Top 35 Shortstops for 2020

by
October 7, 2019

We knew coming into the season that shortstop was deep, but it even exceeded the expectations from the spring. Studs being studs, rookies coming through in a major way, development for several others, and of course the ball created an explosion at the position. Even more impressive is the fact that we have another wave of potential gems on the horizon.

Other 2020 Rankings:

Let me know what you think in the comments.

Top 35 SS for 2020
RK Player Comment
1 Trevor Story The ultimate dream fantasy player: power, speed, and Coors
2 Francisco Lindor Just keeps dominating; hit 6+ HR in each of the final 3 months
3 Trea Turner Matched HR and fell just 8 SB shy of ’18 totals despite 171 fewer PA
4 Alex Bregman SB evaporating as he becomes power force, but still just 26 y/o
5 Xander Bogaerts Bregmanesque evolution w/12 SB in ’18-19 total after 10+ in ’15-17
6 Fernando Tatis Jr. Spd will keep BABIP high, but .410 is unrealistic, endangering AVG
7 Adalberto Mondesi Labrum surgery in Oct requires 5-6 mos of recovery; be careful
8 Jonathan Villar Might’ve been best SS in ’19 when factoring SB value v. HR
9 Javier Báez Didn’t regress nearly as much as expected; solid investment
10 Gleyber Torres Had a solid .783 OPS, 25 HR, 70 RBI, 74 R v. non-Baltimore teams
11 Ketel Marte Hinted at pwr in ’18 w/.177 ISO; has raw speed for more SBs if he chooses
12 Tim Anderson Injury undercut special yr, but still led MLB w/.335 AVG
13 Bo Bichette Bat soared in 46 gm sample, spd could follow (30 SB/600 PA in MiLB)
14 Manny Machado Depth of position & sporadic SBs curb his value a bit
15 Marcus Semien Sharpened plate approach brought ’16 pwr back and then some
16 Carlos Correa 3 seasons of 110 gms or fewer dampens outlook w/this much depth
17 Jorge Polanco AVG & R investment; has spd for more SBs, but must fix 62% SB rate
18 Corey Seager Frustrating, but still wouldn’t be surprised by .310/35/110 season
19 Gavin Lux Brilliant .347 AVG/26 HR/10 SB in AA/AAA will fuel 2020 hype
20 Scott Kingery Cheaper & older version of FTJ; shows FTJ outlook w/lower BABIP
21 Kevin Newman Quietly dropped a .308 AVG/12 HR/16 SB yr & landed atop PIT lineup
22 Elvis Andrus Spd (31 SB) saved punchless bat to finish 12th among SS
23 Amed Rosario CS could stifle chances, but .804 OPS/.319 AVG in 2H is promising
24 Jean Segura Only 10 SB after 20+ for 6 yrs, but spd didn’t fall that much
25 Garrett Hampson Massive flop thru 5 mos. before winning lgs in Sept: .318/5 HR/9 SB
26 Lourdes Gurriel Jr. Has 606 MLB PA now: 31 HR-85 RBI-82 R-7 SB-.279 AVG
27 Paul DeJong 1.010 OPS in April; just .701 OPS & .206 AVG from May 1st on
28 Didi Gregorius .270-25-5 just doesn’t go that far anymore; FA this offseason, too
29 Willy Adames Volatility plagued yr (2 sub-.600 OPS mos; 3 at .800+); just 24 next yr
30 Jon Berti Late-bloomer (30 y/o) has legit spd; should have PT w/MIA, too
31 Nick Senzel Monitor labrum recovery, but this is a 20/20 bat w/some health
32 Nick Ahmed Small pwr gains last 3 yrs, but still can’t hit vRH (career .624 OPS)
33 Niko Goodrum B2B double-doubles, but poor team & AVG stunt upside
34 Nico Hoerner Flashed strong bat-to-ball skill (13% K) & bouncy ball added pop
35 Luis Urías Ball aided MiLB pwr jump (.285 ISO), but couldn’t bring it to MLB (.102)
Honorable Mentions: Andrelton Simmons, Jurickson Profar, Dansby Swanson, Brendan Rodgers, Royce Lewis, Carter Kieboom, Wander Franco, Andrés Giménez, Hanser Alberto, Orlando Arcia, Freddy Galvis, Cole Tucker, Josh VanMeter





 

Paul is the Editor of Rotographs and Content Director for OOTP Perfect Team. Follow Paul on Twitter @sporer and on Twitch at sporer.

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Sonny Price
4 years ago

Holy smokes Semien at 15? Wow what a deep position group.

13
Paul Sporermember
4 years ago
Reply to  Sonny Price

I know and I’m a huge Semien fan, so I feel like I’m gonna be a bit higher than some others. Maybe put him over Bichette, but I’m betting on Bichette’s big speed coming through next year. Not sure I see anyone else he *must* be over.

1
cartermember
4 years ago
Reply to  Paul Sporer

Bichette actually has average to below average peak speed. Not that it means a lot when stealing bases, but still.

-1
Paul Sporermember
4 years ago
Reply to  carter

Ya obv referring to minor league SB track record, as I did in the comment

0
NCPhilly
4 years ago
Reply to  Sonny Price

Indeed! Semien might even get a boost depending on the context of your league’s scoring. For example, in my points league he was the 2nd top scoring SS (801) behind Bregman (813.5) and 3rd place Bogaerts was a distant 781 points. He was the 4th overall hitter.

What surprised me most about him this year was his plate discipline as far as it appeared in BB and K numbers. Everything about his XBH looks sustainable and he even has room to grow in steals, but the latter is more doubtful as a player ages and I would not be surprised for some regression after a career season, especially in batting average.

2
Brademember
4 years ago
Reply to  Sonny Price

He’ll come back down to earth next year. Look at his OPS+ each year and note how huge an outlier this was.

2