As we rapidly close in on the approaching season-long Fantasy Baseball playoffs, now feels like as good a time as ever to reassess the standpoint of our 2023 scoring leaders. The players noted below likely have their fantasy managers smiling ear to ear, as many of these guys will have their teams perched atop their league standings. Stars have continued to reign supreme for a reason, and the 2023 season has proven no different. The Top-7 hitter and pitcher fantasy rankings given standard ESPN scoring are as follows:
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Fantasy Baseball Depth Chart Review
Hitters:
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Ronald Acuna Jr. (RF,DH – ATL) (833.5 FPTS)
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Freddie Freeman (1B – LAD) (727.0 FPTS)
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Shohei Ohtani (SP,DH – LAA) (721.0 FPTS)
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Mookie Betts (2B,RF,SS – LAD) (694.0 FPTS)
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Matt Olson (1B – ATL) (664.0 FPTS)
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Marcus Semien (2B,SS – TEX) (651.0 FPTS)
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Kyle Tucker (RF – HOU) (650.0 FPTS)
Pitchers:
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Spencer Strider (SP,RP – ATL) (722.0 FPTS)
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Zac Gallen (SP – ARI) (625.5 FPTS)
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Gerrit Cole (SP – NYY) (624.5 FPTS)
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Pablo Lopez (SP – MIN) (601.0 FPTS)
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Luis Castillo (SP – SEA) (597.0 FPTS)
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Kevin Gausman (SP – TOR) (584.5 FPTS)
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Blake Snell (SP – SD) (564.0 FPTS)
One takeaway for the hitting leaders is that they are almost all exclusively on the best teams in baseball. As a matter of fact, four of the top five hitting leaders fall between just two teams (Braves, Dodgers) and are followed by two additional powerhouses in the Rangers and Astros.
The high-end team factor is not nearly as prominent for pitchers, as there is a much wider range given teams such as the Diamondbacks, Yankees, and Mariners all representing within the top five. The question for 2024 fantasy drafts might be whether or not the ideal strategy is simply to pick positional players from teams that are expected to be at the top of their divisions in obvious high-scoring opportunity environments.
All that said, I have continued interest in looking toward transactions and depth chart fluctuations for the remainder of this season for both real-life and fantasy purposes. Let’s take another look at some recent/upcoming moves over the past seven days and going forward.
Masyn Winn (SS – STL)
This past weekend provided a number of top prospect call-ups, highlighted by the No. 1 guy in the St. Louis organization, and the 32nd overall player in the MLB’s top-100, shortstop Masyn Winn. Winn is just 21 years old and was not likely to find a path to the majors this season, with an initial ETA to the bigs of 2024. The youngster, however, forced the Cardinals’ hand by producing exceptionally in the minors and being rewarded with his first taste of big-league action.
Winn had been scorching over his last month of minor-league ball, cranking 10 homers in that timespan while maintaining a season-long .288 batting average and .834 OPS. He also tacked on 17 stolen bases for good measure.
Since his call-up on Friday, Winn has just three hits in 14 at-bats to kick off his career, but it is looking like he will see regular starts at shortstop for the remainder of the season, especially with the Cardinals having nothing to play for. He has the profile for fantasy relevance and could be an extremely useful pickup for managers looking for some extra juice as the playoffs near.
Byron Buxton (DH,OF – MIN)
A repeat member of the Depth Chart Review series this Summer, Byron Buxton is approaching another big-league return following his most recent IL-stint. Buxton went down with a right hamstring injury on August 4th, but he should be embarking on a rehab assignment within the next handful of days.
Mentioning Buxton here makes sense for a few different reasons. Reason number one is that the 29-year-old veteran has performed so poorly this season that fantasy managers have surely started dropping him to waivers in deeper formats. If that is the case, he needs to be picked up and stashed immediately.
When healthy, Buxton can still provide ample value with his bat, as has been seen over the past four campaigns. Additionally, the Twins remain in the thick of the NL Central playoff race, leading the Cleveland Guardians by 6.0 games as of now. There will be no easing Buxton back in once he returns as Minnesota makes their push toward October baseball.
Banking on a healthy Byron Buxton is never an easy feat, but there is little risk to securing a guy that still possesses the upside that he does in the heart of an MLB lineup. He is a player I would feel comfortable having as a bench option in the closing weeks.
Parker Meadows (OF – DET)
Another recent callup to take a look at is Detroit’s Parker Meadows, better known as the younger brother of Austin Meadows, also of the Tigers. Drafted way back in 2018, the 23-year-old outfielder worked his way up to a major league opportunity this August.
Following a rough start to his minor league career, Meadows picked up the pace admirably in 2022, raising his batting average by 60 points and finishing the year with a .270/.346/.473 line with 20 home runs and 17 stolen bases. His call-up this past weekend comes following continued production in 2023, where he had compiled another 19 long balls and 19 steals across 113 games.
Now up with Detroit, Meadows could easily duplicate this production as a plus-power and speed athlete operating for a Tigers’ team that will want to see what they have in their younger players. Meadows should see regular playing time going forward, and he has the tools to be a fantasy asset over the final month-plus of the campaign. In total, he has the theoretical talent and upside to even be better than his brother Austin one day.
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