MLB Players Power Rankings: Top 10 Hitters in Week-10

Who was the best hitter during Week-8 of the baseball season? Find out in this latest edition of MLB Players Power Rankings.

In this week’s MLB Players Power Rankings, baseball’s best players return to prominence. However, the number one ranked hitter is not quite who you expect it to be.

Before we jump into this week’s top 10 hitters, let’s understand how we make our determinations.

1. We base our weekly rankings on a Monday through Sunday schedule. Therefore, these rankings are for the week beginning on May 13th through May 19th.
2. Then, using advanced stats (SLG, wOBA, wRC+) that best represent a players performance, we created a rubric.
3. As a tiebreaker, we used fWAR to determine which player is ahead of who.
4. If the tiebreaker is a tie, then we delve deeper into the weekly stats.
   With that being said, let’s find out who the 10-6 ranked hitters are.

10. Mike Moustakas, Milwaukee Brewers

Since joining the Brewers, Mike Moustakas has developed into an entirely different player. Always a decent defender, over the last three seasons “Moose” has turned into an elite power hitter. This season, he’s posting career highs in SLG (.592) and OPS (.930). With 20 home runs through 59 games this season, Moustakas is on pace for 49 home runs.

Here are his Week-10 stats: 0.833 SLG | 0.490 wOBA | 209 wRC+ | 0.5 fWAR

9. Max Kepler, Minnesota Twins

Max Kepler makes his third appearance in the MLB Players Power Rankings this week. In his 5th big league season, it seems that Kepler has finally found his groove. This season, Kepler continues to post career highs across the board, and with the Twins taking MLB by storm, Kepler is looking to become a key figure to a potential World Series appearance.

Here are his Week-10 stats: 0.833 SLG | 0.498 wOBA | 218 wRC+ | 0.5 fWAR

8. Francisco Lindor, Cleveland Indians

Francisco Lindor started the season on the IL, but once he returned it was like he never left. With each year, the 25-year-old veteran keeps getting better and better. This season is no different given that he’s posting career highs in OBP (.366), SLG (.536), and OPS (.902).

Here are his Week-10 stats: 0.875 SLG | 0.501 wOBA | 218 wRC+ | 0.5 fWAR

7. Kyle Schwarber, Chicago Cubs

After a slow start to the 2019 season, Kyle Schwarber got back into the swing of things in week-10 of the season. While Schwarber continues to adjust to playing the OF, he’s trying to continue letting his bat do the talking this season. His overall stats remain similar to his prior record, but hopefully, week-10 can be a turnaround for the slugger.

Here are his Week-10 stats: 0.792 SLG | 0.514 wOBA | 226 wRC+ | 0.5 fWAR

6. Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels

Mike Trout continues to dominate the world of baseball with his consistent, elite level of play. It’s almost unfair to see a player of his caliber continue to get better. This season, he leads baseball in runs (50), BB (61), OBP (.469), and OPS (1.096). His OPS and OBP are at career highs.

Here are his Week-10 stats: 0818 SLG | 0.504 wOBA | 228 wRC+ | 0.6 fWAR

MLB Players Power Rankings (5): Corey Seager, Los Angeles Dodgers

Week-10 Stats: 0.769 SLG | 0.513 wOBA | 229 wRC+ | 0.6 fWAR

Corey Seager missed most of last season after suffering a right UCL sprain. Upon returning this season, he struggled, for the most part, hitting just .225 / .325 / .341 in his first 40 games of the season.

Over his last 24 games, however, Seager is looking like the old Corey, slashing .341 / .396 / .648. This resurgence, for lack of a better term, has catapulted Seager into a level of play we haven’t seen since his rookie season. That year, Seager hit 26 HR and 77 RBI, and this year he’s on pace for 20 HR and 93 RBI.

Defensively, the Dodgers get back an elite player at short stop. That’s not to say that Machado, Seager’s replacement last season, was bad at the position. It’s just that… he’s not a Corey Seager level type shortstop.

