Hello and welcome to Hitter List, where every Wednesday I’ll be unapologetically ranking the top 150 hitters in baseball from now through the end of the season.

Before we jump in to this week’s edition, I’d like to give a general overview of how I go about evaluating players for these rankings, so that when you call me the dumbest person imaginable later, at least you’ll know exactly why I’m the dumbest person imaginable:

I value stolen bases significantly more than home runs. The 5,585 homers hit in 2018 were the fourth-highest total in modern history. And the 2,474 stolen bases from last year were the lowest total since 1994 and the eighth-lowest total since 1969. In other words, stolen bases are a scarce resource getting even scarcer, like crude oil. And home runs are an abundant resource that are becoming more prevalent, like… Beanie Babies? All else being equal, I’ll always take the guy with 15 HR/20 SB over the guy with 20 HR/15 SB.

I’m generally not a believer in positional scarcity, so position eligibility only comes into play in two instances: as a tiebreaker when two players are fairly evenly matched, or if a player is eligible at catcher, because catcher is a barren wasteland this year filled with adrenaline-fueled maniacs playing guitar riffs while strapped to 18-wheelers. Wait, no, that’s “Mad Max: Fury Road,” but catcher is just as bleak and weird.

I’m an old man who’s afraid of change, so I tend to be low on young players without major league track records.

These rankings apply only to leagues using standard scoring (R, RBI, HR, SB, AVG). Adjust accordingly for other formats.

These rankings are meant to be from today’s date through the end of the season. These are purely for redraft, so I’m not taking 2020 into account here at all (though it is weighing heavily on my mind politically — thanks for asking).

Speaking of Adam Jones, he appears to be the Arizona Diamondbacks‘ new leadoff hitter and he’s been off to a torrid start. I already thought he was a solid source for 20+ homers with a .275 average and a handful of steals, but now he should rake in the runs too. Not a bad guy to grab considering he’s practically free.

While the Daniel Murphy injury theoretically should have opened up full-time at-bats for my boy Garrett Hampson, he has astoundingly still struggled to get into the lineup. This is a situation I’m monitoring closely, as I think Hampson has big-time breakout potential and could use this opportunity to establish himself over Ryan McMahon as the rightful heir to the Colorado Rockies’ second-base gig.

It has been a huge start to the year for rookies Pete Alonso (AKA Alonso RBI-era) and Victor Robles, who each casually mashed against a trio of top-tier aces over the past week. They’ve each been equally impressive at the plate, but I am curious to see how they’ll react over the next few weeks as pitchers start exploiting their weaknesses.

With Trea Turner likely on the shelf for at least a month, those in deeper leagues might want to keep an eye on Carter Kieboom. If he’s recalled, he has enough pop, speed, and contact to make a difference and launch himself into the top 150 hitters going forward. It’s worth mentioning that it may take a week or so until he magically becomes “ready” for promotion due to service time manipulation.

Graphic by Michael Haas (@digitalHaas on Twitter)