Including today, we have four regular season Friday’s left. I am going to use each of those Friday’s and this column to target a different group of risers and fallers, with an eye on their value in dynasty leagues going forward. Today we’ll go over middle infielders, next Friday corner infielders, the Friday after that catchers and outfielders and the final Friday will be pitchers, both starters and closers. We’ll go over the youngsters that have shot up the rankings and the veterans who can and will still impact each of the positions.

I wanted to start with the middle infielders because I believe they have the most talent saturation, not just at the top of the ranks, but throughout the middle and back-end as well. We all know that Bobby Witt Jr. leads the pack, but Gunnar Henderson, Elly De La Cruz, Francisco Lindor, Willy Adames and Ketel Marte, amongst others, have a ton of “safe” value as well. On the flip side, we’ve seen some older players (Marcus Semien) and reliable veterans (Nico Hoerner, Andres Gimenez, Dansby Swanson, etc.) who have backslid and lost some of their stability, dropping them down future rankings.

RISERS

Shortstops lead the way for infielders, with Bobby Witt Jr., Gunnar Henderson, Elly De La Cruz and Francisco Lindor the absolute cream of the crop. And Witt Jr. is the absolute top of the crop, with his 0.339 batting average nearly 60 points higher than any of the other four. He is two stolen bases and three RBI away from a 110+ runs, 30+ home runs, 100+ RBI, 30+ SB season and, should he hold onto the batting title, will become the first person to ever lead the league in batting average and put up a 30/30 season. If it wasn’t for Aaron Judge, Witt Jr. would be the resounding AL MVP leader. Henderson has established himself as the cornerstone of the Orioles and an MVP candidate in only his second big league season, a year after winning the AL Rookie of the Year. Though he lacks the stolen base upside of the other three, he has the highest home run ceiling and plenty of room to grow. De La Cruz is the most exciting player to watch of the three, as he challenges to become the first person since Vince Coleman and Rickey Henderson in the late 80’s to steal 80 or more bases in a season, while also hitting 20 or more bombs and having an electric personality on the field. From stealing second, third and home in one at-bat to throwing 95 mile-per-hour relay throws, ELDC is going to be must-see TV for years to come. Though Lindor is the oldest of the bench, he has been performing at elite SS levels since his rookie season back in 2015, when he racked up 4.0 WAR in only 99 games. With a little luck, the 2024 season will be his second 30/30 season, back to back with 2023, and potentially end the year with some serious personal hardware (the Lindor for MVP chants will only grow louder as the Mets continue to win games and move into that final wild card spot).

Want to get access to the rest of Anthony’s article? You’ll need to have a FANTASYPASS membership. Click here to learn more and sign up!
Premium Access Required