We already went over the top 20 catchers and the top 20 1st basemen for 2018 fantasy baseball. Today, we dip our big toe into the top 20 2nd basemen pool. 2nd basemen had some huge disappointments, while also being deeper than 1st basemen. A few disappointments, to varying degrees: Yoan Moncada, Jonathan Schoop, Dee Gordon, Paul DeJong, Robinson Cano, Ian Happ, Daniel Murphy, Tim Beckham and some in this post, big and small and one that is small that was a big disappointment. To recap this crap (rhyme points!), this final ranking for last year is from our Fantasy Baseball Player Rater with my comments. Actually, that’s the ESPN Player Rater, I’m using the Yahoo Player Rater (due to position eligibility). Tomato-tomato with different emphasis. The Player Rater allows me to be impartial while looking at how I ranked them in the preseason. Anyway, here’s the top 20 2nd basemen for 2018 fantasy baseball and how they compared to where I originally ranked them:
1. Jose Ramirez – We need to start being accountable for our drafting. I ranked Jo-Ram at least ten spots before every other fantasy baseball ‘pert, according to Fantasy Pros. Did you draft Jo-Ram? No? Neither did I. This is kinda inexcusable. I had reasons — drafted Lindor in two leagues, who I ranked before Jo-Ram, and, by the time the draft came back to me, Jo-Ram wasn’t available anymore. (My other drafts were NL-Only or auction.) What were your reasons? Did you just not trust me? That’s not an excuse if you’re reading the site. Here’s what I said in January, “Ramirez is .315 hitter, with speed and power and that’s not evaporating in his age 25 season. He’s top ten for best swinging strike percentage, and makes the 15th best contact with pitches inside the strike zone. That tells me, he knows when to swing, and doesn’t miss his pitch. In an age of strikeouts, he doesn’t. He was the 4th lowest for strikeouts, Mookie Betts was 6th, Votto was 9th and Altuve was 12th. If Bad Company’s number one song was Bad Company (how’d they come up with that name?), Jose Ramirez’s band would be named Is In Good Company with the song, Is In Good Company.” And that’s me quoting me! I knew Jo-Ram had some risk, but I spelled out why he didn’t have as much risk as you thought. Preseason Rank #2, 2018 Projections: 101/25/91/.315/21 in 577 ABs, Final Numbers: 110/39/106/.272/34 in 578 ABs
2. Javier Baez – Yes, my rank was pretty far off on Baez, but I was above the consensus, and said in the preseason, “I’m shocked I didn’t write a sleeper on him, but I might’ve figured there was too much hype about him already. That’s right, I don’t remember what I was thinking. Wait until you get older, you’ll know what it’s like to walk into a room and be like, ‘Why did I come in here? Do I have to pee? Should I pee into the hamper?'” And that’s me–Well, you know. Maybe I should’ve pushed Baez a little harder, in a non-sexual way. Wally Woke, “Nothing should be in a sexual way, ever.” Baez breaking out this year is one of the most predictable things to happen. All Maddon needed to do was move him up the order. Yes, I’m gently putting it out in the universe what I think Ian Happ needs in 2019. Preseason Rank #12, 2018 Projections: 80/25/79/.270/11 in 494 ABs, Final Numbers: 101/34/111/.290/21 in 606 ABs
3. Whit Merrifield – Actually, manspainly, awkward sentence intro-ly, I ended up drafting Merrifield in a few leagues, so I was in on him too. Here’s one thing that I need to talk more about next year, but I’ll give you people — yes, you people! — a taste. A lot of people in the preseason say things about how a guy is on a bad team, which will hurt him, but I see the exact opposite. There’s something reassuring about a guy with no competition for playing time, who will have a good place in the lineup and will be allowed to steal at will, because his team doesn’t care if he gets caught. A bad team can actually be a positive. Preseason Rank #11, 2018 Projections: 89/15/59/.279/22 in 597 ABs, Final Numbers: 88/12/60/.304/45 in 632 ABs
4. Matt Carpenter – Went over him in the 1st basemen recap.
5. Scooter Gennett – I was on the fence with Gennett back in the preseason on whether he could keep putting balls over the fence. Since he hit ‘only’ 23 homers and I projected him for 22, I guess I was right about him not upping his power. His average, on the other hand (were me on hands?), I didn’t see that coming. Since he had a .358 BABIP, no one could’ve saw it coming. Looking at preseason projections, no one did see it coming. Preseason Rank #24, 2018 Projections: 71/22/79/.255/4 in 479 ABs, Final Numbers: 86/23/92/.310/4 in 584 ABs
6. Ozzie Albies – Mentioned this during the season: I liked Ozzie in the preseason, but I didn’t like him enough. Should’ve been more aggressive on him. However, if he would’ve done what he did in the 2nd half in the 1st half, he would’ve been dropped by June in 75% of leagues. Still no excuse (after making excuses), I think he’s more of the player we saw in the 1st half, and should’ve bumped him up some in the preseason. Preseason Rank #18, 2018 Projections: 77/14/52/.291/22 in 524 ABs, Final Numbers: 105/24/72/.261/14 in 639 ABs
