MLB Top 100: #90-81
Welcome back to to the countdown of my top 100 players in Major League Baseball! To find #100-91, click here or at the link at the bottom of the page.
90. Nico Hoerner (27), 2024 rank: #71
2024: 641 PA, 7 HR, 48 RBI, 31 SB, .273/.335/.373, 103 wRC+, 3 DRS, 10 OAA, 3.9 fWAR
As long as Nico Hoerner continues to run the bases and play defense at an elite level, he’ll be a perennial top 100 player in my eyes. There isn’t a more consistent average to slightly above average hitter in baseball than Hoerner. He has posted a wRC+ between 100 and 108 in each of the last four seasons. Paired with the other areas in his game where he provides value, Hoerner is a shoo-in for at least 3.5 fWAR. Since the start of 2022, Hoerner ranks fourth among qualified second basemen in DRS (16) and third in OAA (23), while his 94 stolen bases rank fourth in all of baseball. The only reason his ranking dropped this year is because of the influx of pitchers I added to the list which pushed all of the speed/defense guys down a notch.
89. Pablo Lopez (29), 2024 rank: #35
2024: 185.1 IP, 4.08 ERA, 3.65 FIP, 1.19 WHIP, 20.3 K-BB%, 3.2 fWAR
I was particularly high on Pablo Lopez headed into 2024, picking him to win the American League Cy Young award. While that didn’t quite pan out the way I wanted to, I believe his season was better than what his 4.08 ERA tells us. Lopez’s fastball was as good as it has ever been, yielding 20.1 runs above average which was first among all qualified starters. Lopez was also a top 25 starter by FIP, xFIP (3.36), K-BB%, SIERA (3.46), and fWAR. Considering his track record over the last five years along with the fact that he is only entering his age 29 season, I like for Lopez to bounce back and reinsert himself in the Cy Young conversation in 2025.
88. Giancarlo Stanton (35), 2024 rank: N/A
2024: 459 PA, 27 HR, 72 RBI, 0 SB, .233/.298/.475, 116 wRC+, 0.8 fWAR
There’s no other reason Giancarlo Stanton is on this list than for his postseason performance. I’ll say it time and time again throughout this ranking: postseason performance matters - and nobody else was a postseason riser quite like Stanton in 2024. No other player last year hit more postseason home runs or drove in more runs than Stanton. Minimum 30 plate appearances, his 1.048 OPS and 183 wRC+ ranked fourth while his .709 SLG ranked second. On top of his offensive prowess under the lights, this is still a hitter that can run into 30+ home runs in any given season. He is currently dealing with the multi-elbow issue, but until he is ruled out for the season, Stanton will stick around here for now.
87. Ha-Seong Kim (29), 2024 rank: #59
2024: 470 PA, 11 HR, 47 RBI, 22 SB, .233/.330/.370, 101 wRC+, 2 DRS, 4 OAA, 2.6 fWAR
The newly acquired Tampa Bay Ray is slated to take over at shortstop when he gets healthy in May, and will provide in the speed/defense department as he always does. Kim’s last three seasons have been nearly identical to Nico Hoerner’s, but Kim does it at shortstop with a little more power in the bat which gives him the bump over Hoerner. With time between short, second, and third, Kim has 48 DRS and 21 OAA since 2022. As a high contact bat that also draws a lot of walks, Kim maximizes his output on the bases, swiping 72 bags since 2022. He’s one of just three hitters with 70+ steals and a BB/K north of 0.60 since 2022, which gives Kim one of the higher floors in baseball.
86. Brenton Doyle (26), 2024 rank: #99
2024: 603 PA, 23 HR, 72 RBI, 30 SB, .260/.317/.446, 97 wRC+, 11 DRS, 16 OAA, 3.7 fWAR
Last year, Brenton Doyle was my token defensive specialist that provided little to no offensive value (reference Patrick Bailey at no. 100). It was a goofy flyer pick at the time, but it paid off in a big way as Doyle improved in nearly every offensive category while maintaining his elite defensive ability in the toughest outfield to play in baseball. Doyle put together his first 20 HR/30 SB season, with the potential to turn that into a 30 HR/30 SB season in 2025. Doyle is a five-tool player in the making if he can polish his hit tool. Doyle was the only player in baseball last year with 20+ home runs, 30+ steals, 10+ DRS, and 10+ OAA. He was above the 50th percentile mark in every main power metric and obviously possesses some of the best speed in the game. Entering his age 26 season, I like Doyle’s chances at making his first all-star team.
