2017 Rest-Of-The-Season Rankings: The Arising

Photo Credit: Keith Allison

It is happening! All at once! I can barely even keep track!

Ok, so it’s only four. Still, it is pretty cool to see four of baseball’s biggest stars come back from injury at around the same time. Freddie Freeman, Madison Bumgarner, Mike Trout, and Zach Britton are all finally healthy and either back playing baseball, whether they are in rehab or already back in the bigs. I admit, it was quite fun to move this amount of players so far up my 2017 Rest-Of-The-Season Rankings.

It will take time for them to get back into their full roles and begin to play like their usual selves. For those reasons, I haven’t immediately put them back in their old spots in the 2017 Rest-Of-The-Season Rankings. They will have to earn back that spot, but for players of this caliber, it shouldn’t take too long.

While there were actually quite a few players who made jumps up in the 2017 Rest-Of-The-Season Rankings this week, none of them came close to the astronomic rises of these four stars. All four of them have made the following Stock Up section of the article, where I discuss their value for the Rest-Of-The-Season (and I didn’t forget about the Stock Down players either).

2017 Rest-Of-The-Season Rankings

Stock Up

Mike Trout, OF, Los Angeles Angels

Ah, this is the one we are really excited about. Mike Trout has started his rehab assignment and will return after the All-Star break. Honestly, I am sitting here thinking about what needs to be said but there really isn’t anything. I fully expect him to reclaim his spot as the #1 player in all of Fantasy. It is that simple.

Zach Britton, RP, Baltimore Orioles

This one is also pretty self-explanatory but to a lesser extent. Britton is among the best relief pitchers and baseball and should be treated that way upon his return. There are two things in his way, however. The first is that the Orioles are worse than they were last year, which means less save chances. The other is that Brad Brach has been doing a great job holding down the ninth inning in Britton’s absence, so the Orioles should feel the need to rush him back into a high-leverage role, even though he inevitably will take a while. Even with these two caveats, he still will be one of the top closers in Fantasy and you can expect just that

The other is that Brad Brach has been doing a great job holding down the ninth inning in Britton’s absence, so the Orioles should feel the need to rush him back into a high-leverage role, even though he inevitably will take a while. Even with these two caveats, he still will be one of the top closers in Fantasy and you can expect just that from him the rest of the way.

Madison Bumgarner, SP, San Francisco Giants

I am honestly totally convinced that the vast majority of people forgot that Bumgarner was injured in a dirt bike accident. Seriously, I thought people would never let go of that, especially considering how bad the Giants have been this year, so the only thing people really say about them is bad things. Dirt bike accidents are pretty bad. I am thoroughly surprised.

Anyway, back to Fantasy. Even though Bumgarner got absolutely lit up in his first rehab start, he is still Bummy. It is entirely possible he said to himself, “My team sucks, so why don’t I have some fun and allow a billion runs.” Although the start was bad, and it definitely doesn’t help that this is the first time that he is coming off of the DL in his MLB career, he still should be a solid pitcher. Just don’t forget that the Giants suck, so he won’t be in the elite tier of pitchers, but still a Top 20 type of guy for the Rest-Of-The-Season.

Freddie Freeman, 1B, Atlanta Braves

In an unbiased, pure baseball fan type of opinion, Freddie Freeman might have been the player that I was most unhappy about being injured. He has always been good, but this was the year that he finally turned the corner into great.

Fortunately, Matt Adams put on a show while Freeman was out, but now first base at SunTrust Park belongs to Freeman once again. I admit that I was a bit worried that a player who had just so recently turned the corner had become injured, but Freeman has been red-hot since his return. I see no reason here to not fully expect him to reclaim his success that he enjoyed earlier in the year.

Stock Down

Ian Desmond, OF/1B, Colorado Rockies/Yoenis Cespedes, OF, New York Mets

I really don’t see the need to separate these two players. They both had great seasons last year, with Cespedes having the better one and Desmond being more of the breakout (or re-breakout?) star. Both of them had high expectations going into this year. Both of them have dealt with injuries. Also, both of them have struggled a bit when on the field. Lastly, both of them ran out of time to turn it around on my watch and ended up dropping in this week’s 2017 Rest-Of-The-Season Rankings.

