These players are moving on up the rankings
What does it take to move up the Fantasy baseball rankings a week into the season? 14 RBI in six games helped Nate Lowe move up, though that’s not everything — he also moved up because he’s playing every day for the Rangers. Tyler Glasnow dominating through his first two starts was certainly very good to see, too, but it was his dominant new slider that really opened my eyes.
I did my first big update to my rankings since the season started earlier this week, and there were plenty of players who moved up and down the rankings, though not often because of their production so far. You can read about the players who fell in the rankings here, and now here’s one player at each position (plus a couple of bonus pitchers) who rose in my first run of rankings.
Catcher
Here’s something that os has three batted balls hit at least 110 mph, making him one of just eight players in baseball with that many. Ramos has always asiame cuenta de borrado hit the ball hard, but it’s been nice to see him start off so hot after such a rough start in 2020. I’m not sure I buy that his 13.4 degree launch angle will prove sustainable — he’s never been above 6.5 degrees for a season — but if he did keep it up, that would be a huge deal. I like Ramos as a starting option in all two-catcher leagues, and it’s not out of the question he can be a starter in a one-catcher league, too.
First base
I liked Lowe as a sleeper coming into the season with the hope that he would play everyday after the Rays largely limited him to platoon duty over the last two seasons, and that’s exactly what we’ve seen. He’s also been one of the best hitters in the league so far, leading the majors with 14 RBI in his six games to go along with three homers. Strikeouts will be an issue for Lowe, so I don’t expect him to be much help in batting average, but the power is real and the role is solid. He’s a great CI option.
Second base
Here’s one of the bigger upsets of the season so far: The Dodgers have played seven games with seven different lineups, and Lux has been in six of them, even leading off in one. We were worried Lux might lose playing time given the Dodgers depth and willingness to platoon, but he’s even started two games against left-handed pitchers, too. Who knows how long that usage will last, but given his potential to be a legitimate five-category player, Lux needs to be rostered in all leagues right now, and I’ve moved him into my top 12 at second base.
Third base
We liked Kiner-Falefa as a starting option in leagues where he was catcher eligible, but it’s also worth looking at him in deeper category-based leagues even just at shortstop or third base (or MI/CI, obviously). He’s batted leadoff for the Rangers in every game, and that makes him a potential three-category contributor, because he’ll probably be a good source of batting average, should steal double-digit bases — he had eight in 58 games in 2020 — and will score plenty of runs at the top of the order. Kiner-Falefa isn’t a difference maker, but he could be a sneaky-solid starter for the MI or CI spots.
Shortstop
Obviously, this is going to depend on how Fernando Tatis’ shoulder injury works out, as the Padres are moving forward as if he will try to play before deciding on potential surgery. However, Kim has played every inning at shortstop that Tatis hasn’t played, so it looks like he could get a pretty extended look depending on how long Tatis is out. Kim hasn’t impressed so far — and he struggled in the minors — but his profile from his time playing in Korea suggests he could be a contributor in both stolen bases and home runs, with batting average potential too, so he’s definitely worth keeping an eye on and potentially adding in category-based leagues.
Outfield
Baddoo wasn’t on anyone’s radars coming into the season, given that he was a Rule 5 pick who had never played above Class A, so he could only rise. But I’m legitimately excited to see what he can do. He’s shown legitimate major-league-level skills, so it’s a question of whether the approach will hold up. Given the potential power-speed combo here, it’s worth adding him in a five-outfielder league just to see.
Starting pitcher
ed the fifth starter for the Dodgers, and he looked awesome in his first start, but that’s not why I’ve moved him up further. It’s because David Price has looked pretty bad out of the bullpen so far, while Tony Gonsolin is on the IL with shoulder inflammation and we haven’t heard much on his status so far. There are concerns about May’s workload because he pitches for the Dodgers, but he threw at least 130 innings in 2017, 2018, and 2019 and has been pretty healthy overall, so if Price and Gonsolin aren’t factors in the near term, I’ll bet on him staying in the rotation. And I’m very confident he’ll be good as long as he’s there.
I wrote about this trio in my “players to be excited about” piece Wednesday, and I’ve moved all three of them up just a little bit since the end of spring. I still have concerns about each — workload for Burnes and Glasnow, command for Alcantara — but the early results have been incredibly promising thus far. They’ve looked like the best versions of themselves.
Relief pitcher
It’s the Rays, so Castillo won’t get every save for them, and he may not even get a majority. But he is a very good reliever — 3.06 ERA, 1.093 WHIP, 10.4 K/9 for his career — and with Nick Anderson out with an elbow injury, I would bet on Castillo being the main guy moving forward. He has the first two saves for them so far.
We don’t know how long De Leon will be in the rotation for the Reds, but I’ve moved him into the 30 at RP for H2H points leagues after his nine-strikeout debut. SPARPs are hard to find these days, but one with De Leon’s strikeout potential could be very valuable. I’m adding him in all points league where I can.