If I had told you Jake Lamb would be the top cleanup hitter to own in fantasy baseball back in March, would you have believed me? Lamb had a consensus ranking around 139 and the 17th 3B.
Seeing a catcher that is not named Mike Piazza ranked among the best cleanup hitters in the league is weird. Buster Posey is hitting like it's 2012 when he won the NL MVP. Despite just 14 XBH and 16 RBI, Posey currently owns a career high .408 wOBA.
Adam Duvall continues to prove his breakout season in 2016 was no fluke. Despite the fact that he has the 2nd worst BB% among all batters with 14+ HRs, there is no reason to believe that Duvall will regress as his .274 BA (.301 BABIP) and .354 wOBA is sustainable.
Ryan Zimmerman's fantasy value has been about him staying healthy in recent years. He averages 2.1 points per PA when the Nationals moved him to the cleanup spot.
Nelson Cruz - finally a name you would expect to see on this list! He hit 10 home runs in June last year and has already hit 2 in five Mariners game this month. He hit just .245 last month but his K% is below 20% and his BB% is above 11% on the year.
| Name | G | AB | PA | H | 1B | 2B | 3B | HR | R | RBI | BB | SO | SB | CS | AVG | wOBA | K% | BB% | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jake Lamb | 53 | 204 | 235 | 60 | 32 | 12 | 3 | 13 | 36 | 48 | 29 | 61 | 3 | 2 | 0.294 | 0.394 | 26% | 12% | 412.6 |
| Buster Posey | 47 | 170 | 200 | 61 | 47 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 25 | 16 | 25 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0.359 | 0.418 | 8% | 13% | 361.7 |
| Adam Duvall | 53 | 212 | 232 | 58 | 32 | 11 | 1 | 14 | 31 | 45 | 15 | 55 | 4 | 2 | 0.274 | 0.358 | 24% | 7% | 345.5 |
| Ryan Zimmerman | 36 | 144 | 159 | 53 | 30 | 12 | 0 | 11 | 30 | 35 | 13 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0.368 | 0.454 | 20% | 8% | 336.5 |
| Nelson Cruz | 44 | 157 | 184 | 49 | 30 | 9 | 0 | 10 | 25 | 37 | 22 | 38 | 1 | 0 | 0.312 | 0.403 | 21% | 12% | 324.0 |
| Matt Kemp | 43 | 183 | 192 | 62 | 37 | 16 | 0 | 9 | 24 | 28 | 9 | 41 | 0 | 1 | 0.339 | 0.397 | 21% | 5% | 323.7 |
| Khris Davis | 49 | 172 | 199 | 42 | 20 | 6 | 0 | 16 | 35 | 33 | 24 | 62 | 1 | 0 | 0.244 | 0.368 | 31% | 12% | 317.5 |
| Travis Shaw | 47 | 187 | 202 | 55 | 32 | 13 | 1 | 9 | 24 | 35 | 13 | 43 | 5 | 0 | 0.294 | 0.362 | 21% | 6% | 310.5 |
| Carlos Correa | 46 | 178 | 203 | 53 | 36 | 8 | 0 | 9 | 30 | 35 | 21 | 41 | 0 | 0 | 0.298 | 0.369 | 20% | 10% | 307.1 |
| Giancarlo Stanton | 35 | 138 | 155 | 36 | 16 | 9 | 0 | 11 | 21 | 29 | 16 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0.261 | 0.372 | 23% | 10% | 249.1 |
| Victor Martinez | 49 | 181 | 206 | 47 | 33 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 18 | 28 | 20 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0.260 | 0.319 | 13% | 10% | 235.8 |
| Eric Hosmer | 45 | 168 | 187 | 50 | 35 | 13 | 0 | 2 | 20 | 16 | 18 | 30 | 1 | 0 | 0.298 | 0.338 | 16% | 10% | 234.0 |
| Jedd Gyorko | 33 | 135 | 144 | 43 | 29 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 16 | 17 | 7 | 33 | 2 | 0 | 0.319 | 0.367 | 23% | 5% | 217.5 |
| Neil Walker | 33 | 131 | 146 | 35 | 18 | 8 | 2 | 7 | 24 | 22 | 14 | 23 | 0 | 1 | 0.267 | 0.363 | 16% | 10% | 214.9 |
| Kendrys Morales | 44 | 171 | 185 | 38 | 20 | 8 | 0 | 10 | 20 | 27 | 12 | 37 | 0 | 0 | 0.222 | 0.305 | 20% | 7% | 204.5 |
Stats via FanGraphs
Top Leadoff Hitters
Scoring System
- AB - (-1)
- 1B - 5.6
- 2B - 8.5
- 3B - 11.3
- HR - 15
- BB - 3.5
- HBP - 3.5
- SB - 2.5
- CS - (-3)