7. Anthony Rizzo – Went over him in the 1st basemen recap.
8. Jose Altuve – For a guy this short, you didn’t think he’d have so much room to fall. A’la Tommy Boy, “Little man, big expectations! Little man, big expectations!” Don’t want to make this about next year, but I could see big box sites like ESPN and Yahoo just ignoring warning signs and being back in on Altuve. Steals, however, don’t come back with age, and if he’s not stealing 30+ bases, his value takes a big hit. “Little man, big hit. Little man, big hit.” Preseason Rank #1, 2018 Projections: 111/23/92/.329/30 in 593 ABs, Final Numbers: 84/13/61/.315/17 in 534 ABs
9. Jose Peraza – As off as I was on Albies while being on (I liked Albies just not enough), I liked Peraza plenty. He wasn’t even being drafted in some leagues, and I had Peraza above Albies (which was obviously a mistake in hindsight). Peraza was, thankfully, not a Paul Janish clone, and should not be nicknamed Gone Varnish. Preseason Rank #17, 2018 Projections: 64/7/43/.286/30 in 554 ABs, Final Numbers: 85/14/58/.288/23 in 632 ABs
10. Jed Lowrie – In case it wasn’t obvious, there was a steep cliff dive from Peraza to this next tier of 2nd basemen. Maybe that’s a steppe cliff, I don’t know, that geology class was supposed to be an easy A, but so was not. Lowrie’s career incline on homers looks supported by his HR/FB%, but he’s also old, so only missing a week’s worth of games all year appears to be an aberration. Basically, he’s going the Daniel Murphy route. Call him Jeddie Murphy. Preseason Rank #36, 2018 Projections: 72/15/71/.260 in 517 ABs, Final Numbers: 78/23/99/.267 in 596 ABs
11. Eduardo Escobar – In my preseason rankings, I talk about how I wanted to write a sleeper post for Escobar. I didn’t, so two steps forward, one step Escoback. Preseason Rank #28, 2018 Projections: 57/19/71/.267/4 in 440 ABs, Final Numbers: 75/23/84/.272/2 in 566 ABs
12. Cesar Hernandez – If you’re at all interested, Cesar overcame middling stats to place this high due to runs. This is the only time someone who sounds like they wear a toga was benefited by the runs. Preseason Rank #29, 2018 Projections: 82/6/41/.288/17 in 542 ABs, Final Numbers: 91/15/60/.253/19 in 605 ABs
13. Jonathan Villar – Just a quick word about his projections vs. his end of the season numbers. Until Villar proves me wrong, he is a lock for 13-ish homers and 30-ish steals. Everything else is in constant flux. Sometimes what’s in flux sucks, sometimes you want a flux capacitor to go back in time to draft him. Preseason Rank #25, 2018 Projections: 58/13/38/.244/27 in 412 ABs, Final Numbers: 54/14/46/.260/35 in 466 ABs
14. DJ LeMahieu – His season was a tale of three seasons. April was Hey DJ Pump This Party. May thru July was It’s My Party and I’ll Cry If I Want To. August and September was DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love. Preseason Rank #19, 2018 Projections: 103/10/62/.312/10 in 602 ABs, Final Numbers: 90/15/62/.276/6 in 533 ABs
15. Gleyber Torres – For what it’s Werth, what I said for Cesar Hernandez, I said it after looking at where Gleyber ended up ranking. Gleyber deserved better in the end of season rankings, which I’m sure is more important to him than the love and admiration of million of Yankees fans, so my apologies. Preseason Rank #32 for shortstops, 2018 Projections: 45/7/41/.277/12 in 364 ABs, Final Numbers: 54/24/77/.271/6 in 431 ABs
16. Rougned Odor – Brucely, he had two good months in the midst of four stinkers, which is seeming more and more appropriate for Odor. Preseason Rank #10, 2018 Projections: 72/31/86/.241/14 in 598 ABs, Final Numbers: 76/18/63/.253/12 in 474 ABs
17. Chris Taylor – The steals and playing time really evaporated for Taylor this year. I can blame Dave Roberts and…Actually, let’s just blame Roberts for everything. Call him Dave Roberts Durs. Not as in the killer, but as in he commits multiple durs, as in stupid. Preseason Rank #8, 2018 Projections: 104/20/62/.273/17 in 603 ABs, Final Numbers: 85/17/63/.254/9 in 536 ABs
18. Joey Wendle – Maybe it’s because he’s likely going to finish around third in the AL Rookie of the Year voting (maybe 4th — is there a 4th?), but he reminds me of Trey Mancini. I’m strongly considering a Wendle sleeper post for 2019, and am already regretting it. Feels like there should be a German word for the regret you feel prior to doing the thing you will regret. Schadenfuturegret? Preseason Unranked, Final Numbers: 62/7/61/.300/16 in 487 ABs
19. Brian Dozier – What will Dozier end up doing if he doesn’t have a huge 2nd half? *wavy lines* I’m looking at Dozier’s 2018 final stats. *wavy lines* Wow, what an awful dream sequence. Preseason Rank #5, 2018 Projections: 105/30/84/.266/13 in 609 ABs, Final Numbers: 81/21/72/.215/12 in 553 ABs
20. Asdrubal Cabrera – With more runs and RBIs, Asdrubal is Jed Lowrie. Asdrubbie Murphy? Okay, maybe not. By the by, as great as Adalberto Mondesi was in the final few months, he didn’t make the top 20. Never underestimate ribbies and runs, which sounds like a Tony Roma’s and Taco Bell crossover promotion. Preseason Rank #39, 2018 Projections: 61/15/53/.265/3 in 488 ABs, Final Numbers: 68/23/75/.262 in 546 ABs
