The Z Files: My Top 350 Rest-of-Season Hitters

The Z Files: My Top 350 Rest-of-Season Hitters

This article is part of our The Z Files series.

I'll admit, this season's trade deadline crushed me. I don't think it's a secret I keep my own projections and updates. My routine is to spend Thursday and Friday reviewing playing time.

Normally come trade deadline, I'm able to get a head start during the week, updating as deals are announced. However, this season the reporting of deals coincided with my updates, so I wasn't able to get ahead, plus it took way longer to go through all 30 teams' hitting and pitching grids than usual. 

File this next one under my problem, not yours, but last week I pinch hit for friend and colleague Tristan Cockcroft on the ESPN Forecaster and the 10-day planner updates. After handing the keys back to him Monday, I took a deep breath and was looking forward to a day without seeing any spreadsheets.

Then it hit me. I completely spaced on last week's Z Files. I've been doing this since January of 2016 and sure, I've asked for a week off here and there, but I have never simply forgotten to do it.

Unfortunately, I did not have a worthy topic, so I decided to sleep on it.

Sometimes the answer is just staring you in the face. 

I just spent the better part of a week scrubbing playing time to generate rest of the season rankings. Do I have it right? Heck no. Did I miss a move or two? Yeah, probably. Even so, It struck me sharing my rankings would make

I'll admit, this season's trade deadline crushed me. I don't think it's a secret I keep my own projections and updates. My routine is to spend Thursday and Friday reviewing playing time.

Normally come trade deadline, I'm able to get a head start during the week, updating as deals are announced. However, this season the reporting of deals coincided with my updates, so I wasn't able to get ahead, plus it took way longer to go through all 30 teams' hitting and pitching grids than usual. 

File this next one under my problem, not yours, but last week I pinch hit for friend and colleague Tristan Cockcroft on the ESPN Forecaster and the 10-day planner updates. After handing the keys back to him Monday, I took a deep breath and was looking forward to a day without seeing any spreadsheets.

Then it hit me. I completely spaced on last week's Z Files. I've been doing this since January of 2016 and sure, I've asked for a week off here and there, but I have never simply forgotten to do it.

Unfortunately, I did not have a worthy topic, so I decided to sleep on it.

Sometimes the answer is just staring you in the face. 

I just spent the better part of a week scrubbing playing time to generate rest of the season rankings. Do I have it right? Heck no. Did I miss a move or two? Yeah, probably. Even so, It struck me sharing my rankings would make a nice makeup column. 

So here we go. Today I'll reveal my top-350 batters through the rest of the season, and later in the week I'll post my top-200 pitchers.

It's important to note these are different than the site's ROS rankings. That said, differences can be instructive, especially since I'll happily address questions in the comments below.

These are based on 15-team, standard 5x5 roto scoring. The playing time adjustments were done manually and match up logically with each player's remaining schedule and my best guess at how much they'll play.

As is the case with any rankings, everything needs to be taken in context. It is poor form to "take one off the top" of draft rankings, since that ignores reading the room and roster construction. Here, team needs and place in the standings dictate the better player for your roster. If you're trying to make up ground, a lower-ranked player with a higher ceiling may be a better choice than someone ranked higher, but with limited upside.

Finally, these rankings are refreshed through Sunday's games.

Here you go. Again, please feel free to ask for clarification below.

1Vladimir Guerrero 
2Bo Bichette 
3Freddie Freeman 
4Juan Soto 
5Shohei Ohtani 
6Starling Marte 
7George Springer 
8Jose Ramirez 
9Jose Altuve 
10Mookie Betts 
11Cedric Mullins 
12Rafael Devers 
13Marcus Semien 
14Manny Machado 
15Yordan Alvarez 
16Trea Turner 
17Whit Merrifield 
18Kyle Tucker 
19Tim Anderson 
20Trevor Story 
21Bryce Harper 
22Matt Olson 
23Teoscar Hernandez 
24Ozzie Albies 
25Nick Castellanos 
26J.D. Martinez 
27Jose Abreu 
28Xander Bogaerts 
29Corey Seager 
30Bryan Reynolds 
31Jesse Winker 
32Eloy Jimenez 
33Adalberto Mondesi Jr. 
34Paul Goldschmidt 
35Salvador Perez 
36Christian Yelich 
37Aaron Judge 
38Austin Riley 
39Trey Mancini 
40Fernando Tatis 
41Chris Taylor 
42Nelson Cruz 
43Franmil Reyes 
44Carlos Correa 
45Ketel Marte 
46Max Muncy 
47Jean Segura 
48Austin Meadows 
49Cody Bellinger 
50Alex Bregman 
51J.T. Realmuto 
52Nolan Arenado 
53Javier Baez 
54Michael Brantley 
55Wander Franco 
56Mike Trout 
57Pete Alonso 
58Joey Votto 
59Jake Cronenworth 
60Will Smith 
61Brandon Lowe 
62DJ LeMahieu 
63Avisail Garcia 
64Willy Adames 
65Randy Arozarena 
66Raimel Tapia 
67Mitch Haniger 
68Eduardo Escobar 
69Jonathan India 
70Lourdes Gurriel 
71Yuli Gurriel 
72Trent Grisham 
73Luis Robert 
74Amed Rosario 
75Jonathan Schoop 
76Ryan Mountcastle 
77Joey Gallo 
78Kris Bryant 
79Austin Hays 
80Brendan Rodgers 
81Ryan McMahon 
82Rhys Hoskins 
83C.J. Cron 
84Tyler O'Neill 
85Randal Grichuk 
86Jared Walsh 
87Adolis Garcia 
88Daulton Varsho 
89Tommy Edman 
90Jorge Polanco 
91David Fletcher 
92Dansby Swanson 
93Christian Vazquez 
94Didi Gregorius 
95Mark Canha 
96Giancarlo Stanton 
97Alex Verdugo 
98Brandon Crawford 
99Robbie Grossman 
100Andrew Benintendi 
101Charlie Blackmon 
102Jesus Aguilar 
103Jeff McNeil 
104Yoan Moncada 
105Justin Turner 
106Willson Contreras 
107Kolten Wong 
108Dominic Smith 
109Gleyber Torres 
110Carlos Santana 
111Nathaniel Lowe 
112AJ Pollock 
113Eugenio Suarez 
114Jarren Duran 
115Buster Posey 
116Miguel Rojas 
117Myles Straw 
118Adam Frazier 
119Eric Haase 
120Mike Yastrzemski 
121Byron Buxton 
122Mike Moustakas 
123Josh Rojas 
124Wil Myers 
125Andrew McCutchen 
126Travis d'Arnaud 
127Josh Bell 
128Dylan Carlson 
129Tommy Pham 
130Alec Bohm 
131Hunter Renfroe 
132Enrique Hernandez 
133Gary Sanchez 
134Brandon Nimmo 
135Anthony Santander 
136Anthony Rizzo 
137Jose Iglesias 
138Brandon Belt 
139Jonathan Villar 
140Eric Hosmer 
141Oscar Mercado 
142Ke'Bryan Hayes 
143Jarred Kelenic 
144Max Kepler 
145Rodolfo Castro 
146Mitch Garver 
147James McCann 
148Kyle Seager 
149Lorenzo Cain 
150Matt Chapman 
151Wilmer Flores 
152Andres Gimenez 
153Willians Astudillo 
154Austin Nola 
155Brian Anderson 
156Harrison Bader 
157Joey Wendle 
158Kyle Schwarber 
159Kyle Higashioka 
160Edward Olivares 
161Gio Urshela 
162Luis Urias 
163Ty France 
164Sean Murphy 
165Isiah Kiner-Falefa 
166Rafael Ortega 
167Jazz Chisholm 
168Cesar Hernandez 
169Eddie Rosario 
170Patrick Wisdom 
171Sam Hilliard 
172Jacob Stallings 
173Paul DeJong 
174Yadier Molina 
175Mike Zunino 
176Dylan Moore 
177Omar Narvaez 
178David Peralta 
179Jeimer Candelario 
180Colin Moran 
181Michael Conforto 
182Justin Upton 
183Pedro Severino 
184Alejandro Kirk 
185Carson Kelly 
186Dom Nunez 
187Jake Fraley 
188Yasmani Grandal 
189Josh Donaldson 
190Bobby Bradley 
191Christian Walker 
192Jorge Alfaro 
193Harold Ramirez 
194Jonah Heim 
195Tyler Naquin 
196Maikel Franco 
197Tyler Stephenson 
198Elias Diaz 
199Luis Arraez 
200Manuel Margot 
201Joc Pederson 
202Yandy Diaz 
203Pavin Smith 
204J.D. Davis 
205Darin Ruf 
206Asdrubal Cabrera 
207Nico Hoerner 
208J.P. Crawford 
209Cal Raleigh 
210Michael Taylor 
211Miguel Sano 
212Andrelton Simmons 
213Wilson Ramos 
214Ramon Urias 
215Kole Calhoun 
216Luis Torrens 
217Kevin Kiermaier 
218Keibert Ruiz 
219Adam Duvall 
220Ryan Jeffers 
221Derek Hill 
222Kurt Suzuki 
223Sam Huff 
224Chas McCormick 
225Joey Bart 
226Ian Happ 
227Rougned Odor 
228Max Stassi 
229Tucker Barnhart 
230Jorge Mateo 
231Zack Collins 
232Alex Dickerson 
233Willi Castro 
234Austin Barnes 
235Donovan Solano 
236Francisco Mejia 
237Corey Dickerson 
238Martin Maldonado 
239Leury Garcia 
240Cavan Biggio 
241Niko Goodrum 
242Jose Trevino 
243Abraham Toro 
244Yan Gomes 
245Trevor Larnach 
246Victor Caratini 
247John Hicks 
248Nick Ahmed 
249Elvis Andrus 
250Odubel Herrera 
251Yermin Mercedes 
252Tommy La Stella 
253Miguel Cabrera 
254Andrew Vaughn 
255Evan Longoria 
256Roberto Perez 
257Nick Senzel 
258Ryan Zimmerman 
259Akil Baddoo 
260Adley Rutschman 
261Aledmys Diaz 
262Danny Jansen 
263Tom Murphy 
264Kevin Pillar 
265Riley Adams 
266Jason Castro 
267Andrew Knizner 
268Rowdy Tellez 
269Jesus Sanchez 
270Matt Duffy 
271Stephen Vogt 
272Ji-Man Choi 
273Reese McGuire 
274Brandon Marsh 
275Hunter Dozier 
276Carter Kieboom 
277Jakson Reetz 
278Kyle Lewis 
279David Bote 
280Cam Gallagher 
281Robinson Chirinos 
282Tomas Nido 
283Tyrone Taylor 
284Manny Pina 
285Ben Gamel 
286Austin Slater 
287Kevan Smith 
288Kevin Plawecki 
289Gregory Polanco 
290Ha-Seong Kim 
291Tres Barrera 
292Brad Miller 
293Kevin Newman 
294Christian Arroyo 
295Alex Avila 
296Austin Hedges 
297Alex Jackson 
298Garrett Stubbs 
299Yonny Hernandez 
300Luis Garcia 
301Jo Adell 
302Mitch Moreland 
303Brent Rooker 
304Curt Casali 
305Rene Rivera 
306Taylor Gushue 
307Andrew Knapp 
308Austin Romine 
309Welington Castillo 
310Rob Brantly 
311Kyle Farmer 
312Jed Lowrie 
313Michael Perez 
314Shea Langeliers 
315Ronaldo Hernandez 
316Grayson Greiner 
317Raudy Read 
318Christian Bethancourt 
319Chance Sisco 
320Bradley Zimmer 
321Brian Navarreto 
322Mario Feliciano 
323Jake Rogers 
324Jacob Nottingham 
325Francisco Lindor 
326Chad Wallach 
327Jon Berti 
328Austin Wynns 
329Chris Herrmann 
330Tucupita Marcano 
331Bryan De La Cruz 
332Aramis Garcia 
333Meibrys Viloria 
334Hoy Park 
335Isaac Paredes 
336Josh Harrison 
337Austin Allen 
338Chadwick Tromp 
339Patrick Mazeika 
340Alcides Escobar 
341Tomas Telis 
342Sebastian Rivero 
343DJ Stewart 
344Seby Zavala 
345Ryan Lavarnway 
346Nick Solak 
347Victor Robles 
348Jose Briceno 
349Carlos Perez 
350Jose Godoy 

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Todd Zola
Todd has been writing about fantasy baseball since 1997. He won NL Tout Wars and Mixed LABR in 2016 as well as a multi-time league winner in the National Fantasy Baseball Championship. Todd is now setting his sights even higher: The Rotowire Staff League. Lord Zola, as he's known in the industry, won the 2013 FSWA Fantasy Baseball Article of the Year award and was named the 2017 FSWA Fantasy Baseball Writer of the Year. Todd is a five-time FSWA awards finalist.
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