85. Felix Bautista (30), 2024 rank: N/A
2023 (2024 DNP): 61.0 IP, 1.48 ERA, 1.88 FIP, 0.92 WHIP, 35.4 K-BB%, 33 SV, 2.8 fWAR
The Orioles missed a huge part of their bullpen for the latter half of 2023 and all of 2024, but are getting him back in 2025. Prior to going down to Tommy John surgery in 2023, we’re talking about one of the best closer seasons over the last decade. Reliever success is so volatile, especially when you include injury, but Bautista has the stuff to bounce back in a big way. Between 2022 and 2023, Bautista has thrown 126.2 innings to the tune of a 1.85 ERA and a 40.4 K%, which ranks first in that time frame along with his 30.4 K-BB%. Given he can still run his fastball up to 102 mph along with his wicked splitter, Bautista may very well revert back to form and shoot up this list again next year.
84. Brandon Lowe (31), 2024 rank: #93
2024: 425 PA, 21 HR, 58 RBI, 5 SB, .244/.311/.473, 123 wRC+, 1 DRS, 0 OAA, 2.2 fWAR
Brandon Lowe has quietly been one of the better second baseman over the past five years when he’s healthy. Unfortunately that’s the caveat with Lowe - he has to be healthy. Among second baseman since he debuted in 2018, Lowe ranks first in ISO (.237) and third in SLG (.482), OPS (.812), and wRC+ (126). With league average defensive numbers, that production offensively is more than enough to earn him a spot on my top 100 for the second year in a row. Health is obviously going to be the factor that determines if he can move up next year. In his seven year career, he has reached the 600 plate appearance mark just once.
83. Luis Arraez (28), 2024 rank: #43
2024: 672 PA, 4 HR, 46 RBI, 9 SB, .314/.346/.392, 109 wRC+, -6 DRS, -13 OAA, 1.1 fWAR
Luis Arraez is one of the most controversial players in baseball, but the fact of the matter is that a lifetime .323 hitter deserves a spot on my top 100. Now I will admit that ranking him at #41 last year was a bit egregious as I severely downplayed his weaknesses defensively and on the bases. With that being said, Arraez truly is a one-dimensional player which puts a pretty hard cap on his ceiling considering he doesn’t provide much in the power department either. However, the ability to comfortably hit over .300 year in and year out is a skill not to be taken for granted and is becoming an outlier skill that arguably has more value now than it did 20 years ago due to its scarcity in today’s game.
82. Isaac Paredes (26), 2024 rank: #41
2024: 641 PA, 19 HR, 80 RBI, 1 SB, .238/.346/.393, 117 wRC+, -2 DRS, -1 OAA, 3.4 fWAR
Isaac Paredes is not so much of a controversial hitter the way Arraez is, but he is certainly a unique hitter that has really ushered in the art of the pulled fly ball. Unfortunately for Paredes, he lost a lot of wind in his sails when he was traded over to the Cubs as that is a ballpark that doesn’t treat the pulled fly ball with much grace. However, Paredes is now in Houston which is the most favorable ballpark for pulled fly ball hitters. Similar to Arraez, I was far too high on Paredes entering last season because he lacks multiple tools and has to sell out for one specific part of his game, but Paredes’s bat arguably has one of the higher floors in the game because of his solid plate discipline and contact skills paired with his ability to tap into his power through pulling fly balls. He plays league average defense at third base, but isn’t going to provide much on the bases. Since the start of 2023, Paredes ranks fourth among third basemen in fWAR with 7.6 and third in wRC+ at 126.
81. Aaron Nola (31), 2024 rank: #88
2024: 199.1 IP, 3.57 ERA, 3.94 FIP, 1.20 WHIP, 17.9 K-BB%, 3.2 fWAR
There hasn’t been a model of consistency on the mound quite like Aaron Nola over the last 8-10 years. We’re talking about a pitcher that you can pencil in for 30 starts and 180+ innings every year that you can also count on in the playoffs. Among qualified starters over the last three seasons, Nola ranks second in innings pitched, fifth in BB% (5.1), seventh in K-BB% (21.1), and fourth in fWAR (13.3). He has put together a nice postseason stat line since the beginning of the current Phillies playoff regime, throwing 53.2 innings which ranks only behind his teammate Zack Wheeler, and posting a 4.02 ERA, 3.68 FIP, 1.17 WHIP, and a 21.1 K-BB%. It feels like Nola has been pitching much longer than he has, likely because of the amount of innings he’s thrown compared to his peers, but is only entering his age 31 season so he should have some more solid seasons in front of him with a potential Cy Young ceiling.
