It’s the first Dynasty Baseball Rankings Week over on the Patreon. I’m going over 400 deep and there will be quick notes for the vast majority of players (all of the players in the top 100 have a blurb). Here are the Updated April 2022 Top 413 Dynasty Baseball Rankings:
Tier 1
1) Shohei Ohtani LAA, RHP/DH, 27.9 – Surface stats haven’t been great on both the hitting and pitching side, but nothing is setting off alarm bells under the hood as the homers, steals and strikeouts are still flowing. 4.1% BB% is really the only thing out of character, but that is almost certainly a small sample thing
2) Juan Soto WASH, OF, 23.5 – 1.013 OPS. .475 xwOBA. 24% BB%. 0 steals. Straight killer in non 5×5 BA leagues.
3) Ronald Acuna Jr. ATL, OF, 24.3 – Scheduled to begin a rehab assignment at Triple-A and should be back to hitting bombs soon.
4) Vladimir Guerrero Jr. TOR, 1B, 23.0 – 5 homers with a 22.2% Barrel%. Launch angle (6.5 degrees) and plate approach (27.5%/5.0% K%/BB%) haven’t been great, but he’s one of the best hitters in baseball no matter how you slice it.
5) Fernando Tatis Jr. SD, SS, 23.3 – Tatis is trying his hardest to get hurt again, tripping over a soccer ball and using his right arm to break his fall. You never try to break your fall by using your arm. I’ve learned that the hard way breaking my wrist twice playing sports as a kid. He needs to learn how to fall right. On the plus side, he’s mentioned he is ahead of schedule, so maybe we see him before July.
Tier 2
6) Bo Bichette TOR, SS, 24.1 – It’s a slow start for Bichette with a .556 OPS, 3.7 degree launch anagle, 0 walks, and 0 steals in 10 games. Obviously don’t panic and he’ll be fine, but it doesn’t look like he is going to take another step with his plate approach and power this year if the early returns are any indication.
7) Trea Turner LAD, SS, 28.9 – Same old Trea with a .316 BA, 1 homer, and 2 steals
8) Kyle Tucker HOU, OF, 25.2 – Surface stats are trash (.530 OPS). Underlying numbers are class (.450 xwOBA).
9) Ozzie Albies ATL, 2B, 25.3 – 9.3% BB% (6.9% in 2021). Walk rate was really the only flaw in his profile, so he could be maturing at the plate.
10) Luis Robert CHW, OF, 24.8 – Contact rates are even better than last year with a 8.1% K% and 21.4% whiff%. I already trusted he was elite, but this start is just locking it in. Ignore the .194 BA, and focus on the .342 xBA.
11) Wander Franco TBR, SS, 21.1 – Power/speed upside hasn’t popped yet with 0 homers, 3.5 degree launch angle and 1 steal, but real life upside is firing on all cylinders with a .381 BA and .431 xwOBA.
12) Jose Ramirez CLE, 3B, 29.6 – The baseball must be looking like a beach ball for Ramirez with a 5% K% and 1.386 OPS
13) Bryce Harper PHI, OF, 29.5 – Hasn’t gotten hot yet, but is still putting in work with a .819 OPS
Shadow13) Shohei Ohtani LAA, DH only/Weekly Leagues, 27.9
14) Rafael Devers BOS, 3B, 25.5 – Continues to smash the ball with a 91.8 MPH EV and 12.3 degree launch angle. The perfect recipe for average and power.
15) Yordan Alvarez HOU, OF, 24.9 – Socked 2 homers yesterday and now has a silly 100.6 MPH EV with a .551 xwOBA.
16) Corbin Burnes MIL, RHP, 27.5 – Control wasn’t great in his first start with 3 walks in 5 IP, causing some concern he might not be able to keep up the 2021 improvement in that area, but his 2nd start eased those concerns with 1 walk in 7 IP
17) Mike Trout LAA, OF, 30.8 – Hit on the hand with a pitch. X-Rays were negative and he will likely miss a few games. Let’s hope “miss a few games” doesn’t turn into an IL stint later in the week when the hand doesn’t heal as quickly as they hope.
18) Manny Machado SD, 3B, 29.9 – 3 steals and a .987 OPS in 12 games
19) Francisco Lindor NYM, SS, 28.4 – Surface stats and underlying numbers are both popping. He’s back.
By Michael Halpern (@MichaelCHalpern)
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@DynastyHalp)