My Top 10: Shortstop
By: Max Greenfield
Much like 3rd base, Shortstop is deep with talent. There’s about 13 players worth being in the conversation of the top 10 shortstops in baseball right now. It’s great for the game of baseball and we live in the golden age of shortstops. All the players on my list can get it done in a multitude of ways. There are 5 tool guys, superstars, up and comers, and defensive wizards on this list. For clarification, Javier Baez and Manny Machado are being defined as shortstops in this list. Baez will play shortstop for the Cubs this year because of the situation with Addison Russell. Machado played the bulk of his games at short last year and could be signed to play shortstop this year. Machado and Baez both make an appearance on this list which can be seen below.
1. Francisco Lindor
2. Manny Machado
3. Javier Baez
4. Andrelton Simmons
5. Xander Bogaerts
6. Carlos Correa
7. Didi Gregorius
8. Corey Seager
9. Trevor Story
10. Jean Segura
Francisco Lindor
“Mr. Smile” is the most enjoyable player to watch in baseball today. He plays the game with a joy that reminds fans of why they fell in love with the game. Lindor’s home run in Puerto Rico will always give me chills. An incredible moment playing in front of his home country and family that really does make me love that man. Lindor is the other switch-hitting star on the left side of the infield for the Indians. Paired with Jose Ramirez, the Indians left side of the infield is the best in baseball. Lindor has spent 4 seasons in the show and has hit .288 with 98 home runs and 310 RBI. He’s scored 377 runs including a major league leading 129 runs in 2018. Lindor has a career wOBA of .355, a 120 wRC+, and 22.8 WAR. Since his debut, he ranks 4th in wOBA and wRC+ and 1st in WAR among shortstops (min 1500 PA). Lindor’s offensive ability is top tier but paired with his defense, Lindor sets himself apart. Lindor has 46 defensive runs saved since the beginning of his career and that’s an impressive total. If he wasn’t in the same league as Andrelton Simmons, he’d probably win a gold glove almost every year. Lindor has 71 career steals and a stolen base% of 76% which is above league average. Lindor is a 5-tool star for the Indians and one could argue the face of baseball. Lindor will miss most of spring training and likely the first week or two but shouldn’t hinder him for the season. Lindor is a charismatic star who makes baseball fun. He’s an inspiration for many young fans and draws more people to the game of baseball.
Manny Machado
It’s a week till Spring Training starts and Manny Machado is still on the market. I wrote about why the off-season is moving the way it is so read that blog if you want to know why I think he is still a free agent. I will say this about Machado, he is a generational talent and he will improve any team he is on. Machado has spent 6 full seasons in the big leagues and is coming off the best offensive season of his career. Machado set career marks in batting average (.297), RBI (107), wOBA (.377), wRC+ (141) and tied career highs in home runs (37) and walks (70). Where he really improved was his walk rate was an all time high at 9.9% and his strikeout rate was a career low 14.7%. He’s also had 4 straight seasons of 30+ home runs a year. There are improvements being made and he’s still just 26 so he can keep getting better. Between his time with Orioles and Dodgers last year, Machado was a 6-win player which was the 3rd time in his career had a WAR above 6. The perennial superstar caught grief for his “Johnny Hustle” comments but frankly, I don’t care. Since 2015, he’s missed 17 games total. If him hustling when he chooses means he’s on the field for 158 games a year, fine by me. He admitted to not hustling which is controversy because you shouldn’t admit to those kinds of things but he’s smart about the way he hustles. He had 14 stolen bases on just 16 attempts last year so he can run the bases effectively. Defensively, Machado is fantastic at 3rd base. He has 85 career defensive runs saved at the position. At shortstop, Machado was -18 defensive runs saved with the Orioles but had 5 runs saved with the Dodgers. This leads to the flaw in the measure, the stat doesn’t consider where the player is being positioned. Orioles weren’t putting Machado in the right spot on the field and so he just couldn’t get to the balls he was supposed to. Dodgers did and got the player people knew Machado was. The 26-year-old comes with some baggage but he’s an all-star level talent who just came off the best season of his career.
