Updated Consensus Ranks: Second Base
Second base. Where you stick your shortstops that fail defensively and your third basemen that can’t hit. Second base, where a little agility can turn a tweener bat into an every day asset. Second base! Where fantasy team dreams go to die.
Second base. Where you hope you’re in a 16-team league or less, because the 17th-best second baseman might not hit .230 the rest of the way. Second base, where a guy like Darwin Barney — who may not hit six homers or steal six bases or hit .280 — may yet figure in to your deep league plans.
I make fun, but at least some sleeper two-baggers have shown us enough to solidify the back end in traditional mixed Leagues. Josh Rutledge has his flaws, but he’s already shown power and speed. Chase Utley has a degenerative knee condition, but he’s doing well for now. Neil Walker and Howie Kendrick haven’t been vintage Neil Walker and Howie Kendrick, but it wouldn’t kill you to run them out there for a while. Especially if you’re waiting for Aaron Hill, who showed enough in a short sample sophomore effort in Arizona to be exciting.
Second base. Maybe not as bad as we thought, at least in traditional mixed leagues. You in the onlies, and the 20-teamers? I hope you have someone.
Who do you like more? Less?
With the color-coding we hope to highlight the biggest movers. That definition changes as you follow the ranks down the list — players had to move more to register a color change as you near the bottom of the list. These are rest-of-season rankings for 5×5 roto.
RG | Player | JZ | ES | MP | ZS |
1 | Robinson Cano | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
2 | Ian Kinsler | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
3 | Dustin Pedroia | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
4 | Jose Altuve | 4 | 4 | 5 | 8 |
5 | Ben Zobrist | 7 | 6 | 7 | 4 |
6 | Jason Kipnis | 8 | 7 | 4 | 5 |
7 | Brandon Phillips | 6 | 8 | 6 | 6 |
8 | Martin Prado | 10 | 12 | 8 | 7 |
9 | Aaron Hill | 9 | 10 | 10 | 11 |
10 | Kyle Seager | 11 | 11 | 9 | 9 |
11 | Josh Rutledge | 5 | 5 | 12 | 25 |
12 | Chase Utley | 15 | 9 | 11 | 13 |
13 | Howie Kendrick | 13 | 14 | 14 | 12 |
14 | Neil Walker | 12 | 13 | 15 | 16 |
15 | Rickie Weeks | 14 | 15 | 13 | 17 |
16 | Michael Young | 16 | 16 | 17 | 10 |
17 | Dan Uggla | 20 | 19 | 16 | 22 |
18 | Omar Infante | 19 | 17 | 24 | 18 |
19 | Matt Carpenter | 23 | 18 | 18 | 19 |
20 | Daniel Murphy | 17 | 21 | 23 | 21 |
21 | Marco Scutaro | 24 | 23 | 21 | 14 |
22 | Danny Espinosa | 18 | 24 | 19 | 26 |
23 | Jedd Gyorko | 25 | 20 | 20 | 24 |
24 | Dustin Ackley | 21 | 25 | 22 | 27 |
25 | Everth Cabrera | 22 | 22 | 26 | 28 |
26 | Kelly Johnson | 29 | 28 | 27 | 15 |
27 | Mark Ellis | 38 | 31 | 35 | 20 |
28 | Emilio Bonifacio | 33 | 27 | 25 | 40 |
29 | Cliff Pennington | 32 | 26 | 34 | 34 |
30 | Darwin Barney | 31 | 29 | 32 | 37 |
31 | Jeff Keppinger | 30 | 33 | 30 | 38 |
32 | Gordon Beckham | 26 | 37 | 36 | 36 |
33 | Jordany Valdespin | 27 | 41 | 28 | 41 |
34 | Maicer Izturis | 41 | 32 | 29 | 35 |
35 | Donovan Solano | 41 | 35 | 39 | 23 |
36 | Yuniesky Betancourt | 41 | 30 | 31 | 41 |
37 | Chris Getz | 41 | 34 | 38 | 31 |
38 | Munenori Kawasaki | 28 | 41 | 37 | 41 |
39 | Jurickson Profar | 41 | 36 | 41 | 29 |
40 | Steve Lombardozzi | 35 | 41 | 41 | 33 |
41 | Adeiny Hechavarria | 39 | 41 | 33 | 41 |
42 | Chris Nelson | 40 | 41 | 41 | 32 |
43 | Tyler Greene | 36 | 38 | 41 | 41 |
44 | Jamey Carroll | 37 | 41 | 41 | 39 |
These players appeared on one ranker’s list: Pedro Ciriaco, Alexi Amarista, Jemile Weeks, Logan Forsythe, and Kolten Wong.
With a phone full of pictures of pitchers' fingers, strange beers, and his two toddler sons, Eno Sarris can be found at the ballpark or a brewery most days. Read him here, writing about the A's or Giants at The Athletic, or about beer at October. Follow him on Twitter @enosarris if you can handle the sandwiches and inanity.
Suprised to see Kipnis below Zobrist… I assume this doesn’t take into account position flexibility. I know Kipnis struggled early in the year, but he probably has the best Power/Speed combo on the board (besides Kinsler who can never stay healthy). I am also suprised to see Gyorko so low still, even though he raised his ranking. After his 30 some bombs in the PCL last year, I am still hoping for around 20-25 dingers this year.
Hope you enjoy waiting
I’m still hoping for Jerko’s power to appear. I enjoy waiting for their glorious arrival; the day when Jerko’s home runs blot out the sun.