Top 25 Fantasy Shortstops for 2021 – Week 26

The Major League Baseball season is down to its final week and a host of teams are still battling for spots in the postseason. And just like MLB, there are numerous fantasy leagues that will go down to the last pitch this season.

With that in mind, fantasy owners should do everything they can to secure a title. In re-draft leagues, that means discarding anyone and everyone who is not producing and picking up the hot hand. With that in mind, this week we will concentrate on some players who have been hot the last two weeks and likely available in your league.

So let’s look at the Top 25 fantasy shortstop rankings before we focus on players you should possibly target this last week of the season.

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Top 25 Fantasy Shortstops for 2021 – Week 24

September 12, 2021 | Fantasy Baseball Rankings, Top 25 Shortstops |

by: Jakkers

When it comes to the Top 25 rankings, I often penalize players who are on the disabled list because those players can’t help your fantasy team. But there is always an exception to the rule. The exception is Wander Franco.

Franco left Friday night’s game against Detroit with right hamstring tightness and was placed on the 10-day IL Saturday. According to manager Kevin Cash, Franco can be out two to three weeks, though he hopes it could be a quicker recovery. The injury couldn’t come at a worst time for fantasy owners as the playoffs have started or about to start, depending on the number of teams that make the playoffs in your league.

Despite the injury, I moved Franco into the top 10 in my rankings as he now sits at No. 9. He would be higher, but my rankings also take into account what players have done the entire season, and Franco has not been with the Rays the entire season. If he had been, he would be in the Tier 1 group.

Before suffering his injury, the 20-year-old Franco ripped a pitch up the middle at 107.5 mph to reach base and extend his on-base streak to 39 games. Franco is now four games shy of tying the record for for the longest on-base streak by a player 20-years-old or younger. In 62 games this season, Franco is slashing .285-.347-463 with 49 runs scored, seven homers, 36 RBI and 2 steals. In his last 25 games, his slash line is .347-.407-.571 with 27 runs scored, three home runs and 16 RBI.

Those stats are why Franco has climbed the rankings despite him now being injured. It’s plainly obvious he is one of the best hitting shortstops in baseball and by next year he will likely reside in Tier 1 all season. Now let’s see who else has climbed in the rankings or taken a tumble.

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Top 25 Fantasy Shortstops for 2021 – Week 22

August 29, 2021 | Top 25 Shortstops |

by: Jakkers

When you think of the top shortstops in baseball, you automatically think of Fernando Tatis Jr. first, then probably Bo Bichette, Trea Turner, Carlos Correa, Trevor Story, and Corey Seager – when he is healthy. Perhaps we need to add two names to that list.

Perhaps it is time everyone considers Jorge Polanco and Dansby Swanson as two of baseball’s top-hitting shortstops.

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Top 25 Fantasy Shortstops for 2021 – Week 20

August 15, 2021 | Top 25 Shortstops | 4 Comments

by: Jakkers

Last week featured the second basemen who are good additions to make right now in your drive toward the fantasy postseason. This week it is the shortstops’ turn. There are a number of players available on the waiver wire who will make great additions down the stretch on your fantasy team.

You can never have too much depth at the position. Owners of Francisco Lindor know all too well about injuries. Javier Baez is now in that same situation with back spasms. Or you can have two outstanding shortstops who are now falling “short” of expectations.

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Points Leagues: Carter Finally Goes Kieboom

August 7, 2021 | Fantasy Baseball Points Leagues | 4 Comments

by: Butters

We’re now a week past the trade deadline and now that the dust has settled, new opportunities are there for guys you weren’t counting on to rack up fantasy points. The playing time situation has shifted for several teams so we’ll be seeing some fresh faces climbing the points lists. One such newcomer is Carter Kieboom (28) This could be the start of something. After struggling against major league pitching to the point that he’s spent most of the season in the minors he’s back and rewarded anyone who was brave enough to start him with a 28 point week. He’s out there in virtually every league so run to the waiver wire right now to add him in case he can keep this up. He was a highly-touted prospect so it’s not he lacks talent. I’d say the potential return is worth the last player on your bench. Let’s see who else had a good week.

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FanDuel: Taking Mahle In The Queen City

April 21, 2021 | DFS, Fanduel |

by: Barrelman

Welcome, and hopefully your season-long teams if you play, have survived the injury Armageddon. Thankfully in the DFS corner of the industry, we don’t concern ourselves too much on that. We have an interesting 6-game main slate ahead of us. There are no true aces on the mound tonight along with some suspect offenses. Let’s get into it.

New to FanDuel? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well, be sure to read our content and subscribe to the DFSBot for your daily baseball plays. Just remember to sign up through us before jumping into the fray. It’s how we know you care!

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Top 25 Second Basemen Rankings

March 28, 2021 | Second Basemen | 17 Comments

by: Jakkers

In just a few short days, the screams of “play ball” will be yelled on baseball fields across Major League Baseball – finally. The darkness of winter is finally giving way to the warmth of the sun and the sounds of baseball. Even better, the cheers of fans will once again be heard in baseball stadiums in anticipation of the first pitch.

