Rest of Season Fantasy Baseball Rankings: Cleveland Rocks!

Looking back on my preseason rankings, I had two Cleveland Guardians hitters inside my overall top 150. One was Jose Ramirez. Not exactly a bold call on my part. The other was Franmil Reyes. My third highest-ranked Guardian hitter was Myles Straw. If you told me back then that Reyes would be so bad that he would be jettisoned out of town and that Straw would not even register as a top-300 player to this point in the year, I probably would have expected Cleveland to be fighting to fend off Detroit and Kansas City for third place in the American League Central Division. Instead, they lead the division as we approach the three-quarter turn of the season. While Ramirez has been his usual dominant self, several hitters have taken major steps forward this year.

Guardians of the Fantasy Galaxy

Cleveland’s double-play duo of Andres Gimenez and Amed Rosario has been outstanding. Rosario has proven that 2020 was the outlier, producing a very similar stat line to his 2019 and 2021 campaigns. He does not rank inside the top-20 in any Roto category this year, but his contributions across the board have made him a top-50 hitter to this point. Gimenez fell short of high expectations last season. Because of that, he fell down draft boards this season. His ADP was well beyond pick 200 in almost all formats. I barely had him inside my overall top-300 when the season began. But Gimenez bounced back with a season that has caused all post-hype sleeper truthers to rejoice. He enters the weekend as a top-30 fantasy hitter and top-50 player overall. Gimenez is currently hitting .310 and has an outside chance at a 20/20 season.

Two hitters outside my top-400 overall heading into the season were Steven Kwan and Josh Naylor. Both have posted top-100 hitter value through the middle of August. Kwan has settled seamlessly into the leadoff spot. Over the last 30 days, Kwan leads the league in hits, is tied for fourth in runs, and tied for third in stolen bases. He and Gimenez are both top-10 fantasy hitters over that span. Kwan’s power is non-existent, but fantasy managers are not complaining. Naylor was barely on the fantasy radar in early April. I was among the crowd that expected Bobby Bradley to emerge this season. That was as big a swing and a miss as most of Bradley’s at-bats resulted in. Naylor’s numbers do not jump off the page, but he is a top-100 hitter thus far this year and has been a steady force in the middle of the Guardians lineup.

Can Cleveland Keep it Going?

All the Cleveland hitters mentioned above should be locked into lineups in all leagues. I have both Gimenez and Rosario inside my overall top-100 in this week’s rankings. Kwan and Naylor are inside my top-100 hitters moving forward. I expect their production to continue, and they could be league winners down the stretch. The next couple of weeks will provide some tough matchups, but after that, their schedule gets much softer. Barring any postponements, the Guardians will play 29 games from Labor Day through the end of the regular season. Here are their opponents in those final 29 games with their team ERA and rank as well as their SIERA and rank:

Kansas City – 9 games; 4.68 ERA (27th in MLB), 4.45 SIERA (30th in MLB)
Minnesota – 8 games; 3.97 ERA (18th), 3.87 SIERA (17th)
Texas – 3 games; 4.09 ERA (22nd), 4.07 SIERA (23rd)
Chicago White Sox – 3 games; 4.01 ERA (19th), 3.84 SIERA (15th)
LA Angels – 3 games; 3.91 ERA (16th), 3.90 SIERA (18th)
Tampa Bay – 3 games; 3.39 ERA (4th), 3.56 SIERA (4th)

Only the Rays provide a matchup to consider avoiding over the final 30 days of the regular season. And more than half of Cleveland’s games will be played against teams out of the playoff hunt. Managers who were savvy enough to uncover these hidden gems in the spring should continue to benefit down the homestretch of the fantasy season.

Rest of Season Fantasy Baseball Rankings