Fantasy Baseball Rest Of Season Rankings: Mid-Year Updates

The All-Star break offers us fantasy baseball players a chance to breathe and reassess the battlefield before us. Pitching remains as volatile as ever thanks to midseason rule changes, the next generation is fighting uphill after missing minor-league development in 2020, and Shohei Ohtani has blossomed into a full-fledged superstar.

Instead of my weekly top 101 starting pitcher and relief pitcher rank pieces, I figured an overall Rest of Season update through the top 360 players would be more helpful. I've tried to put in currently injured players where I'd feel comfortable taking them in a redraft for the second half now, but intel and diagnoses change by the minute.

To be clear, these Rest of Season ranks are geared towards traditional 5x5 leagues. I'll talk about notable shifts and things I'm looking towards in the second half before hitting you with the full "Top 360 RoS" table. Feel free to scroll on by to hit the juicy list.

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Rest of Season Rankings Analysis

The 2021 season presents several unique wrinkles thanks to 2020's insanity, with seven-inning doubleheaders and Manfred runners grinding down our beautiful game. While I am in the "Hate It" camp, the question regarding innings workloads is genuine and will start to rear its head in the second half of the season. Most teams likely take an approach similar to what Brewers manager Craig Counsell laid out earlier when he said "For starters, I just think the tops were in the 80s, so we’re going to tack on 100 innings. There are some relievers who will have their innings tripled" per MLB.com.

For what it's worth, Brandon Woodruff is 40 frames above his 73 IP last year. Corbin Burnes is only +28. Freddy Peralta is nearly 70 innings up after working 29.1 IP out of the 'pen last year, making him one to watch closely. How far do they push him? Take stock of your arms and how their team is approaching workloads, especially if they're a playoff contender. Phantom injured-list stints will surely come in droves. Maybe we see Chris Flexen, who threw 113.1 IP in the KBO last year, lead the Majors in innings pitched this year.

With COVID-19 taking away formal minor leagues last year, we also have to be more forgiving regarding young talent being called up. I know 2020's shortened sprint season narrowed our vision and required some impatience, but I've seen plenty of cases where folks seemed far too hasty in letting someone go. Both Alek Manoah and Logan Gilbert have started shoving after early speed bumps. Tony Gonsolin was dropped in many leagues after five walks in his 2021 debut, with no one respecting the process of shaking IL rust off.

Aside from the narrow view regarding pitcher workloads and the IL stints that we've slogged through with them, there are also many questions regarding injured stars who should return in the second half. I have teams waiting on Mike Trout, Adalberto Mondesi, Eloy Jimenez, and Luis Robert. Where your RoS rank of them falls is likely tied to your risk tolerance and how aggressive you need to be in the standings. Prior to your league's trade deadline, don't be afraid to trade for injured studs in the hopes that they return with no setbacks and provide a boost that no one else can supply.

Speaking of trade deadlines, it is important to be aware of likely closers who are dealt and those that might rise into vacated spots. Also, those of you in AL- and NL-only leagues will monitor whether someone like Kris Bryant is dealt across leagues. Most of us are concerned with scenarios such as Pittsburgh dealing Richard Rodriguez, Texas flipping Ian Kennedy, Minnesota dealing Taylor Rogers, Miami flipping Yimi Garcia, and Colorado trading Daniel Bard. Keep insurance policies close as the deadline approaches!

With all of that in mind, here is my overall top 360 players list for the rest of the 2021 season. We've seen plenty of reasons to believe in new players or substantially drop who we thought of as safe players, but the first half is in the past. Have we been disappointed in Juan Soto and Mookie Betts so far? Yes, of course, but they possess a ceiling that few can boast. I won't be the one dropping them terribly far, but I'm sure you can find others who will!

 

Mariano's Rest of Season Rankings - Top 360

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