Power Rankings: Encarnacion blasts 11 home runs in 15 games
Edwin Encarnacion has a chance at breaking the record for most home runs hit in May (17).
Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images
One week ago, Edwin Encarnacion had six homers and a severely disappointing .456 slugging percentage through 158 at-bats this season. He came out on May 15 and belted two homers in a win over the Indians. Three days later, he hit another homer, this time against the Rangers. Over the next two days against the Red Sox, he hit four homers and drove in seven runs, leading the Blue Jays to back-to-back wins. He now has 13 jacks and a much more palatable .560 slugging percentage. He also has the top spot in this week's SI.com fantasy baseball player power rankings.
FANTASY BASEBALL WEEK 8: Pitching report | Hitting report | Prospect watch | Waiver wire | Twitter chat highlights | Weekly planner | Daily news: Encarnacion rewards patient owners
These rankings highlight the 30 best players in fantasy baseball from the previous week, not going forward. This might shine a light on a few players owners may not know about who are on a hot streak, potentially worth picking up to slot into the utility spot for a week or so, or help owners make decisions regarding a trade. All stats are from games played from May 15 to May 21.
Fantasy Baseball Power Rankings
| After struggling through a miserable start to the season, Encarnacion has been on an absolute tear over the last week. He's 8-for-24, and seven of those eight hits have left the yard. He also has 11 RBI and a .407 OBP, and has raised his season slash to .253/.333/.560. | ||
Recent ranking: N/A | Davis got a slow start in the power department and spent two weeks on the DL, but he woke up with a three-homer game this week. He went 8-for-21 with four homers, seven RBI, eight runs and a .519 OBP in the last seven days. | ||
Recent ranking: Week 3, No. 6 | Brantley continued his wonderful season this past week, going 11-for-25 with two homers, six RBI, two steals and a .533 OBP. He's now hitting .302/.370/.523 on the year. | ||
Recent ranking: Week 6, No. 14 | Moss belted two homers in the last week, running his season total to 10. He went 8-for-17 with a .609 OBP and is slashing .301/.393/.595 and is fourth in the majors with 40 RBI. | ||
Recent ranking: Week 6, No. 3 | Puig keeps finding himself in the power rankings, and he earned it this week after going 8-for-20 with three homers and six RBI. The exciting youngster is only getting better in his second season. | ||
Recent ranking: Week 4, No. 3 | Upton has been mostly on the "all" side in the Braves team-wide all-or-nothing ways, just as he was in the last week. He went 9-for-21 with three homers, seven RBI and a .500 OBP. | ||
Recent ranking: N/A | Simon picked up two wins last week, beating the Phillies and Nationals. He allowed just one run across 14 2/3 innings in the two starts, surrendering 10 hits and two walks while striking out 14. | ||
Recent ranking: Week 4, No. 26 | Wainwright had his best start of the season last week, tossing a complete game, one-hit shutout against the Diamondbacks. He fanned nine batters and didn't walk a batter. | ||
| Hutchison was dominant in his first start last week, notching a complete game shutout against the Rangers while allowing just three hits and striking out six. He wasn't nearly as good his next time out, but gave up just one run on six hits across 5 2/3 innings in a win over the Red Sox. | ||
Recent ranking: N/A | Murphy's big week probably didn't help very many fantasy owners, but he still deserves notice for going 9-for-22 with three homers six RBI and a .417 OBP. He remains widely available in fantasy leagues, though for good reason. | ||
Recent ranking: Week 3, No. 18 | Cruz has hit homers at an impressive rate this year, and he belted three more last week. He went 8-for-25 with the three jacks, eight RBI and five runs scored. He now has 14 roundtrippers this year. | ||
Recent ranking: N/A | Jones went 11-for-23 with a homer, eight RBI, six runs scored and a .519 OBP over the last seven days. He's hitting .280/.346/.482 with six homers and 23 RBI this season. | ||
Recent ranking: N/A | Span has had a rough go of things this year, but he finally had a strong week, going 12-for-28 with a homer and two steals in the last seven days. He still really shouldn't be on your fantasy radar. | ||
Recent ranking: Week 4, No. 2 | If not for Troy Tulowitzki hogging the spotlight, Gonzalez might be getting some more early-season MVP buzz. He went 9-for-19 with three homers last week, and is now hitting .286/.362/.554 with 12 home runs and 33 RBI this year. | ||
Recent ranking: N/A | Gordon has struggled this season, but he didn't show signs of that last week. He went 8-for-24 with a pair of homers, eight RBI, five runs scored and a .429 OBP. The hot week increased his season slash to .266/.330/.393. | ||
Recent ranking: N/A | Hughes was great in both of his starts last week, picking up a no-decision against the Red Sox and a win over the Padres. He allowed one run and 12 hits over 13 innings, striking out 15 and walking zero. | ||
Recent ranking: Week 3, No. 26 | Ross had two nearly identical starts last week, winning one and taking a hard luck loss in the other. In the first, he allowed one run on three hits in seven innings, striking out eight and walking five in a win over the Reds. In the second, he allowed one run on three hits in seven innings, striking out eight and walking three in a loss to the Twins. | ||
Recent ranking: N/A | How does a setup man make the power rankings? When he has a week that resembles one dominant start. Betances picked up a win in relief and struck out 12 batters in six innings last week, allowing one run and two hits. He has 45 strikeouts against nine walks in 26 innings this season. | ||
Recent ranking: N/A | Weaver allowed two runs on three hits and three walks in his first start last week, taking a loss against the Rays. He followed up with a complete game victory over the Astros, allowing just one run on two hits and a walk. | ||
Recent ranking: Week 6, No. 12 | Martinez had another big week, going 8-for-27 with three homers, five RBI and six runs scored. He’s hitting .329/.383/.615 with 12 homers and 28 RBI on the season. | ||
Recent ranking: N/A | Cano is starting to come around, going 11-for-22 with a homer, five RBI and a steal last week. His batting average jumped 25 points, and he’s now hitting .326/.374/.433 this year. | ||
Recent ranking: Week 5, No. 14 | Marte filled up the box score for Pittsburgh last week, going 7-for-20 with two homers, five RBI, five runs, one steal, and a .381 OBP. He appears to be over a hamstring issue that cropped up, as well. | ||
Recent ranking: Week 4, No. 1 | Donaldson had just seven hits last week, but one of them left the yard, he drove in seven runs, scored seven more, and posted a .455 OBP. About one-fourth of the way into the season, he's a prime AL MVP candidate. | ||
Recent ranking: N/A | Jackson has righted the ship of late, and that continued last week when he fanned 11 Brewers over seven shutout innings for his third win. He has a 3.98 ERA, 3.01 FIP and 49 strikeouts in 54 1/3 innings this year. | ||
Recent ranking: N/A | Lohse remains one of the most under-appreciated starting pitchers in baseball. He won both his starts last week, allowing a total of four runs on 11 hits in 15 innings against the Cubs and Braves. He fanned 10 batters while walking just one. | ||
Recent ranking: Week 4, No. 2 | Wilson was dominant in his win over the Rays last week, tossing a complete game shutout while allowing five hits and two walks with seven strikeouts. He's now 5-3 with a 3.16 ERA and 1.12 WHIP this season.s. | ||
Recent ranking: N/A | Robertson had a dominant week out of the Yankees' bullpen last week, saving three games and striking out seven while allowing just one baserunner in 3 2/3 shutout innings. | ||
Recent ranking: N/A | Asche will, and should, remain widely unowned after his strong week. He deserves recognition, however, after going 9-for-20 with a homer, six RBI and a .522 OBP. | ||
Recent ranking: N/A | De La Rosa took a no-hitter into the seventh inning against the Padres in his only start last week. He ended up giving up just one hit and one walk in seven shutout innings, picking up his fifth win of the season. | ||
Recent ranking: Week 5, No. 12 | Dozier, the top fantasy second baseman thus far, went 8-for-23 with two homers, six RBI and a .385 OBP last week. He’s hitting .257/.370/.469 with 11 homers, 41 runs, 25 RBI and 12 steals this season. | ||
