below average in most of the offensive stats. Gleyber Torres was an underrated pickup; his 128 OPS+ is his best showing in six years, and he has more walks than strikeouts.

5. Mets (3)

Juan Soto has yet to detonate, but a sneaky-good pitching staff (second in both starter and relief ERA) has pushed the Mets to the top of the NL East. Pete Alonso has the best batting average and OPS+ of his career, along with an NL-best 18 doubles. Walks are up, strikeouts down. Will the league view Alonso differently this winter if he goes back on the market?

4. Phillies (4)

Things usually start well in Philadelphia (seventh-best rotation ERA) but it gets dark in the later innings (25th in bullpen ERA). The offense is fine (seventh in scoring, 11th in homers, fifth in steals), even with a Wheeze Kids shape to the roster (six lineup regulars are in their 30s). Kyle Schwarber is having a glorious season, with a .266/.398/.584 slash and a personal-best 170 OPS+.

3. Yankees (7)

Luke Weaver was pitching too well to cede the closer role, but now that a hamstring injury has entered the chat, Devin Williams gets his chance to shine again. The Yankees will use Williams in the ninth inning while Weaver rehabs, and Williams has been much better in recent work (2.08 ERA, 0.69 WHIP, 1 BB, 12 K over 8.2 innings). Aaron Judge’s supporting cast has been better than expected — nine of the 10 primary hitters here have an OPS+ better than the mean. It’s a group that tilts younger, too — only Judge and Paul Goldschmidt are in their 30s.

2. Cubs (10)

Second in runs, fourth in homers, third in steals, this has been a carnival offense all year. Pete Crow-Armstrong has the worst K/BB ratio among the regulars, but everything else he does is plated in gold — 15 homers, 19 steals in 22 attempts. He’s third on the Yahoo list of MVPs (most commonly-posted players on the best public teams), slightly behind Cal Raleigh and Aaron Judge.

1. Dodgers (1)

They turned up the juice in May, conking 44 homers (Shohei Ohtani had 15 of them) and slashing .283/.357/.482. For the year, the Dodgers rank first in average, runs, homers and slugging (they’re second in OBP). They’re not the defending champs for nothing. The pitching has been below average, but elite offense is a lovely deodorant.

This news was originally published on this post .