MLB Players Power Rankings: Top 10 Hitters in Week-17

Who was the best hitter during Week-16 of the baseball season? Find out in this latest edition of MLB Players Power Rankings.

In this week’s “MLB Players Power Rankings,” ALL but one hitter belongs to a playoff-contending team. Also, in week-17 some of baseball’s best players over the last several years make their debut in the top 10.

Now, before we jump into this week’s top 10 hitters, we’ve made some changes into how make our determinations. No longer will we use rubrics. Instead, each hitter’s individual stats (SLG, wOBA, wRC+, and fWAR) are ranked and then added together for a final score.

Here’s a full list of the best hitters during week-17 of the MLB season.

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

T10. Renato Nunez, Baltimore Orioles

Week-17 stats: 0.714 SLG | 0.483 wOBA | 208 wRC+ | 0.5 fWAR

T10. Paul DeJong, St. Louis Cardinals

Week-17 stats: 0.833 SLG | 0.473 wOBA | 198 wRC+ | 0.6 fWAR

T10. Xander Bogaerts, Boston Red Sox

Week-17 stats: 0.742 SLG | 0.482 wOBA | 203 wRC+ | 0.6 fWAR

9. J.D. Martinez, Boston Red Sox

Week-17 stats: 0.839 SLG | 0.502 wOBA | 216 wRC+ | 0.5 fWAR

8. Didi Gregorius, New York Yankees

Week-17 stats: 0.885 SLG | 0.522 wOBA | 234 wRC+ | 0.6 fWAR

7. Jose Ramirez, Cleveland Indians

Week-17 stats: 0.900 SLG | 0.525 wOBA | 233 wRC+ | 0.7 fWAR

6. Jose Altuve, Houston Astros

Week-17 stats: 0.826 SLG | 0.562 wOBA | 266 wRC+ | 0.6 fWAR

MLB Players Power Rankings (4): Gio Urshela, New York Yankees

Week-17 Stats: 0.957 SLG | 0.562 wOBA | 261 wRC+ | 0.5 fWAR

Gio Urshela has been a tremendous blessing for a New York Yankees team that has suffered an unprecedented number of injuries. Having lost the 2018 runner-up for the AL Rookie of the Year award, Miguel Andujar, to injury in the first week of the season, Urshela has stepped up to the plate and isn’t looking to give up his position this season or anytime thereafter.

A career .225 / .274 / .315 hitter before donning the Yankee pinstripes, Urshela has reinvented himself into a threat at the plate and on the field. This season, Gio is slashing .309 / .354 / .515, all the while setting a career-high in home runs with 11.

With Yankees pitching struggling to escape the first inning unscathed, offensively the team is looking to keep up with opponents over the last couple of weeks. With underrated hitters like Urshela stepping up to the plate, the Yankees have been fortunate to keep up with the opposition.

At the deadline, the organization will look to improve it’s pitching. However, with one option in Marcus Stroman having been dealt to the crosstown rival New York Mets, the options are starting to become limited. This makes offensive production from players like Urshela more important than ever.

So far this season, Urshela has delivered. It doesn’t look like he plans on slowing down anytime soon.

MLB Players Power Rankings (3): Paul Goldschmidt, Arizona D’backs

Week-17 Stats: 0.966 SLG | 0.533 wOBA | 237 wRC+ | 0.6 fWAR

Paul Goldschmidt has struggled in St. Louis this season. So much so that experts and analysts were starting to wonder of Arizona did the right thing by trading him away. They also wondered if the Cards did the right thing in extending him to a 5-year $130M deal.

In fact, prior to week-17 “Goldy” was just hitting .248 / .335 / .424. The surging Cardinals were looking to overtake their division with one hand tied on their backs.

However, luckily for the Cardinals, Goldschmidt has risen to the occasion and in week-17, he arrived. Last week, Goldy looked like his old self, slashing .345 / .387 / .966. Not only that, he hit 6 home runs, which is 25% of his total and 2nd most of any player on this list.

Due in part to Goldy’s tremendous production last week, the Cardinals are officially tied for first place with the Chicago Cubs and are looking to remain in playoff contention for the remainder of the season. If Goldy can continue to produce at the rate he did in week-17, look out because the Cardinals, who haven’t been to the postseason since 2015, might be back.

MLB Players Power Rankings (2): Andrew Benintendi, Boston Red Sox

Week-17 Stats: 0.903 SLG | 0.573 wOBA | 265 wRC+ | 0.8 fWAR

Like Paul Goldschmidt before him, Andrew Benintendi was also having an underwhelming season compared to last year. In a season of juiced baseballs and career-highs, Beni has been flirting with career-lows across the board.

In week-17, however, Benintendi made his presence known and demonstrated to the baseball world what a scary thing the Boston Red Sox lineup can be if everything starts to click again. Last week, Benintendi had a staggering .573 wOBA and 265 wRC+ and was by far the best hitter had it not been for the top-dog on this list who just obliterated everybody.

With Beni’s rise in production, the Red Sox took three of four from the first-place New York Yankees and cut the division lead down to 9.0 games. The BoSox are also in a virtual tie with the 2nd place Tampa Bay Rays. What’s more, they’re just 1.0 game behind the Oakland Athletics for the Wild Card.

In hitting the way he did last week, Beni and the Sox put the fear of God in opponents. Like last year, the Red Sox don’t need their pitching to be top-notch in order to secure a World Series ring. Just don’t let the bats come alive.

MLB Players Power Rankings (1): Nelson Cruz, Minnesota Twins

Week-17 Stats: 1.172 SLG | 0.639 wOBA | 312 wRC+ | 0.9 fWAR

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Finally, here we are and Nelson Cruz, a 15-year MLB veteran of 39 years of age, tops the list of MLB hitters in week-17 of the season. Armed with a three-home run game against the Chicago White Sox last week, Cruz demonstrated that he is not looking to slow down anytime soon.

Cruz led everybody in just about everything last week, helping the Minnesota Twins to thwart off the Cleveland Indians from the division lead.

This season, Nelson Cruz is channeling a fellow paisano in David Ortiz, making himself one of the scariest bats out of the DH position in all of baseball. His .605 SLG is the best of his career, but for 2008 when he slugged .609 in just 31 games. His .375 OBP is tied for the best of his career, but for the same 2008 season when he had a .421 OBP, again in just 31 games.

With the Minnesota Twins looking to deliver a postseason to remember this year, they’re going to need production close to this from Cruz moving forward. The veteran will more than likely continue to produce.

Don’t be surprised if he makes another appearance at this position before the season ends.