Rest of Season Fantasy Baseball Rankings: ROS Outfield Reinforcements

The biggest news from the past week was the loss of Ronald Acuna to another ACL tear. The Braves star and consensus preseason number-one pick in fantasy baseball will miss the remainder of the 2024 season. It is a brutal blow in a season that has already seen plenty of major injuries impact our beloved game. However, not all hope is lost. Several prominent outfielders returned to action this week, with another on the verge of doing so. Here are my thoughts on these players and what you can expect from them going forward. See where I have them slotted in my latest rest-of-season fantasy baseball rankings.

Outfielders Returning to Action

Luis Robert Jr.

We will start with a player who has not quite made it back to the Big Leagues yet, though it is seemingly just a matter of time. All indications point to Tuesday for the return of Luis Robert to the Chicago White Sox. Robert has been out since April 5 with a hip injury. Robert was a third-round pick in March in 12-team leagues on the strength of a 38-homer, 20-steal season last year. I would not expect him to run nearly as much as he did last season. And I want to see him get a few games back under his belt before proclaiming him a top-50 player. But he will be a must-start in all formats and should provide a much-needed boost to a White Sox offense that sorely needs it. Chicago has scored 47 fewer runs than any other MLB team so far this season.

Lane Thomas

I was very high on Lane Thomas coming into this season. He got off to a horrific start, especially when placed against the backdrop of his breakout 2023 campaign. Thomas hit just .184 in 23 games before missing over a month due to an MCL sprain in his knee. The injury was a double whammy because Thomas’ 11 stolen bases were the only saving grace before his injury. Could he maintain that type of pace upon his return? Early returns upon his return have been positive. Thomas has stolen four bases in six games since coming back from the Injured List. Perhaps even more promising is his .370 on-base percentage in that span. He will never reach base at that clip for a full season. But he proved last season that he does not have to to be a top-30 fantasy outfielder.

Steven Kwan

Steven Kwan was one of the early stars of the season before missing three weeks due to a hamstring injury. Kwan was hitting .353 with 28 runs scored in 32 games before suffering the injury. He had even shown some pop, hitting three home runs. Kwan had hit just 11 homers in 305 career games coming into the season. He returned to the Guardians lineup on Friday and did not appear to miss a beat. Kwan collected three this and drew a walk in a 7-1 Cleveland victory. If Kwan can truly pick up where he left off, he could be a speedy version of Luis Arraez. I still have Arraez higher in my ROS rankings for now because I want to see Kwan play a few games before making any declarations. But Kwan could be poised to move his way up the rankings in the coming weeks.

TJ Friedl

TJ Friedl was a popular sleeper in fantasy circles before missing the first six weeks of the season with a fractured wrist. He returned to the lineup in early May, but that was short-lived. Friedl suffered a fractured thumb after being hit by a pitch on May 12. Cincinnati activated Friedl on Wednesday and immediately inserted him as their leadoff hitter against right-handed pitchers. Friedl will not lead off against left-handed pitchers, but hitting in front of the likes of Elly De La Cruz and Spencer Steer most nights should lead to solid fantasy production for the 28-year-old. This is another instance where I want to exercise caution for now concerning this week’s rankings, especially with Friedl already experiencing multiple injuries to his hands this season. However, even if his power does not return, he should score lots of runs and steal plenty of bases going forward.

