Fantasy Baseball 2017: Top 250 rest of season rankings

Welcome back. Another week, another top 250 update. We are starting to see if hot starts are legit and if struggling players figured it out.

Quick reminder, these rankings are for standard 5x5 rotisserie. I’ll do my best to explain any large rankings changes and feel free to ask player specific questions in the comments. This is your weekly forum to sound off with any fantasy questions you have. I’m here to help you!

Quick Hits

• Bye-bye Starling Marte. The Pirates outfielder was suspended 80 games by MLB for the use of PEDs. I cover the topic in depth here. In short, Marte is out after the All-Star break and will only be giving his owners 69 games at the most upon his return. I just don’t see him providing enough value to hold out to that long if you don’t have the luxury of a deep bench. I’d much rather have hot hitting outfielders and if Marte is the guy you’re forced to drop to acquire them, then so be it. I’m holding him if I can, but he is certainly droppable.
• A pair of Indians players move up 23 spots a piece in this top 250 update. Michael Brantley has looked great (.286 2HR 2SB 7R 9RBI) and has looked healthy doing so. Cleveland has been giving him a day off here and there, but Brantley will continue to get more playing time. Health is still an issue, but for now he is easily a top 100 player. Brantley’s teammate, Jose Ramirez, has been even better. Ramirez is hitting .345 with 4HR 9R 16RBI and 1SB. He also added 2B eligibility. Ramirez come out of nowhere last season and finished a top 50 player. So far, he is proving not to be a fluke.
• The group of hot hitting outfielders I was referring to early continued their hot starts. This obviously includes guys like Mitch Haniger, Eric Thames, and Aaron Judge. This also includes more readily available players like Manuel Margot, Corey Dickerson, Avisail Garcia, and Domingo Santana. I would take all of these high upside guys over the question mark of Marte.
• The struggle is starting to get real for certain veteran players. Some I’m more concerned about than other but a handful have dropped in this rankings update. Victor Martinez, Adrian Gonzalez, Jose Bautista, Curtis Granderson, and Carlos Beltran have all dropped rather significantly. This trend will only continue if their struggles continue and other, younger players around them continue to flourish. None of them drop outside my top 250, but you’ve been warned.
• Relief pitcher continues to be the most fluid position to rank each week. The top 10 remains the same, but the players have shifted inside that group of 10. Zach Britton (injury), Seung Hwan Oh (8.10ERA), and Edwin Diaz (6.35ERA) all drop. I’m not overly concerned with any of them though. New Rangers closer Matt Bush joins the fray. Bush offers a high potential with 10 Ks through 5.2 innings so far. Blake Treinen drops out of the top 250 after seemingly losing his closer job for the Nationals. Addison Reed unfortunately loses his Mets closing gig with the return of Jeurys Familia and is no longer a top 250 option as well. Here’s hoping Reed manages to get the job back somehow.

Losing Faith

Here’s a few of players who dropped in the rankings and, if their poor performances continue, could soon be outside my top 250:

• Byron Buxton (4 for 49 with 24 strikeouts) impressively bad
• Zach Davies (1-2 with a 8.24 ERA) he started bad last year though
• Devon Travis (.104 AVG with no extra base hits) he, like most Blue Jays, isn’t good right now

Hello, Goodbye

The following players are new additions to the top 250:

• Corey Dickerson
• Asdrubal Cabrera
• Avisail Garcia
• Luis Severino (36% K rate with a 13.5 K/BB)
• Domingo Santana
• Yangervis Solarte
• Matt Bush

The following players are no longer in my top 250:

• Starling Marte
• C.J. Cron
• Adam Wainwright
• David Peralta
• Blake Treinen
• Addison Reed
• Sam Dyson

See you next week!