The start of the season also means the endless hours spent pouring over statistics and coming up with intricate formulas to create the perfect ranking list for players at each position is coming to an end. Instead, we can all rank a player based on his actual current performance. That gut hunch you had about Gavin Lux will either be proven right, making you look smart for taking him a three rounds ahead of the his ADP, or leave you looking foolish for reaching on an unproven player.

These rankings first appeared more than a month ago, at a time when drafts had yet to happen or were just starting. The rankings weighed several factors – position eligibility, re-draft league value, dynasty league value and just the good ol’ gut hunch factor. With the season nearly here, the top 25 second baseman rankings have some players in new slots and some new players being ranked altogether.

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Top 25 Shortstops for 2021 Fantasy Baseball: Spring Training

March 21, 2021 | Top 25 Shortstops | 10 Comments

by: Jakkers

With your NCAA tournament bracket now busted due to the rash of upsets this weekend, you can turn your attention back to baseball. In fact, why was your attention even turned away from baseball? With less than two weeks until the start of the regular season, spring training starts to take on a little bit of importance. OK, who am I kidding? We don’t need spring training to know who the top shortstops are, especially in 12-team mixed leagues.

However, there are plenty of 16-, 18- and 20-team leagues and thus a much larger player pool you need to dip into. Additionally, many deep leagues still require a middle infielder in addition to needing a starting shortstop. Depth is critical in deep leagues, and finding that gem late in the draft can be the difference between winning and losing a league.

With players locked into battles for a starting job, the spring training stats we overlook could help determine if Nico Hoerner earns the starting job with the Chicago Cubs or starts the season in the minor leagues. Or maybe a player you are tracking as a sleeper is having a horrible spring and doesn’t deserve to be on your watch list right now.
However, there are plenty of 16-, 18- and 20-team leagues. The player pool you need to dip into is greatly expanded when you have that many teams. Additionally, many deep leagues like these still require a middle infielder in addition to needing a starting shortstop. Depth is critical in deep leagues, and finding that gem late in the draft can be the difference between winning and losing a league.

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Top 25 Shortstop Rankings: Dynasty Edition

March 7, 2021 | Top 25 Shortstops | 10 Comments

by: Jakkers

March is here, and that means one thing: filling out a bracket or two for March Madness. Oh, wait, wrong sport.

In the world that really matters, it is fantasy baseball drafting season. For many, that means after hours and months of going over every player and compiling your own rankings and checking them twice, it is time to match wits against others and quickly learn that the perfect mock draft you created for yourself needs to be thrown out of the window after the second round.

When it comes to fantasy baseball, there are seeming a gazillion types of leagues you can join, from the stats that are going to be used, whether it a head-to-head or points league to the number of teams in the league. Also, is the league a redraft league or are you starting a new dynasty league. That is an important factor, because if it is a dynasty league, how you build your team is very different from a redraft league – or at least it should be.

We all want to win right away, but in dynasty leagues the goal is to win not just this season, but for multiple seasons. If you draft a team that is reliant on older players, you may do well this year, even next. But you don’t want to win just now. You want to win every year. So with the goal of building a team that wins today, tomorrow and three years from now, below is my list of Top 25 Shortstops for dynasty leagues.

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Ambulance Chasers Week 3 – Misery Loves Company

August 6, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Baseball Injury Report |

by: Hammer

The Cardinals, Marlins, and Phillies have born the brunt of the misery in this young baseball season thus far with Covid outbreaks and cancelled games. This week, we’ve got a group of other teams that are getting put through the ringer with your more traditional injury issues…..”injuries classic” we’ll call it. We’ve also lost some more big time arms for the remainder of the season as the herd starts to thin here.

Mike Soroka is out for the season after suffering an achilles injury in his latest start. It’s a brutal blow for the young righty, and even a bigger blow for the Braves, who are now in a real crunch for arms. This solidifies Touki Toussaint and Sean Newcomb’s spots in the rotation, but the rest of the rotation couldn’t really be worse shape given the recent DFA of Mike Foltynewicz and Cole Hamels still ailing. Without a trade, it’s hard to see any potential fill in being roster worthy here.

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Pujols Reppin The 609

August 19, 2017 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 20 Comments

by: Son

If you hail from Central New Jersey, sorry. I didn’t mean to get your hopes up. Albert Pujols does not represent the 609. If you are a Ludacris fan, sorry. Pujols may or may not have garden hoes in different area codes, but I can neither confirm nor deny it. Rather, Pujols slugged his 609th career home run Friday night. It doesn’t matter that it came off Jeremy Hellickson, who’s allowed the 14th-most home runs this season, and is already the 439th-worst of all time. I was going to go on an epic rant about how all the stories are focused on the fact that he’s tied with Sammy Sosa for the most home runs by a foreign-born player. Who gives a flying F where he was born? Then I started thinking, I wonder which player born in Los Angeles has hit the most home runs. Yet again, I’ve managed to stymie myself. Anyways, who cares that Pujols has a triple slash of .229/.274/.374 with an ISO of .144. Let’s just celebrate the great career he’s had and send him off into the sunset after this season. My self checks to make sure this is his last year…

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