Updated Rankings (June 8): Top 15 Third Basemen: Jake Lamb On The Rise, Shaw Joins Mix & More

by Eric Stashin (aka The Rotoprofessor)

We are just over two months into the season so there have obviously been changes to our rankings (which, we should all remember, are extremely subjective).  Who has shown signs of improving?  Who has struggled and thus has a cloudier outlook?  Let’s take a look at how things currently stand (Note: The number in parenthesis represents the player’s ranking in our previous rankings update):

1. Kris Bryant – Chicago Cubs (1)
2. Nolan Arenado – Colorado Rockies (2)
3. Josh Donaldson – Toronto Blue Jays (NR)
4. Manny Machado – Baltimore Orioles (3)
5. Anthony Rendon – Washington Nationals (7)
6. Jake Lamb – Arizona Diamondbacks (13)
7. Kyle Seager – Seattle Mariners (5)
8. Miguel Sano – Minnesota Twins (NR)
9. Jose Ramirez – Cleveland Indians (6)
10. Ryon Healy – Oakland A’s (NR)
11. Travis Shaw – Milwaukee Brewers (NR)
12. Matt Carpenter – St. Louis Cardinals (4)
13. Eugenio Suarez – Cincinnati Reds (11)
14. Jedd Gyorko – St. Louis Cardinals (NR)
15. Evan Longoria – Tampa Bay Rays (10)

Dropped Off Rankings:

• Todd Frazier – Chicago White Sox (9)
• Alex Bregman – Houston Astros (12)
• Maikel Franco – Philadelphia Phillies (14)
• Jonathan Villar – Milwaukee Brewers (15)

Currently on the DL:

• Justin Turner – Los Angeles Dodgers (8)
• Adrian Beltre – Texas Rangers (NR)

Thoughts:

• Manny Machado simply hasn’t been very good this season, hitting .219 (he does at least have 12 HR and 27 RBI). The problem appears to be a lack of line drives (12.1%), though his 41.2% Hard% places him among the Top 25 in the league.  Expect the line drives, and with it his BABIP (.229), to rise in short order.  While it’s easy to knock him down slightly on the rankings, don’t make the mistake of dropping him too far.  The upside is there and he’s going to be among the elite.
• Remember Josh Donaldson only recently returned from the DL (which is why he wasn’t on the rankings the last time around), so it’s fair to expect him to improve on both his line drive rate (13.0%) and SwStr% (13.8%) as he settles back in and gets his timing down. He’s one of the elite, and is going to be putting up those types of numbers again before long.
• We can’t keep Miguel Sano suppressed on these rankings, but as we’ve said before there are fair concerns about his ability to maintain his current marks. He’s swinging and missing far too much (17.1% O-Swing%) and is maintaining an unsustainable BABIP (.467).  It wouldn’t be surprising to see him hit closer to .220 the rest of the way, as opposed to his current .304 mark, so while the power is for real we have to keep it in perspective.  There’s a good chance the next time we look at these rankings Sano sees a big drop.
• The question hanging over Kyle Seager is, “Where has the power gone?” It’s a fair question, though the fly balls are there (maybe too much so, at 47.6%) and he should improve upon his current 7.5% HR/FB.  A model of consistency in ’16, things should pick up before long.

Make sure to check out all of our updated rankings: