Final Week Shortstop Plays By Category

With just a week to go in the season, teams mostly fall into two firm camps: those with something to play for, and those without.

Teams with something to play for can be counted on to play mostly their top players, while those without could trot out an Astros-esque lineup without raising any eyebrows.

It makes the last week of the season difficult for those still lucky enough to have something to play for. Ideally, you want players on a “still playing” team, because their playing time is safer, against teams “not playing,” who may throw out terrible pitchers.

Still playing: Boston, Tampa Bay, Detroit, Cleveland, Oakland, Texas, Atlanta, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh

Bubble: New York Yankees, Baltimore, Kansas City, Los Angeles Dodgers

Not playing: Toronto, Minnesota, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Angels, Seattle, Houston, Washington, New York Mets, Philadelphia, Miami, Milwaukee, Chicago Cubs, Arizona, San Diego, San Francisco, Colorado

And now, for comparison, here are the shortstops who have received the most playing time in the past two weeks, along with their Yahoo ownership percentage (maximum 50% ownership rate; any blank ownership tags indicate less than five percent):

Name	Team	G	PA	AVG	R	HR	RBI	SB	Y! Own%	TeamCat	Opp1	Opp2
Jonathan Villar	Astros	13	60	0.231	5	1	2	3	21%	Not	Playing	Mid
Adeiny Hechavarria	Marlins	15	54	0.231	1	0	3	0		Not	Not	Playing
Yunel Escobar	Rays	14	54	0.238	7	0	2	0	13%	Playing	Mid	Not
Brian Dozier	Twins	13	54	0.275	6	1	5	2	47%	Not	Playing	Playing
Ronny Cedeno	Padres	14	52	0.213	3	0	2	2		Not	Not	Not
Andrew Romine	Angels	13	51	0.289	2	0	7	0		Not	Playing	Playing
Zack Cozart	Reds	12	51	0.234	5	2	10	0	32%	Playing	Not	Playing
Daniel Descalso	Cardinals	14	48	0.209	5	0	7	0		Playing	Not	Not
Andrelton Simmons	Braves	13	47	0.22	4	2	5	0	49%	Playing	Not	Not
Alcides Escobar	Royals	12	46	0.279	4	1	6	3	46%	Mid	#N/A	Not
Stephen Drew	Red Sox	11	43	0.289	3	1	5	2	26%	Playing	Not	Mid
Nick Franklin	Mariners	12	43	0.278	3	0	2	0	14%	Not	Mid	Playing
Brendan Ryan	Yankees	11	39	0.27	6	1	1	0		Mid	Playing	Not
Pedro Florimon	Twins	12	36	0.161	2	0	1	0		Not	Playing	Playing
Mike Aviles	Indians	9	32	0.125	2	0	4	0	9%	Playing	Not	Not
Jordy Mercer	Pirates	9	31	0.379	4	0	2	0		Playing	Not	Playing
Brandon Crawford	Giants	9	30	0.16	3	0	2	0	22%	Not	Mid	Not
Chris Owings	Diamondbacks	10	30	0.308	3	0	5	1		Not	Not	Not
Nick Punto	Dodgers	12	30	0.222	1	0	0	0		Mid	Not	Not
Josh Rutledge	Rockies	9	30	0.214	3	0	0	0	20%	Not	Playing	Mid
Eduardo Escobar	Twins	9	28	0.308	2	0	1	0		Not	Playing	Playing
Eduardo Nunez	Yankees	8	28	0.259	2	1	2	1		Mid	Playing	Not
Ramon Santiago	Tigers	10	27	0.25	3	0	1	0		Playing	Not	Not
Jose Iglesias	Tigers	9	26	0.174	1	0	1	1	20%	Playing	Not	Not
Willie Bloomquist	Diamondbacks	11	25	0.28	4	0	2	0		Not	Not	Not
Brad Miller	Mariners	6	24	0.211	2	0	0	1	9%	Not	Mid	Playing
Munenori Kawasaki	Blue Jays	8	23	0.211	2	0	0	0		Not	Mid	Playing
Ruben Tejada	Mets	7	23	0.143	2	0	0	0		Not	Playing	Not
Carlos Triunfel	Mariners	8	22	0.2	1	0	1	0		Not	Mid	Playing
Didi Gregorius	Diamondbacks	6	22	0.158	3	1	2	0	5%	Not	Not	Not
Jonathan Herrera	Rockies	6	22	0.429	1	0	1	0		Not	Playing	Mid
Clint Barmes	Pirates	11	21	0.15	2	1	2	0		Playing	Not	Playing
Omar Quintanilla	Mets	8	21	0.211	0	0	0	1		Not	Playing	Not
Xander Bogaerts	Red Sox	5	18	0.143	3	0	1	1	11%	Playing	Not	Mid
Billy Hamilton	Reds	7	16	0.429	6	0	1	9	45%	Playing	Not	Playing
Pete Kozma	Cardinals	11	14	0.214	4	0	0	1		Playing	Not	Not
Jurickson Profar	Rangers	5	14	0.154	2	0	0	0	19%	Playing	Not	Not
Dee Gordon	Dodgers	8	11	0.4	2	0	0	4		Mid	Not	Not
Ehire Adrianza	Giants	4	11	0.3	2	1	3	0		Not	Mid	Not

First of all, Billy Hamilton is the key add. If he’s still available, grab him; nobody is going to give you the juice in any one category as much as he will. Unless you have no need for speed (and any competitors also don’t need speed), pick him up.

Beyond Hamilton, some of the best plays by category need could be as follows:

Runs
Yunel Escobar – Rays are still competing and they draw the Yankees (still kind of in it) and the Jays (not).

Stephen Drew – the Sox have a chance at home field throughout the playoffs and play the Rockies (out of it) and Orioles (who will be by then).

RBI
Zack Cozart – as much as he’s not very good, he hits after a group of excellent hitters on a team that will be competing until the very last day of the season.

Daniel Descalso – he’s been playing pretty much every day, and while he isn’t an RBI machine, playing time in that Cardinals lineup is a good set up.

Home Runs
Josh Rutledge – if he gets to play, he’s got a pair of games left in Coors Field and has shown category juice (at the expense of ratios).

Chris Owings – he’ll play at Chase Field on the final weekend of the season and is likely to get in the lineup. He’s flashed double-digit power in the minors the past few seasons and could luck into his first career dinger.

Stolen Bases
Jonathan Villar – getting every day playing time so the team can judge his readiness, he runs pretty much any chance he gets.

Dee Gordon – with the Dodgers clinched and unlikely to grab the top NL record, the team is likely to rest Hanley Ramirez for a few games, giving Gordon a chance to play.

Overall
Brian Dozier – some nice category juice here, and the Twins could let him play (albeit against good teams) to pad his career-year numbers.

Hope some of these tips help and that table can be useful at other positions as well. I’ll try to answer any pick-up or sit/start questions all week in the comments.