Rest of Season Fantasy Baseball Rankings

RANK	PLAYER	TEAM	POS
1	Bobby Witt Jr.	KC	SS
2	Shohei Ohtani	LAD	DH
3	Kyle Tucker	HOU	OF
4	Mookie Betts	LAD	2B/SS/ OF
5	Juan Soto	NYY	OF
6	Aaron Judge	NYY	OF
7	Fernando Tatis Jr.	SD	OF
8	Jose Ramirez	CLE	3B
9	Yordan Alvarez	HOU	OF
10	Freddie Freeman	LAD	1B
11	Gunnar Henderson	BAL	SS/3B
12	Zack Wheeler	PHI	SP
13	Elly De La Cruz	CIN	SS/3B
14	Rafael Devers	BOS	3B
15	Bryce Harper	PHI	1B
16	Julio Rodriguez	SEA	OF
17	Matt Olson	ATL	1B
18	Corey Seager	TEX	SS
19	Austin Riley	ATL	3B
20	Corbin Burnes	BAL	SP
21	Pete Alonso	NYM	1B
22	Tarik Skubal	DET	SP
23	Vladimir Guerrero Jr.	TOR	1B
24	Pablo Lopez	MIN	SP
25	Marcus Semien	TEX	2B
26	Michael Harris II	ATL	OF
27	Corbin Carroll	ARI	OF
28	Ozzie Albies	ATL	2B
29	Yoshinobu Yamamoto	LAD	SP
30	Francisco Lindor	NYM	SS
31	Tyler Glasnow	LAD	SP
32	Freddy Peralta	MIL	SP
33	George Kirby	SEA	SP
34	CJ Abrams	WSH	SS
35	Luis Castillo	SEA	SP
36	Aaron Nola	PHI	SP
37	Joe Ryan	MIN	SP
38	Jose Altuve	HOU	2B
39	Kevin Gausman	TOR	SP
40	Max Fried	ATL	SP
41	Logan Gilbert	SEA	SP
42	Chris Sale	ATL	SP
43	Bo Bichette	TOR	SS
44	Jazz Chisholm Jr.	MIA	OF
45	Emmanuel Clase	CLE	RP
46	Dylan Cease	SD	SP
47	Josh Hader	HOU	RP
48	Adolis Garcia	TEX	OF
49	Josh Naylor	CLE	1B
50	Christian Yelich	MIL	OF
51	Marcell Ozuna	ATL	DH
52	Adley Rutschman	BAL	C
53	Framber Valdez	HOU	SP
54	Ketel Marte	ARI	2B
55	Logan Webb	SF	SP
56	Kyle Schwarber	PHI	OF
57	Manny Machado	SD	3B
58	Andres Gimenez	CLE	2B
59	Cole Ragans	KC	SP
60	Christian Walker	ARI	1B
61	Cody Bellinger	CHC	1B/OF
62	Anthony Volpe	NYY	SS
63	Randy Arozarena	TB	OF
64	William Contreras	MIL	C
65	Sonny Gray	STL	SP
66	Zac Gallen	ARI	SP
67	Bryan Reynolds	PIT	OF
68	Camilo Doval	SF	RP
69	Shota Imanaga	CHC	SP
70	Oneil Cruz	PIT	SS
71	Luis Robert Jr.	CHW	OF
72	Teoscar Hernandez	LAD	OF
73	Nico Hoerner	CHC	2B/SS
74	Raisel Iglesias	ATL	RP
75	Grayson Rodriguez	BAL	SP
76	Seiya Suzuki	CHC	OF
77	Paul Goldschmidt	STL	1B
78	Alex Bregman	HOU	3B
79	Jarren Duran	BOS	OF
80	Spencer Steer	CIN	1B/3B/ OF
81	Will Smith	LAD	C
82	Christopher Morel	CHC	3B/OF
83	J.T. Realmuto	PHI	C
84	Jeremy Pena	HOU	SS
85	Clay Holmes	NYY	RP
86	Jhoan Duran	MIN	RP
87	Willy Adames	MIL	SS
88	Alec Bohm	PHI	1B/3B
89	Ezequiel Tovar	COL	SS
90	Mason Miller	OAK	RP
91	Evan Phillips	LAD	RP
