According to MLB.com, wRC+, or Weighted Runs Created Plus, “takes the statistic Runs Created and adjusts that number to account for important external factors — like ballpark or era. It’s adjusted, so a wRC+ of 100 is league average and 150 would be 50 percent above league average.”
The importance of looking at wRC+ in fantasy baseball is that it levels the playing field for all players so that fantasy managers can compare one player to another regardless of ballpark or team context.
Below are the top three players in wRC+ – essentially, they are the best run creators in baseball at the moment.
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Fantasy Baseball Stats to Know
Yandy Diaz (1B/3B – TB) 188 wRC+
Yandy Diaz is already having a career year with 10 home runs, 33 runs, 24 RBI, and a .321 AVG. His home run total is his third highest homer total in seven seasons, and he has played in just 39 games so far this year:
The Tampa Bay Rays changed their hitting philosophy for this season, focusing more on hitting better pitches and controlling the zone. So it is no surprise to see that the Rays lead in home runs, runs, RBI, and AVG. A number of Rays players have seen drastic improvements at the plate this season, including Diaz.
He has a career high 12.9% barrel rate and a career high 58.6% HardHit rate, and has increased his flyball rate up to 36%. This has resulted in a 23% HR/FB rate, which is more than double his career HR/FB rate. Normally that would seem like an outlier, but with the context of the new team approach and how much harder Diaz has hit the ball this season, the added home runs should come as no surprise.
He has seen a dip in his overall contact rate and line drive rate, and his K% has gotten worse than last season, so his .330 BABIP and .321 AVG may experience some regression over the rest of the season, but his production should continue.
According to his league-leading 188 wRC+, Diaz is 88% better at run producing than the average player, and should be highly valued going forward.
Brent Rooker (OF – OAK) 186 wRC+
Brent Rooker has been a pleasant surprise this season, racking up 11 home runs, 19 runs, 29 RBI, one steal, and a .298 AVG. Across 270 PAs for Minnesota, San Diego, and Kansas City from 2020-2022, Rooker had 10 homers, 30 runs, 23 RBI, and a .200 AVG. It is easy to say that his performance this season is a fluke, but he has improved in ways that support his production.
Some contributing factors to his 186 wRC+, which is second in baseball, include improvements to his walk and strikeout rates, barrel and HardHit rates, and his chase rate – all career bests. In fact, his 14.3% BB rate is 17th best among qualified hitters, his 20.5% barrel rate is fourth best, and his 53.4% HardHit rate is 12th best.
Critics of his performance this season may point to a discrepancy between his .321 season BABIP and .285 career BABIP, but with his hard contact, a 40% pull rate, and a 21% LD rate, he likely can sustain a BABIP higher than his career rate, and keep his AVG up.
Rooker has also made adjustments to increase his launch angle, which has led to a career high 44.3% FB rate and an increase in his rate of home runs, like this one:
Rooker is the real deal, and is worth holding onto – do not treat him like a sell high candidate.
Ronald Acuna Jr. (OF – ATL) 175 wRC+
Ronald Acuna Jr. has the third best wRC+ in baseball thanks to nine home runs, 37 runs, 25 RBI, 17 SB, and a .344 AVG. He leads baseball in runs and is second in steals and AVG.
If the season ended today, Acuna’s AVG would be a career high by 51 points, due in part to a career high BABIP, but also thanks to a career best 14% walk rate and a career best 80.9% contact rate. The BABIP is arguably unsustainable – Acuna has just a 14.9% LD rate, a major contributing factor to BABIP – and projections anticipate he will hit closer to .290 over the rest of the season. So while his AVG may regress some, his improvements to his K% and contact% should keep his AVG high.
Acuna has been a hard hitter over his career, and this year is no different. His 14.2% barrel rate is 25th among qualified hitters, his 53% HardHit rate is tied for 14th with Adolis Garcia, his 94.6 MPH average exit velocity is sixth best, and his 116.7 maxEV is tied with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Shohei Ohtani for third best.
His elite hard contact this season has led to an increase in HR/FB rate from last season, now nearly identical to his career HR/FB rate. He is on pace for 35 home runs over 162 games, but likely will end up closer to where projections have him – around 21-26 home runs during the rest of the season.
Acuna is proving once again why he is among the best in the game.
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