2017 Rest-Of-The-Season Rankings

Rank	Name	Team	Positions
1	Bryce Harper	WSH	RF
2	Paul Goldschmidt	ARI	1B
3	Nolan Arenado	COL	3B
4	Jose Altuve	HOU	2B
5	Mookie Betts	BOS	RF
6	Charlie Blackmon	COL	CF
7	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	SP
8	Joey Votto	CIN	1B
9	Max Scherzer	WSH	SP
10	Chris Sale	BOS	SP
11	Kris Bryant	CHC	1B,3B,LF,RF
12	Anthony Rizzo	CHC	1B,2B
13	Miguel Cabrera	DET	1B
14	Daniel Murphy	WSH	1B,2B
15	Aaron Judge	NYY	RF,DH
16	Josh Donaldson	TOR	3B
17	Dallas Keuchel	HOU	SP
18	Corey Seager	LAD	SS
19	Francisco Lindor	CLE	SS
20	Mike Trout	LAA	CF
21	Robinson Cano	SEA	2B
22	Yu Darvish	TEX	SP
23	Stephen Strasburg	WSH	SP
24	Ryan Braun	MIL	LF
25	George Springer	HOU	CF,RF
26	Carlos Correa	HOU	SS
27	Ryan Zimmerman	WSH	1B
28	Miguel Sano	MIN	1B,3B,RF,DH
29	Xander Bogaerts	BOS	SS
30	Carlos Carrasco	CLE	SP
31	Freddie Freeman	ATL	1B
32	Dee Gordon	MIA	2B
33	Giancarlo Stanton	MIA	RF
34	Buster Posey	SF	C,1B
35	Jean Segura	SEA	2B,SS
36	Cody Bellinger	LAD	1B,LF
37	Nelson Cruz	SEA	RF,DH
38	Manny Machado	BAL	3B,SS
39	Brian Dozier	MIN	2B
40	Carlos Martinez	STL	SP
41	Zack Greinke	ARI	SP
42	Jon Lester	CHC	SP
43	Trea Turner	WSH	2B,SS,CF
44	Jacob deGrom	NYM	SP
45	Kyle Hendricks	CHC	SP
46	Kenley Jansen	LAD	RP
47	A.J. Pollock	ARI	CF
48	Christian Yelich	MIA	LF,CF
49	Wil Myers	SD	1B,RF
50	Billy Hamilton	CIN	CF
51	Edwin Encarnacion	CLE	1B,DH
52	Elvis Andrus	TEX	SS
53	Marcell Ozuna	MIA	LF,CF,RF
54	Jose Ramirez	CLE	2B,3B,LF
55	Khris Davis	OAK	LF,DH
56	Jay Bruce	NYM	1B,RF
57	Jonathan Villar	MIL	2B,3B,SS
58	Eric Thames	MIL	1B,LF,RF
59	Jose Peraza	CIN	2B,SS,LF,CF
60	Corey Kluber	CLE	SP
61	Craig Kimbrel	BOS	RP
62	Jose Abreu	CWS	1B,DH
63	Matt Carpenter	STL	1B,2B,3B
64	Corey Dickerson	TB	LF,DH
65	Justin Verlander	DET	SP
66	Chris Archer	TB	SP
67	David Price	BOS	SP
68	Gerrit Cole	PIT	SP
69	Masahiro Tanaka	NYY	SP
70	J.T. Realmuto	MIA	C
71	Michael Fulmer	DET	SP
72	Greg Holland	COL	RP
73	Justin Upton	DET	LF,CF
74	J.D. Martinez	DET	RF
75	Lance McCullers	HOU	SP
76	Chris Davis	BAL	1B
77	Jose Bautista	TOR	RF,DH
78	Kyle Seager	SEA	3B
79	Wade Davis	CHC	RP
80	James Paxton	SEA	SP
81	Anthony Rendon	WSH	3B
82	Ervin Santana	MIN	SP
83	Aroldis Chapman	NYY	RP
84	Yoenis Cespedes	NYM	LF,CF
85	DJ LeMahieu	COL	2B
86	Adrian Beltre	TEX	3B,DH
87	Johnny Cueto	SF	SP
88	Jake Arrieta	CHC	SP
89	Adam Duvall	CIN	LF,RF
90	Cole Hamels	TEX	SP
91	Alexander Colome	TB	RP
92	Gary Sanchez	NYY	C,DH
93	Michael Brantley	CLE	LF
94	Marcus Stroman	TOR	SP
95	Salvador Perez	KC	C,DH
96	Matt Kemp	ATL	LF,RF,DH
97	Gregory Polanco	PIT	LF,RF,CF
98	Lorenzo Cain	KC	CF,RF
99	Zach Britton	BAL	RP
100	Eric Hosmer	KC	1B
101	Justin Smoak	TOR	1B
102	Yonder Alonso	OAK	1B
103	Travis Shaw	MIL	1B,3B