So far this season, Seager has a 4 DRS and a defensive rating of 4.7, according to FanGraphs. This is an improvement from Machado who posted a -13 DRS and a 2.0 defensive rating last season.

With the Los Angeles Dodgers leading in the NL West by 11 games and featuring the 2nd best run differential in baseball, the best in the NL, the team is hoping that Corey Seager could be the final piece to the championship puzzle.

MLB Players Power Rankings (4): Freddie Freeman, Atlanta Braves

Week-10 Stats: 0.875 SLG | 0.539 wOBA | 241 wRC+ | 0.6 fWAR

Freddie Freeman makes his return to the MLB Players Power Rankings after a two-week absence, and the timing couldn’t be better. With the Atlanta Braves just ONE game behind the NL East division leader Philadelphia Phillies, Freeman will have to play an integral role in keeping the Braves surging in the right direction.

This season, the 29-year-old first baseman is looking to top what was by far his best season in 2018. That season, Freeman exhibited an ability to hit for contact and showed the value in having doubles hitters on your team.

This season, Freeman has enhanced his ability to hit for power and is on pace to post a career high in home runs. In fact, if Freeman continues to play at this level, he is on pace to hit 42 home runs. Not only that, but he is also on pace to exceed 100 RBI for the first time since 2013.

In terms of run creation, his increase in power has made Freeman one of the best run creators in baseball. This season, he is currently sporting a career-high wRC+ of 158, which ranks him 9th in all of baseball.

MLB Players Power Rankings (3): Jay Bruce, Philadelphia Phillies

Week-10 Stats: 1.048 SLG | 0.575 wOBA | 266 wRC+ | 0.5 fWAR

A week ago, Jay Bruce was traded from the Seattle Mariners to the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for IF Jake Scheiner and $18M. While with the Mariners, Bruce was having a miserable start to the season, slashing just .212 / .283 / .533.

Many thought that the once fearsome slugger was on the wrong side of his career. At age 32 and on his way to his fifth team in less than 3 years, you would expect nothing less.

However, apparently, all that Bruce needed to get his groove back was a change of scenery, because upon arriving in Philly for his first series in his new team, Bruce went on an absolute tear. In fact, in just 6 games with the Phillies, Bruce already has 4 HR, 11 RBI, and is slashing .381 / .381 / 1.048.

What’s more, despite playing in 53 games this season (47 with the Mariners and 6 with the Phillies), according to FanGraphs Bruce has only been worth 1.1 wins. 0.5 of those wins, in terms of fWAR, have been awarded to Bruce in his short stint with the Phils, which is pretty impressive.

With the loss of Andrew McCutchen, the timing for Bruce to get hot could not have been better for the first place Phillies. To thwart off the surging Atlanta Braves and maintain possession of the division lead, Bruce will have to remain hot.

MLB Players Power Rankings (1): Roberto Perez, Cleveland Indians

Week-10 Stats: 1.286 SLG | 0.624 wOBA | 302 wRC+ | 0.6 fWAR

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Veteran catcher for the Indians Roberto Perez has never been considered a juggernaut of a hitter. In fact, while he has been lauded for his defensive ability, offensively he is considered more of a liability than anything.

In fact, for most of his career, Perez has been relegated to backup duties precisely because of his poor hitting abilities. Sporting a career batting average of .209, one would never think that a player of Perez’s caliber would ever be a threat at the plate… until week-10 of the 2019 MLB season rolled around.

Last week, despite not having the highest fWAR, Perez’s power hitting catapulted him to the number one slot in this top 10 list. As a result, he was the only player on this list to sport a wOBA over .600, a wRC+ over 300, and a SLG over .200 points higher than the next guy.

This season, Perez is making it known that he belongs to be the number one catcher on a big league team by posting career highs in HR (11) and OPS (.830). This, mind you, with only a little over a third of the season being played.