92	Tanner Bibee	CLE	SP
93	Andres Munoz	SEA	RP
94	Justin Verlander	HOU	SP
95	Bryson Stott	PHI	2B/SS
96	Carlos Rodon	NYY	SP
97	Gleyber Torres	NYY	2B
98	George Springer	TOR	OF
99	Nolan Arenado	STL	3B
100	Trea Turner	PHI	SS
101	Lane Thomas	WSH	OF
102	Luis Arraez	SD	1B/2B
103	Paul Skenes	PIT	SP
104	Salvador Perez	KC	C/1B
105	Ryan Helsley	STL	RP
106	Vinnie Pasquantino	KC	1B
107	Jose Berrios	TOR	SP
108	Justin Steele	CHC	SP
109	Taylor Ward	LAA	OF
110	Nick Castellanos	PHI	OF
111	Riley Greene	DET	OF
112	Anthony Santander	BAL	OF
113	Dansby Swanson	CHC	SS
114	Edwin Diaz	NYM	RP
115	David Bednar	PIT	RP
116	Yandy Diaz	TB	1B
117	Chris Bassitt	TOR	SP
118	Blake Snell	SF	SP
119	Bobby Miller	LAD	SP
120	Bailey Ober	MIN	SP
121	Hunter Greene	CIN	SP
122	Maikel Garcia	KC	3B
123	Alexis Diaz	CIN	RP
124	Gerrit Cole	NYY	SP
125	Ranger Suarez	PHI	SP
126	Jack Flaherty	DET	SP
127	Robert Suarez	SD	RP
128	Jordan Westburg	BAL	2B/3B
129	Brandon Nimmo	NYM	OF
130	Kyle Bradish	BAL	SP
131	Ian Happ	CHC	OF
132	Rhys Hoskins	MIL	1B
133	Ha-Seong Kim	SD	2B/SS/ 3B
134	Isaac Paredes	TB	1B/3B
135	Jared Jones	PIT	SP
136	Ryan McMahon	COL	2B/3B
137	Royce Lewis	MIN	3B
138	Jake Burger	MIA	1B/3B
139	Jesus Luzardo	MIA	SP
140	Starling Marte	NYM	OF
141	Walker Buehler	LAD	SP
142	Mitch Keller	PIT	SP
143	Zach Eflin	TB	SP
144	Thairo Estrada	SF	2B/SS
145	Daulton Varsho	TOR	OF
146	Ryan Mountcastle	BAL	1B
147	Yainer Diaz	HOU	C
148	Jorge Soler	SF	OF
149	Nathan Eovaldi	TEX	SP
150	Steven Kwan	CLE	OF
151	Garrett Crochet	CHW	SP
152	Nathaniel Lowe	TEX	1B
153	Jordan Montgomery	ARI	SP
154	Cedric Mullins	BAL	OF
155	Kenley Jansen	BOS	RP
156	Lourdes Gurriel Jr.	ARI	OF
157	Bryce Miller	SEA	SP
158	Jordan Romano	TOR	RP
159	Craig Kimbrel	BAL	RP
160	Nestor Cortes	NYY	SP
161	Paul Sewald	ARI	RP
162	Luis Rengifo	LAA	2B/SS/ 3B/OF
163	Yusei Kikuchi	TOR	SP
164	Tanner Scott	MIA	RP
165	Yu Darvish	SD	SP
166	Brandon Pfaadt	ARI	SP
167	Cal Raleigh	SEA	C
168	Matt Chapman	SF	3B
169	Tyler O’Neill	BOS	OF
170	Carlos Correa	MIN	SS
171	Nick Pivetta	BOS	SP
172	Ke’Bryan Hayes	PIT	3B
173	Jeimer Candelario	CIN	1B/3B
174	Michael King	SD	SP
175	Mike Trout	LAA	OF
176	Charlie Morton	ATL	SP
177	Christian Encarnacion-Strand	CIN	1B
178	Joe Musgrove	SD	SP
179	Ryan Pepiot	TB	SP
180	Brayan Bello	BOS	SP
181	Nolan Jones	COL	OF
182	Nick Lodolo	CIN	SP