104	Kenneth Giles	HOU	RP
105	Julio Teheran	ATL	SP
106	Danny Duffy	KC	SP,RP
107	Justin Turner	LAD	3B
108	Seung-Hwan Oh	STL	RP
109	Zack Cozart	CIN	SS
110	Eduardo Nunez	SF	3B,SS,LF
111	Mark Reynolds	COL	1B
112	Yasmani Grandal	LAD	C
113	Jake Lamb	ARI	3B
114	Dustin Pedroia	BOS	2B
115	Jose Quintana	CWS	SP
116	Avisail Garcia	CWS	LF,RF,DH
117	Cody Allen	CLE	RP
118	Ender Inciarte	ATL	LF,CF
119	Scott Schebler	CIN	LF,CF,RF
120	Cesar Hernandez	PHI	2B
121	Edwin Diaz	SEA	RP
122	Mark Melancon	SF	RP
123	Madison Bumgarner	SF	SP
124	Michael Conforto	NYM	LF,CF,RF
125	Robbie Ray	ARI	SP
126	Rick Porcello	BOS	SP
127	Michael Pineda	NYY	SP
128	Dylan Bundy	BAL	SP,RP
129	Jason Vargas	KC	SP
130	Tanner Roark	WSH	SP
131	Kelvin Herrera	KC	RP
132	Luis Severino	NYY	SP,RP
133	Sonny Gray	OAK	SP
134	Eugenio Suarez	CIN	3B
135	Adam Jones	BAL	CF
136	Ian Desmond	COL	1B,LF,CF
137	Mark Trumbo	BAL	RF,DH
138	Felix Hernandez	SEA	SP
139	Yasiel Puig	LAD	RF
140	Evan Longoria	TB	3B,DH
141	Carlos Gonzalez	COL	RF
142	Chris Owings	ARI	2B,SS,CF,RF
143	Kendrys Morales	TOR	1B,RF,DH
144	Andrew Benintendi	BOS	LF,CF
145	Jake Odorizzi	TB	SP
146	Jonathan Schoop	BAL	2B
147	Zack Godley	ARI	SP,RP
148	Trey Mancini	BAL	1B,LF,DH
149	Starling Marte	PIT	LF,CF
150	Didi Gregorius	NYY	SS
151	Yasmany Tomas	ARI	LF,RF
152	Albert Pujols	LAA	1B,DH
153	Carlos Santana	CLE	1B,RF,DH
154	Starlin Castro	NYY	2B
155	Kevin Pillar	TOR	CF
156	Ian Kinsler	DET	2B
157	David Peralta	ARI	RF
158	Rougned Odor	TEX	2B
159	Jonathan Lucroy	TEX	C,1B,DH
160	Willson Contreras	CHC	C,LF
161	Andrew McCutchen	PIT	CF,RF
162	Mike Moustakas	KC	3B,DH
163	Sean Manaea	OAK	SP
164	Brandon Belt	SF	1B,LF
165	Brandon Phillips	ATL	2B
166	Matt Adams	ATL	1B,LF
167	Jacoby Ellsbury	NYY	CF,DH
168	Nomar Mazara	TEX	LF,RF,DH
169	Andrew Miller	CLE	RP
170	Joey Gallo	TEX	1B,3B
171	Yangervis Solarte	SD	2B,3B,1B
172	Steven Matz	NYM	SP
173	Noah Syndergaard	NYM	SP
174	Odubel Herrera	PHI	CF
175	Ben Zobrist	CHC	2B,LF,RF,1B
176	Roberto Osuna	TOR	RP
177	Brian McCann	HOU	C,DH
178	Aaron Sanchez	TOR	SP
179	Marwin Gonzalez	HOU	1B,2B,3B,SS,LF
180	Brett Gardner	NYY	LF
181	Matt Wieters	WSH	C
182	Hanley Ramirez	BOS	1B,DH
183	Jacob Faria	TB	SP
184	Tony Watson	PIT	RP
185	Jose Berrios	MIN	SP
186	David Robertson	CWS	RP
187	Chris Taylor	LAD	2B,3B,SS,LF,CF
188	Brandon Crawford	SF	SS
189	Cameron Maybin	LAA	LF,CF,RF
190	Trevor Story	COL	SS
191	Addison Russell	CHC	SS
192	A.J. Ramos	MIA	RP
193	Aaron Nola	PHI	SP
194	Yadier Molina	STL	C
195	Kole Calhoun	LAA	RF
196	Melky Cabrera	CWS	LF,DH
197	Stephen Piscotty	STL	CF,RF
198	Troy Tulowitzki	TOR	SS
199	Todd Frazier	CWS	1B,3B,DH
200	Rich Hill	LAD	SP

 

 

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