Has a new Fantasy Baseball King been crowned? When it comes to fantasy baseball player rankings over the last few years, we have seen the likes of Ronald Acuna, Christian Yelich, Mike Trout, and Trea Turner sit on the throne as the top overall fantasy player. We may now be witnessing the passing of the torch though, as José Ramírez is making it very difficult for Trea Turner to keep his grasp on the crown.

Ramirez recently agreed to a five-year, $124 million contract extension to remain in Cleveland. This is the best third baseman in baseball and becoming one of the best all-around players in the game. He is off to a roaring start and is currently averaging 36 home runs, 107 RBIs, 28 stolen bases, and 110 runs scored with a .918 OPS for every 162 games played since the start of 2017.

Ramirez is only 29 years old and is in the middle of the prime years of his career. With a slash of .266/.355/.538 with 36 home runs and 26 stolen bases in 2021, JRam could crush those numbers in 2022. It’s only been 11 games in 2022 but he is slashing .429/.479/.881 with a 1.360 OPS and four home runs (two of them grand slams already). Ramirez also joined Jose Altuve as the only player's in the league to hit 30+ home runs with a strikeout rate below 14%- a blueprint that the two players sketched that is now on the top of scouting lists. 

 


Let’s compare the MLB Percentile rankings of Ramirez with Trea Turner – the top-ranked fantasy player of all drafts in 2022 (courtesy baseballsavant.mlb.com)

 

 

Chart, diagram Description automatically generated
Diagram Description automatically generated

 

 

 

Diagram Description automatically generated
A picture containing chart Description automatically generated

RED means that you are in the 85th percentile or above. Ramirez is clearly the King compared to Turner when it comes to advanced metrics. Of course, these are just a portion of statistics that you can compare but when you have a rare hitter with 30-plus home runs and 25-plus steals in his toolbox you have a special player. Ramirez has an OPS that has topped 140 in four of the past five years and when you are striking out less than 15 percent you become even more of a special player. Do you need more convincing? Well, he’s a switch-hitter that has two different years with more extra-base hits than strikeouts plus three 20/20 seasons. His contact levels are elite (87.5% of swings) due to outstanding barrel control and his 50.5% pull rate is the second-highest in all of baseball.

Look at Ramirez’ Percentile Rankings since his rookie year, RED is elite:

 

Table Description automatically generated with medium confidence

 

Ramirez is the only player in baseball to finish in the Top 6 four times in the last five years and three times in the Top 3 of the AL MVP voting. Very few players can carry an entire team but Ramirez comes pretty close. His clutch hitting is great and adds that with his versatility and patience while in the batter’s box and you have a player that is hard to get out. Hard to get out means more time on base which coincides with fantasy greatness. 

You heard it here first – José Ramírez will be the top-ranked fantasy player in 2023 drafts. 

Related Links: