2013 Fantasy Baseball Position Rankings

Updated NL-only position rankings: Hitters

Ray Guilfoyle updates his NL-only position rankings to get you ready for your drafts this weekend.

By Ray Guilfoyle@faketeams Mar 21, 2013, 7:00am EDT

Some of you, including one of my buddies in my big money NL-only league asked for updated NL-only rankings, as the ones I previously posted were done before spring training. I was planning on doing it, so here are my updated NL-only position rankings. But, in the interest of time, there will be no dialogue with the exception of a few glaring changes, mainly due to spring training injuries.

With that said, here are my updated NL-only position rankings for 2013:

Catcher

There were no real changes here, with the exception of moving Padres catcher Yasmani Grandal several spots, and moving Wellington Castillo up a few spots. Posey still heads the catcher rankings, and for good reason. He's a top 15-20 pick in mixed leagues. That says it all.

Rank	Player	Tm
1	Buster Posey	SFG
2	Yadier Molina	STL
3	Miguel Montero	ARI
4	Wilin Rosario	COL
5	Jonathan Lucroy	MIL
6	Brian McCann	ATL
7	Carlos Ruiz	PHI
8	A.J. Ellis	LAD
9	Rob Brantly	MIA
10	Wilson Ramos	WSN
11	Russell Martin	NYY
12	Wellington Castillo	CHC
13	Ryan Hanigan	CIN
14	Kurt Suzuki	WAS
15	John Buck	NYM
16	Yasmani Grandal	SDP
17	Devin Mesoraco	CIN
18	Hector Sanchez	SFG
19	Nick Hundley	SDP
20	Michael McKenry	PIT

First Base

The only changes here occurred in the bottom five of the rankings where I moved up Matt Carpenter and Daniel Murphy a few slots. Votto still leads the NL first base ranking, and I pondered flip-flopping Allen Craig and Adrian Gonzalez, as well as Ike Davis and my 2013 man-crush Ryan Howard. But, I decided to stick with my original rankings for those guys.

Rank	Player	Tm
1	Joey Votto	CIN
2	Allen Craig	STL
3	Adrian Gonzalez	LAD
4	Buster Posey	SFG
5	Paul Goldschmidt	ARI
6	Ike Davis	NYM
7	Ryan Howard	PHI
8	Anthony Rizzo	CHC
9	Freddie Freeman	ATL
10	Adam LaRoche	WSN
11	Michael Cuddyer	COL
12	Todd Frazier	CIN
13	Corey Hart	MIL
14	Yonder Alonso	SDP
15	Brandon Belt	SFG
16	Garrett Jones	PIT
17	Logan Morrison	MIA
18	Tyler Colvin	COL
19	Matt Carpenter	STL
20	Daniel Murphy	NYM

Second Base

The only changes here were moving Dan Uggla down a spot, adding Jedd Gyorko where I ranked him at #10, and removing Ryan Theriot from the rankings and replacing him with Jerry Hairston, Jr. I thought about flip-flopping Brandon Phillips and Aaron Hill, and would not argue either way. Moving Chase Utley up a spot was enticing as well.

Rank	Player	Tm
1	Brandon Phillips	CIN
2	Aaron Hill	ARI
3	Neil Walker	PIT
4	Chase Utley	PHI
5	Rickie Weeks	MIL
6	Danny Espinosa	WSN
7	Dan Uggla	ATL
8	Josh Rutledge	COL
9	Marco Scutaro	COL
10	Jedd Gyorko	SD
11	Chris Nelson	COL
12	Daniel Murphy	NYM
13	Logan Forsythe	SDP
14	Darwin Barney	CHC
15	Mark Ellis	LAD
16	Cliff Pennington	ARI
17	Daniel Descalso	STL
18	Adeiny Hechavarria	MIA
19	Jerry Hairston, Jr.	LAD
20	Donovan Solano	MIA

Shortstop

The big change here was moving Hanley Ramirez down to #8 in my rankings, as there is a possibility he will miss the first two months of the season. If we discover that he will miss less time, I would move him back into the 2-3 range.

