2nd basemen in 2020 were a lot like the year 2020, in general. A complete shizzshow.Wilmer Flores was a top five 2nd baseman. That is not a compliment to Wilmer Flores, but a slap in the face of all 2nd basemen. That’s Wilmer Flores taking off his white glove and smacking every other 2nd baseman across the face. Then, as the 2nd basemen place their hand on their cheek, shocked they were smacked and disrespected, Jeff McNeil, who wasn’t even a top 20 2nd baseman, comes along and urinates on their shoe. To recap my recap before the recap, this final top 20 2nd basemen for 2020 fantasy baseball ranking is from our Fantasy Baseball Player Rater with my comments. This is not for next year. Anyway, here’s the top 20 2nd basemen for 2020 fantasy baseball and how they compared to where I originally ranked them:
1. Whit Merrifield – Unlike DJ LeMahieu, who I will forever accept as good until he’s no longer good*, I still don’t buy Merrifield. His Ks were cut dramatically, which is a decent sign, until you see his other stats. This seems to be a path many hitters take. They get older, cut their Ks, dead cat bounce, then they also don’t hit the ball very hard anymore, and less Ks just means a guy who hits for a weak average with less Ks and nothing else. See: Votto, Miggy, Goldy. As for the *, technically, I’m the one deciding whether someone is no longer good, so saying a guy is good until they’re not by my own standards is sorta the same as me deciding whether or not they’re good. Preseason Rank #11, 2020 Projections: 34/5/26/.305/6 in 226 ABs, Final Numbers: 38/9/30/.282/12 in 248 ABs
2. DJ LeMahieu – Already went over him in the top 20 1st basemen for 2020 fantasy baseball recap.
3. Brandon Lowe – Unlike some schmohawks in the top 20 of positions, or even top five, I kinda wish we saw 162 games of Lowe, because I think this could’ve been the breakout we’re all expecting. He cut his Ks, and not like Merrifield, where that’s just a sign of an older player spitting on pitches. This is Lowe becoming a better player. His Launch Angle, and by extension literally, his fly balls support power. He wasn’t quite as great as his huge August (9HRs, .300), but he could be a 5-7 HR per month guy, and that’s a 30-homer guy with 7+ steal speed. That’s chef’s kissy. Preseason Rank #15, 2020 Projections: 22/9/25/.257/3 in 167 ABs, Final Numbers: 36/14/37/.269/3 in 193 ABs
4. Cavan Biggio – I hope the inclination I have to write his name as Craig goes away at some point, and, if it doesn’t, I might start calling him Craig Jr., so you’ve been warned. Any hoo! Craig Jr. is a 20/20 guy just waiting to show it, and I’m here for it. Bring it to papa! Me papa, not Craig Sr. papa. He doesn’t need it. He’s had 20/20 already. Preseason Rank #13, 2020 Projections: 26/9/29.246/7 in 211 ABs, Final Numbers: 41/8/28/.250/6 in 220 ABs
5. Wilmer Flores – Already went over him in the top 20 1st basemen for 2020 fantasy baseball recap.
6. Jurickson Profar – Having speed and power is like having an extra life or a free power-up pellet when it comes to fantasy value. Not sure how much people realize what a difference even a handful of steals makes. 14 HRs and zero steals or 7 homers and 7 steals? I know which I Profar. Preseason Rank #27, 2020 Projections: 20/7/22/.231/3 in 164 ABs, Final Numbers: 28/7/25/.278/7 in 180 ABs
7. Chris Taylor – Speaking of goofy flukes in a 60-game season (I wasn’t, but I am now), you put Taylor in a different lineup and he’s Adam Frazier. Preseason Rank #45, 2020 Projections: 19/5/21/.252/3 in 150 ABs, Final Numbers: 30/8/32/.270/3 in 185 ABs
8. Robinson Cano – If this were actually 60 games into the season, and not the end of a 60-game season, I’d be telling everyone to sell Cano. On the bright side, because we didn’t get a full season, Cano wasn’t able to tack on another 100+ hits, and move even closer to the very awkward Hall of Fame conversation: 3,000 hits or PEDs? Preseason Rank #35, 2020 Projections: 23/6/24/.251 in 172 ABs, Final Numbers: 23/10/30/.316 in 171 ABs
9. Keston Hiura – Think I’m gonna have tomatoes thrown at me, but Keston’s terrible. He doesn’t have to remain this way, but he must’ve picked up some bad habits from Daniel Vogelbach, because Keston be collecting donuts. Trying to make this about this past year (months) and not 2021, but I can’t see any way Keston ends up on any of my teams next year. Will try not to overcorrect too much, but, wow, besides his power, his numbers are hideous. We all had a good laugh at how bad Matt Olson was, but they’re exactly the same. Preseason Rank #6, 2020 Projections: 30/10/34/.264/4 in 211 ABs, Final Numbers: 30/13/32/.212/3 in 217 ABs
