MLB Players Power Rankings: Top 10 Hitters in May 2019

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Who was the best MLB hitter during the month of June? Find out in this latest edition of MLB Players Power Rankings.

In any given week, you might see the unlikeliest of players make the MLB Players Power Rankings. However, during the span of a month, you can really get a sense of who the real top-notch hitters are.

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

Typically, we base our weekly rankings on a Monday through Sunday schedule. This, however, is an assessment of the top 10 hitters for a month. In this case, we’re looking at June 2019
Then, using advanced stats (SLG, wOBA, wRC+, and fWAR) that best represent a players performance, we created a rubric.
As a tiebreaker, we delve deeper into the weekly stats.

With that being said, here are your 10-6 hitters in this week’s MLB Players Power Rankings.

10. Freddie Freeman, Atlanta Braves

Here are his June 2019 stats: 0.661 SLG | 0.431 wOBA | 167 wRC+ | 1.3 fWAR

9. Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Toronto Blue Jays

Here are his June 2019 stats: 0.683 SLG | 0.433 wOBA | 176 wRC+ | 1.3 fWAR

8. Manny Machado, San Diego Padres

Here are his June 2019 stats: 0.695 SLG | 0.432 wOBA | 172 wRC+ | 1.5 fWAR

7. Ketel Marte, Arizona Diamondbacks

Here are his June 2019 stats: 0.654 SLG | 0.440 wOBA | 172 wRC+ | 1.7 fWAR

6. Pete Alonso, New York Mets

Here are his June 2019 stats: 0.653 SLG | 0.448 wOBA | 185 wRC+ | 1.6 fWAR

MLB Players Power Rankings (5): Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels

June Stats: 0.641 SLG | 0.441 wOBA | 185 wRC+ | 2.0 fWAR

It’s hard to believe that a player in his ninth MLB season could keep getting better and better. Mike Trout must have found the fountain of youth because somehow he’s bucking the trend in this regard.

At 27 years of age, Trout has managed to put himself in MVP contention every single season since 2012. In that time, he’s been selected for the All-Star game 8x, he won the Silver Slugger Award 6x, MVP 2x, and was the 2012 AL Rookie of the Year.

For the month of June, the future first-ballot baseball Hall of Fame player makes the top 10 list for the 2nd consecutive month. He accomplished this feat by having the highest fWAR of any player on this list and continuing to be the most consistently amazing player in the game.

He won’t lead baseball in any counting stats, but he will consistently provide a 1.000+ OPS and be worth 9-10 games per season on a team that underachieves year after year. This season, it’s more of the same old story for the Angels.

Fortunately for their fans, they have, arguably, the Greatest of All Time to look forward to day in and day out.

MLB Players Power Rankings (4): DJ LeMahieu, New York Yankees

June Stats: 0.658 SLG | 0.454 wOBA | 189 wRC+ | 1.9 fWAR

This season, LeMahieu’s teammate Gary Sanchez nicknamed LeMahieu “Machine” after exhibiting a keen ability to drop hit after hit and show zero emotion while doing it. Let’s be fair, DJ hasn’t been this good all season.

In fact, if we split his season so far (76 games) in half, you get a tale of a great player becoming elite.

First 38: 2 HR / .322 / .371 / .434
Last 38: 10 HR / .365 / .410 / .618

The month of June, especially his last 14 games have been absolutely absurd. In that time span, LeMahieu has secured a hit in every game. 10 of those games have been of the multi-hit variety, including the last six consecutive games.

In keeping with the topic of multi-hit games, “Machine” leads MLB with 35 multi-hit games this season according to Katie Sharp. Not only that, he leads the league in AVG (.345) and hits (108). If this continues, LeMahieu could be the first player ever to win a batting title in both leagues.

What’s more, his level of performance this season has left some wondering if he could actually contend with Mike Trout for the AL MVP award. Despite Trout’s dominance over the WAR stat in this regard, there’s no question that LeMahieu should garner some votes if his level of play persists.