Rank	Player	Tm
1	Troy Tulowitzki	COL
2	Starlin Castro	CHC
3	Jimmy Rollins	PHI
4	Ian Desmond	WSN
5	Danny Espinosa	WSN
6	Josh Rutledge	COL
7	Jean Segura	MIL
8	Hanley Ramirez	LAD
9	Marco Scutaro	COL
10	Zack Cozart	CIN
11	Andrelton Simmons	ATL
12	Everth Cabrera	SDP
13	Yunel Escobar	MIA
14	Ruben Tejada	NYM
15	Adeiny Hechavarria	MIA
16	Brandon Crawford	SFG
17	Cliff Pennington	ARI
18	Dee Gordon	LAD
19	Peter Kozma	STL
20	Clint Barmes	PIT

Third Base

Third base is a MASH unit this season, with several of the top third baseman battling injuries, including Hanley Ramirez, who I dropped to #10, David Wright, Pablo Sandoval, Chase Headley and Aramis Ramirez. I am probably higher on Ryan Zimmerman than most, but I could see a career year from him in 2013. I did not move Chase Headley down in my rankings, as I am wondering if his particular thumb injury (tip of thumb), isn't as severe as other thumb injuries.

Rank	Player	Tm
1	Ryan Zimmerman	WSN
2	Aramis Ramirez	MIL
3	David Wright	NYM
4	Pablo Sandoval	SFG
5	Chase Headley	SDP
6	Pedro Alvarez	PIT
7	Todd Frazier	CIN
8	David Freese	STL
9	Martin Prado	ARI
10	Hanley Ramirez	LAD
11	Chris Johnson	ATL
12	Michael Young	PHI
13	Juan Francisco	ATL
14	Nolan Arenado	COL
15	Matt Carpenter	STL
16	Placido Polanco	PHI
17	Luis Cruz	LAD
18	Chris Nelson	COL
19	Jordan Pacheco	COL
20	Ian Stewart	CHC

Outfielders

The big change here was moving Bryce Harper from #12 to #7 in my rankings. I also move the following outfielders up a few spots: B.J. Upton, Jay Bruce, Carl Crawford, Andre Ethier, Carlos Gomez, Dexter Fowler,Jayson Werth, Norichika Aoki, Adam Eaton, Juan Pierre, Domonic Brown, along with a few others.

Rank	Player	Tm
1	Ryan Braun	MIL
2	Matt Kemp	LAD
3	Andrew McCutchen	PIT
4	Giancarlo Stanton	MIA
5	Justin Upton	ATL
6	Carlos Gonzalez	COL
7	Bryce Harper	WAS
8	Jason Heyward	ATL
9	Jay Bruce	CIN
10	Matt Holliday	STL
11	B.J. Upton	ATL
12	Allen Craig	STL
13	Shin-Soo Choo	CIN
14	Carl Crawford	LAD
15	Andre Ethier	LAD
16	Carlos Beltran	STL
17	Martin Prado	ARI
18	Alfonso Soriano	CHC
19	Carlos Gomez	MIL
20	Jayson Werth	WAS
21	Dexter Fowler	COL
22	Jason Kubel	ARI
23	Hunter Pence	SFG
24	Adam Eaton	ARI
25	Norichika Aoki	MIL
26	Ben Revere	PHI
27	Michael Cuddyer	COL
28	Denard Span	WAS
29	Angel Pagan	SFG
30	Corey Hart	MIL
31	Cameron Maybin	SDP
32	Domonic Brown	PHI
33	Cody Ross	ARI
34	Jon Jay	STL
35	Carlos Quentin	SDP
36	Juan Pierre	MIA
37	Ryan Ludwick	CIN
38	Garrett Jones	PIT
39	Logan Morrison	MIA
40	Chris Heisey	CIN
41	Starling Marte	PIT
42	Justin Ruggiano	MIA
43	Tyler Colvin	COL
44	Will Venable	SDP
45	Gerardo Parra	ARI
46	Lucas Duda	NYM
47	Eric Young, Jr.	COL
48	Jose Tabata	PIT
49	David DeJesus	CHC
50	Darin Ruf	PHI

I will post my updated NL-only starting pitcher and reliever rankings in a separate post on Friday morning.

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