10. Hanser Alberto – Honestly, or rather, Hanserly, I owned Alberto in a lot of leagues, and I didn’t realize he was this bad, but, don’t take that as a sign I thought he was actually good. Oh, no. I just had him in leagues with no waivers, so he was starting either way. Preseason Rank #36, 2020 Projections: 27/5/18/.293/1 in 199 ABs, Final Numbers: 35/3/22/.283/3 in 219 ABs
11. David Fletcher – Wanna know how good a player is for fantasy with nothing but average? See Luis Arraez. Wanna know how good a player is with nothing but average and a couple of homers? Here ya go! Did Wade Boggs not teach us anything besides it’s awesome to eat chicken three times a day for 27 years straight? Preseason Rank #39, 2020 Projections: 29/2/20/.288/3 in 200 ABs, Final Numbers: 31/3/18/.319/2 in 207 ABs
12. Joey Wendle – I just googled Mr. Wendell and it says he’s a bum. Not cool, Google. By the way, googling is lowercase and Google, the company, is capped, and pointing that out makes you super cool. Any hoo! Wendle was hurt by Kevin Cash-Money, and his insistence on platooning, because if he had 30+ runs and RBIs with 4 HRs and 8 SBs, he’d be an easy top 5 2nd baseman. Sad and true! Preseason Rank #49, 2020 Projections: 10/3/11/.247/3 in 101 ABs, Final Numbers: 24/4/17/.286/8 in 168 ABs
13. Tommy La Stella – He upped his walks and lowered his Ks, but what you really want to know about Tommy Launch Angle Stella is what was going on with his Launch Angle? It was ‘standing at attention’ as they say in Launch Angle circles, up from 13.2 to 17.1. The problem is he hit nothing hard and his homers fell dramatically. Launch Angle is about a year or two away from having a 45-degree swing and hitting everything as a pop-up to the catcher. Preseason Rank #26, 2020 Projections: 23/6/25/.291 in 173 ABs, Final Numbers: 31/5/25/.281/1 in 196 ABs
14. Jean Segura – You could take his stats and say he would’ve been like a 20-homer, 7-steal guy, while waking Mr. Prorater. “Did you know if you rode a mop like a horsey every day, you’d ride every mop in the world by the time you’re 25?” That’s not even correct. But I think with Segura, we likely would’ve seen a year more like 15-homer, 10-steal and a huge yawn. Preseason Rank #28 for shortstops, 2020 Projections: 27/4/26/.276/5 in 208 ABs, Final Numbers: 28/7/25/.266/2 in 192 ABs
15. Donovan Solano – His BABIP across two seasons now is over .400. This guy might want to consider quitting baseball and start buying lottery tickets. Preseason Unranked, Final Numbers: 22/3/29/.326 in 190 ABs
16. Nick Solak – Wrote Solak sleepers, Dart Throws, love pieces, and he finished way above in the end-of-the-season rankings than the preseason yet…He’s 11 spots behind Wilmer Flores. So, meh. Preseason Rank #31, 2020 Projections: 26/8/22/.268/3 in 180 ABs, Final Numbers: 27/2/23/.268/7 in 209 ABs
17. Max Muncy – Let’s be frank, “Hello, I’m Frank.” Okay, let’s be honest. “Hello, I’m Honest.” Okay, let’s be serious. “Hello–” Stop that, right side of my brain! I’ll be honest, 2nd basemen were awful, but I didn’t realize how awful Muncy was. Cronenworth, who supposedly wasn’t awful in your mind’s eye, didn’t even make this list. Still, Muncy? Hopefully at some point he un-fractures his fingers. Preseason Rank #7, 2020 Projections: 34/13/36/.265/1 in 187 ABs, Final Numbers: 36/12/27/.192/1 in 203 ABs
18. Jonathan Schoop – Holy crap, my hypothetical from the Profar blurb has manifested itself as Jonathan Schoop. That is crazy. I need a nap. *shuts eyes, five seconds later, claps hands* I’m back! Preseason Rank #25, 2020 Projections: 23/9/26/.241 in 192 ABs, Final Numbers: 26/8/23/.278 in 162 ABs
19. Cesar Hernandez – Yes, terrible. By the by, Jeff McNeill didn’t even make the top 20! That’s gonna be a woof from me, dawg. Preseason Rank #37, 2020 Projections: 26/6/23/.271/4 in 219 ABs, Final Numbers: 35/3/20/.283 in 233 ABs
20. Tommy Edman – 2nd basemen were awful, guys and five girls. Not sure what the eff happened but they effed the pooch, in general and in the abstract. Okay, let’s forget this position ever happened. What position? Exactly! Honestly, seriously, intro to sentencely, if you had 200 ABs and were a 2nd baseman? That was all you needed. Preseason Rank #17, 2020 Projections: 32/5/21/.284/10 in 210 ABs, Final Numbers: 29/5/26/.250/2 in 204 ABs