MLB Players Power Rankings (3): Christian Yelich, Milwaukee Brewers

June Stats: 0.712 SLG | 0.465 wOBA | 189 wRC+ | 1.8 fWAR

The most impressive thing about Yelich’s season so far is his increased power. In fact, through 77 games played this season, Yelich currently leads MLB with 29 home runs. That’s just SEVEN fewer home runs than he hit when he won the NL MVP award last season in 147 games.

What’s more, in the last calendar year (since July 1, 2018) Christian Yelich leads ALL of MLB — even Mike Trout — in fWAR (10.3). In that time span, he has also led baseball in:

HR: 54
AVG: .343
SLG: .704
wOBA: .462
wRC+: 190

The evolution of Yelich has been quite a sight to behold. Prior to last season, Yelich was a career .290 AVG and .800 OPS hitter, which is nothing to sniff at. However, in his last two seasons, Yelich has dwarfed those numbers by hitting .326 with a 1.043 OPS. This has netted the outfielder with two consecutive All-Star selections.

Now, in an effort to cement his greatness and power ability for good, Yelich has confirmed that he will be participating in this seasons Home Run Derby alongside other breakouts.

At this pace, Yelich has a good shot at winning a second consecutive MVP award. Unfortunately for him, this season the field is a little tougher though.

MLB Players Power Rankings (2): Fernando Tatis Jr., San Diego Padres

June Stats: 0.691 SLG | 0.469 wOBA | 196 wRC+ | 1.7 fWAR

It’s not often that an MLB prospect lives up to his potential and more. Fortunately for the San Diego Padres, Tatis Jr. far exceeds any of the amazing expectations anybody had for him.

Despite missing the better part of a month after one of the most cringe-worthy injuries of the 2019 season, Tatis Jr. is having one of the best seasons of any shortstop in MLB. In fact, among all shortstops (minimum 200 PA), Tatis Jr. leads in:

AVG: .337
OBP: .405
SLG: .613
wOBA: .420
wRC+: 164

For the month of June, he’s hitting .383 with an OPS of 1.148. This is one of the reasons why so many people are disappointed with the fact that Tatis Jr. wasn’t selected for the 2019 MLB All-Star Game.

So far this season, Fernando Tatis Jr. has demonstrated to experts and analysts that at the mid-way point, he is the most outstanding rookie player in the National League. With the Padres trailing the Rockies and Phillies by 1.5 games in the Wild Card, Tatis will play an integral role in helping the Pads secure a playoff spot, should it happen.

MLB Players Power Rankings (1): Charlie Blackmon, Colorado Rockies

June Stats: 0.835 SLG | 0.519 wOBA | 211 wRC+ | 1.5 fWAR

More from Call to the Pen

Despite the fact that fWAR doesn’t show it, Charlie Blackmon is having the best month of any player on this list by far. All of his stats, traditional and advanced, far exceed the rest of the field. In fact, his OPS is 132 points higher than the number two ranked hitter on this list. Also, his SLG and wOBA are each at least 150 points better than the number two hitter on this list.

Things didn’t always flow so smoothly for Blackmon this season. His first 17 games were a struggle for the outfielder. In that time, he was only managed to slash a pathetic .219/.266/.301.

Since then, however, Blackmon has found his groove and then some. In 51 games since those first 3-weeks of the season, “Chuck Nazty” has slashed an astonishing .375/.421/.768.

In June, the stats are unbelievable. In 22 games in June 2019, Blackmon slashed .412/.441/835. This level of performance third consecutive All-Star selection.

Surprisingly, according to FanGraphs’ fWAR stat, you’d have to scroll all the way down to 43 to find Blackmon. This indicates a flaw in his game. Hopefully, you’ve figured out that hitting isn’t one of them.

Unfortunately for Blackmon, the outfielder is a poor defender and a baserunner.

Next. Baseball's greatest hits of Week-13 (June 23-29). dark

However, thankfully, he’s most definitely one of the best ballplayers in the game.

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