Javier Baez
The NL MVP runner-up is one the most interesting players to watch in baseball today. Baez is full of charisma, flare, and spirit that is undeniably fun to watch. It rubs some people the wrong way, but I believe he’s good for baseball. Especially if he plays like he did last year on a consistent basis. The Cubs utility super star hit .290 with 34 home runs, 111 RBI, and 101 runs scored. His 111 RBI led the National league last year which helped keep Christian Yelich from winning the triple crown. His wOBA was .366 with a 131 wRC+ and 5.3 WAR. He drew only 29 walks and struck out 167 times still had a slugging percentage of .554. Baez is unorthodox at the plate due to his low walk high strike out nature. You wouldn’t expect a player who has a .17 K/BB ratio to slug over .550 on a season but Baez did it. The 26-year-old had 83 extra base hits last year which makes just under 50% of his 176 hits going for extra bases. It doesn’t really make sense given 45% of his balls in play are on the ground but Baez has plus speed, so he can beat a lot of those balls out. He had 21 stolen bases last year which was a career high. On defense, Baez gets a lot of attention for his flash and flare. He plays all around the infield and had 10 defensive runs saved across those positions in 2018. In 2019, Baez will be the Cubs shortstop and should do well at that position. It’ll be hard to duplicate the year Baez had but he’s entertaining to watch and young enough to be all star level for years to come.
Andrelton Simmons
Andrelton Simmons is the most underrated player in baseball. He made his debut in 2012 and hasn’t made a single all-star team. Since 2015, Andrelton Simmons is 4th among shortstops in WAR (min 1500 PA). He’s a league average offensive player with a .326 wOBA last year and 109 wRC+. He has improved offensively every year since 2015 and hit a career high .292 last year. That’s not why he is so high on this list though. He may be a league average hitter, but Simmons is one of the greatest defensive shortstops the game has ever seen. In his career, Andrelton Simmons has produced 185 defensive runs saved. That’s 2nd most all time since they’ve been keeping track of the stat in 2003. In 2013, the Angels shortstop had 41 defensive runs saved! 41! That’s 2nd most all time in a single season (Kevin Kiermaier 42, 2015). His defensive WAR is 25.3 which is the highest among active players. He’s 17th all-time in defensive WAR. He’s only 28 and is averaging 3.6 wins defensively a year. Ozzie Smith is first all time in defensive WAR at 44.2. At the rate Simmons is going at, in just 6 years Simmons will be the all-time leader in that category. Ozzie Smith had a career wOBA of .304 and a 90 wRC+. Simmons has the same career wOBA and a 94 wRC+ with Simmons getting better offensively every year. There’s a chance we are watching a Hall of Fame shortstop right in front of our eyes and no one is really paying attention.
Xander Bogaerts
The Red Sox have a core four of Betts, Martinez, Sale, and Bogaerts. Bogaerts has been on the Red Sox the longest of that group and was on the 2013 World Series team. 2018 saw the Red Sox shortstop become the offensive weapon people had been hoping to see. Bogaerts hit a .288 with career highs in home runs with 23 and RBI with 103. He also had a career best 45 doubles in 2018 which lead to 71 extra base hits on the year. His .522 slugging percentage was the first time he slugged over .500 in his career. The 26-year-old had a .373 wOBA, a 133 wRC+, and a 4.9 WAR. All career highs for the young shortstop. After disappointing many in 2017, Bogaerts responded with a strong offensive year in 2018 finishing 3rd in wOBA, 2nd in wRC+, and 6th in WAR among qualified shortstops in 2018. Bogaerts is a good base runner in 2018 with a career 80% success rate on stolen bases. The downside to Bogaerts and why he isn’t ahead of guys like Baez and Simmons is he is atrocious on defense. Bogaerts has a career value of -48 defensive runs saved in just 6 seasons. What’s worse about that is that he has been getting worse defensively over the past few years. He can improve this measure as defense can be a year to year basis but he’s not going in the right direction. The Red Sox will live with it because he is one of the best offensive shortstops in the game today.
Carlos Correa
A year ago, Correa is probably taking the top spot on this list. He was first among shortstops in 2017 in wOBA and wRC+. He was third in WAR despite only playing 110 games. He was a key piece on the Astros World Series run. He hit 5 home runs with 14 and slugged over .500 in the postseason. In 2018, Correa struggled mightily. Correa played in 109 games and hit .239 with 15 home runs. It’s concerning that he played in under 120 games back to back seasons but more concerning how massive his fall off was in 2018. His wOBA value fell by 80 points from .394 in 2017 to .313 in 2018. It was a similar case for wRC+ as he went from 151 to just 101. Correa did have a good ALCS and is lined up for a comeback year in 2019. When healthy Correa is the best player on the Astros. He’s still young, he turned 24 in September, and can recover from a down year. There is pressure on Correa to perform as the Astros are a World Series or bust built team. Given Correa’s career in the postseason however, I think he can handle the pressure and will respond well in 2019.
Didi Gregorius
Being the guy tagged with the duty of replacing Derek Jeter is a tough job. Gregorius has made Yankee fans “euphorius”, as John Sterling would say, during his time in New York. The Yankee shortstop lit the baseball world on fire in the first month of the 2018 season. He was the AL POM and the front runner for the MVP. He was destined for his first all star appearance. Then May happened and Didi fell off a cliff. Didi quietly recovered from that month and an injury. He put up another great season offensively when all was said and done. Didi hit .268 and hit a career high in home runs with 27. Breaking his own Yankee record for home runs by a shortstop in a season. Didi had 86 RBI and a career best 89 runs scored. He put up career highs in wOBA (.350), wRC+ (121), and WAR (4.6). Gregorius has gotten consistently better over his last few years, but his plate discipline is where he has really improved. His walk rate nearly doubled from 2017 to 2018 (4.4 to 8.4). His strikeout rate was a career low as well. Didi has bought into the Yankees culture and the Yankees have bought into Didi. Though he will miss a large portion of the 2019 season, The Yankees want to bring “Sir Didi” back after he hits free agency next offseason. Didi has been a great player in his Yankees career and hopefully he stays that way for years to come.
Corey Seager
The Dodger shortstop missed all of 2018 after it was reported he’d need Tommy John surgery. There are a lot of questions about how he will perform coming back. That’s why Seager isn’t higher on this list right now. Looking at Seager’s first 2 seasons shows why he is on this list. Seager hit .302 with an average of 24 home runs and 74 RBI a year for his first 2 years in the show. He slugged just under .500 and had 126 extra base hits. His wOBA was .368, a 134 wRC+, and a 12.9 WAR. Seager along with Correa and Lindor were the cream of the crop for shortstops. He won back to back silver sluggers for the position. He was in the top of the crowded class and was getting better. Seager had shown an improving walk rate as well. Going from 7.9% in 2016 to 10.9% in 2017. The Dodgers shortstop also had 10 defensive runs saved in 2017 making great stride after having 0 in 2016. He had a 1.7 defensive WAR in 2017 which would put him above average for shortstops that year. The good news for the Dodgers is that Gleyber Torres had Tommy John surgery in 2017 and look what he did in 2018. There is evidence that a position player can recover from the operation and produce at a high level. The other good news is that Seager is entering his age 25 season. He’s young and healthy and she should be ready to produce.
Trevor Story
Getting down to these final few sports makes it difficult to find separation. Trevor Story separates himself from the rest of the pack because of his raw power. Story may play in Coors Field, but he’d be a 30+ home run threat in any park. He was tied with Machado for 2nd among shortstops in home runs with 37. He was also 2nd in RBI with 108 and lead all qualified shortstop in wOBA with a .384 wOBA. Story is not just a power hitter though, he hit .291 with a .348 OBP. Both career highs for Story. The Rockies all-star shortstop also had 27 stolen bases with 80% success rate. The year after he led the NL in strikeouts, Story cut his strikeout rate by 9%. He is an offensive weapon, but he does 16 defensive runs saved over his career. The reason he isn’t higher on the list is because he struggled in 2017 and has to prove some sort of consistency first. If he has a similar year next year, he could easily move up on this list. I’d like to see that happen as he hits ball hard and far. He’s fun to watch and I’m hoping for another great year in 2019.
Jean Segura
This spot could very well go to 3 or 4 different players. I chose Segura because he is going to the National League next year after spending 2 straight seasons in the American League. I believe a player usually improves when they go from the American League to the National League. I know that the NL East is a crowded division full of great pitchers but there is still something about going from league to league that there is difference in performance. When Segura played for the Diamondbacks in 2016, Segura had the best year of his career. He hit .319 with 20 home runs. He had 33 stolen bases that year as well and lead the league in hits with 203. He had a .371 wOBA and 5.1 WAR that year. In his 2 seasons with the Mariners Segura hit above .300 both times but barely had an above average wOBA. Segura also had 5 defensive runs saved last year which should give the Phillies some confidence in their new shortstops ability to man the position. Segura brings veteran experience to the Phillies who could have a big year.
Once again, this list is not perfect, no list is. I value players differently than others and there is no one best way to do it. Players like Trea Turner, Paul Dejong, Marcus Semien, Jose Iglesias could all be in consideration for this list. All values of WAR, wRC+, and wOBA are found from Fangraphs. Data is found between Fangraphs and Baseball Reference. Follow me on twitter @GreenfieldMax18.