183	Andrew Vaughn	CHW	1B
184	Cristopher Sanchez	PHI	SP
185	Jackson Chourio	MIL	OF
186	MacKenzie Gore	WSH	SP
187	Logan O’Hoppe	LAA	C
188	Kyle Finnegan	WSH	RP
189	Pete Fairbanks	TB	RP
190	Zach Neto	LAA	SS
191	Max Scherzer	TEX	SP
192	Spencer Torkelson	DET	1B
193	Bryan Woo	SEA	SP
194	Tanner Houck	BOS	SP
195	Aaron Civale	TB	SP
196	Jonathan India	CIN	2B
197	Kutter Crawford	BOS	SP
198	Wyatt Langford	TEX	OF
199	Taj Bradley	TB	SP
200	Brice Turang	MIL	2B/SS
201	Luis Gil	NYY	SP
202	Edouard Julien	MIN	2B
203	Giancarlo Stanton	NYY	OF
204	Byron Buxton	MIN	OF
205	Jose Alvarado	PHI	RP
206	Jake Fraley	CIN	OF
207	Kirby Yates	TEX	RP
208	Anthony Rizzo	NYY	1B
209	Luis Garcia	WSH	2B
210	Bryan De La Cruz	MIA	OF
211	Ceddanne Rafaela	BOS	SS/OF
212	Jonah Heim	TEX	C
213	Hunter Brown	HOU	SP
214	Kodai Senga	NYM	SP
215	Carlos Estevez	LAA	RP
216	Merrill Kelly	ARI	SP
217	Willson Contreras	STL	C
218	Jo Adell	LAA	OF
219	Ryan Jeffers	MIN	C
220	Josh Lowe	TB	OF
221	Seth Lugo	KC	SP
222	TJ Friedl	CIN	OF
223	Jason Foley	DET	RP
224	Josh Bell	MIA	1B
225	Braxton Garrett	MIA	SP
226	Jake Cronenworth	SD	1B/2B
227	Reid Detmers	LAA	SP
228	Evan Carter	TEX	OF
229	Gabriel Moreno	ARI	C
230	J.D. Martinez	NYM	DH
231	Justin Turner	TOR	1B
232	Nolan Gorman	STL	2B
233	Lance Lynn	STL	SP
234	Max Kepler	MIN	OF
235	Brady Singer	KC	SP
236	Brandon Marsh	PHI	OF
237	Keibert Ruiz	WSH	C
238	Vaughn Grissom	BOS	2B/SS
239	Marcus Stroman	NYY	SP
240	Tommy Pham	CHW	OF
241	Sean Murphy	ATL	C
242	Brendan Rodgers	COL	2B
243	Brenton Doyle	COL	OF
244	Jackson Merrill	SD	SS/OF
245	Brendan Donovan	STL	2B/OF
246	Masataka Yoshida	BOS	OF
247	Leody Taveras	TEX	OF
248	Andrew Abbott	CIN	SP
249	Chas McCormick	HOU	OF
250	Reynaldo Lopez	ATL	SP
251	Lars Nootbaar	STL	OF
252	Alex Verdugo	NYY	OF
253	Josh Jung	TEX	3B
254	Ryan O’Hearn	BAL	1B/OF
255	Eloy Jimenez	CHW	DH
256	Tyler Stephenson	CIN	C
257	Hector Neris	CHC	RP
258	James McArthur	KC	RP
259	Triston Casas	BOS	1B
260	Zack Gelof	OAK	2B
261	Cristian Javier	HOU	SP
262	Jon Gray	TEX	SP
263	Brent Rooker	OAK	OF
264	Jordan Hicks	SF	SP
265	Joc Pederson	ARI	OF
266	Sean Manaea	NYM	SP
267	Luis Campusano	SD	C
268	Wilyer Abreu	BOS	OF
269	Gavin Williams	CLE	SP
270	J.P. Crawford	SEA	SS
271	Devin Williams	MIL	RP
272	Elias Diaz	COL	C
273	MJ Melendez	KC	OF
274	Zack Littell	TB	SP
275	Bo Naylor	CLE	C
276	Mitch Garver	SEA	C
277	Christian Scott	NYM	SP
278	Jarred Kelenic	ATL	OF
279	Max Muncy	LAD	3B
280	Shea Langeliers	OAK	C
281	Eduardo Rodriguez	ARI	SP
282	Trevor Megill	MIL	RP
283	Brandon Drury	LAA	1B/2B
284	Erick Fedde	CHW	SP
285	Miles Mikolas	STL	SP
286	Eugenio Suarez	ARI	3B
287	Kyle Harrison	SF	SP
288	Kerry Carpenter	DET	OF
289	Kenta Maeda	DET	SP
290	Sal Frelick	MIL	OF
291	Brandon Lowe	TB	2B
292	Kris Bryant	COL	OF
293	Triston McKenzie	CLE	SP
294	Tommy Edman	STL	2B/SS/ OF
295	Jeff McNeil	NYM	2B/OF
296	Luis Severino	NYM	SP
297	Colton Cowser	BAL	OF
298	Connor Wong	BOS	C
299	Masyn Winn	STL	SS
300	Michael Wacha	KC	SP
301	Orlando Arcia	ATL	SS
302	Danny Jansen	TOR	C
303	Francisco Alvarez	NYM	C
304	Jason Adam	TB	RP
305	Ty France	SEA	1B
306	Andy Pages	LAD	OF
307	Kyle Gibson	STL	SP
308	Michael Kopech	CHW	RP
309	Dean Kremer	BAL	SP
310	Patrick Sandoval	LAA	SP
311	Ronel Blanco	HOU	SP
312	Will Benson	CIN	OF
313	Charlie Blackmon	COL	OF
314	Willi Castro	MIN	SS/3B/ OF
315	Jose Siri	TB	OF
316	Reese Olson	DET	SP
317	Dane Dunning	TEX	SP
318	Griffin Jax	MIN	RP
319	Frankie Montas	CIN	SP
320	Nolan Schanuel	LAA	1B
321	Jordan Walker	STL	OF
322	Ryan Weathers	MIA	SP
323	Yimi Garcia	TOR	RP
324	Javier Assad	CHC	SP
325	Reed Garrett	NYM	RP
326	Griffin Canning	LAA	SP
327	Adbert Alzolay	CHC	RP
328	Michael Busch	CHC	1B/3B
329	Junior Caminero	TB	3B
330	Noelvi Marte	CIN	3B
331	Ryan Pressly	HOU	RP
332	Davis Schneider	TOR	2B/OF
333	Nelson Velazquez	KC	OF
334	Ben Brown	CHC	SP
335	Tyler Anderson	LAA	SP
336	Joey Ortiz	MIL	2B/3B
337	Robert Gasser	MIL	SP
338	Hunter Harvey	WSH	RP
339	Jackson Holliday	BAL	2B/SS
340	Matt Strahm	PHI	RP
341	Logan Allen	CLE	SP
342	Graham Ashcraft	CIN	SP
343	Tyler Freeman	CLE	3B/OF
344	Tim Anderson	MIA	SS
345	Jameson Taillon	CHC	SP
346	Tylor Megill	NYM	SP
347	Jacob deGrom	TEX	SP
348	Andrew Heaney	TEX	SP
349	Joey Meneses	WSH	1B
350	Shane Baz	TB	SP
351	Alex Kirilloff	MIN	1B/OF
352	Andrew Benintendi	CHW	OF
353	JP Sears	OAK	SP
354	Chris Paddack	MIN	SP
355	Gavin Stone	LAD	SP
356	Casey Mize	DET	SP
357	Trevor Rogers	MIA	SP
358	Xander Bogaerts	SD	2B/SS
359	Mark Canha	DET	OF
360	Max Meyer	MIA	SP
361	Edward Cabrera	MIA	SP
362	Michael Lorenzen	TEX	SP
363	Ben Lively	CLE	SP
364	Alejandro Kirk	TOR	C
365	Jake Meyers	HOU	OF