The top 20 shortstops for 2019 (what this is, read the title once in a while) are deeper than the top 20 2nd basemen for 2019 (not clickbait at all), and even deeper than the top 20 1st basemen for 2019 (click or not, but don’t judge me). Rhys Hoskins, the 20th ranked 1st baseman, was about as valuable as the 23rd ranked shortstop (Asdrubal). To make sure we’re not losing perspective, the 20th ranked shortstop was better than the 6th ranked catcher. The catchers were still terrible, don’t get it twisted — sorry, it’s too late for your Mitch Haniger, you need to get it untwisted. Without further Machado, this final ranking is from our Fantasy Baseball Player Rater with my comments. The Player Rater allows me to be impartial while looking at how I ranked them in the preseason. Anyway, here’s the top 20 shortstops for 2019 fantasy baseball and how they compare to where I originally ranked them:
1. Alex Bregman – Focused on 5×5, but his .423 OBP is bonerific. He upped his walk rate to 17.2 (from 13.6), held his K% at 12, and only had a 18.6% HR/FB. You were worried about his elbow in the preseason, but ended the season worried about your own elbow because of the aforementioned bonerific nature of his stats. “I can’t go to Friendly’s tonight, mom! No, I’m not looking at Bregman’s stats again!” Preseason Rank #3, 2019 Projections: 101/33/107/.288/12 in 589 ABs, Final Numbers: 122/41/112/.296/5 in 554 ABs
2. Trevor Story – Pretty much nailed my Story preseason projections, besides his runs and RBIs and there was no accounting for him becoming the leadoff man, unless you just assumed Bud Black is stupid, and, now that I put it that way, I should’ve assumed it. I will say this for the dumpster fire that is the Rockies’ player management, if guys want to steal, they don’t hold them back. Story now has 23+ steals two years in a row and, if I were managing him, I prolly would’ve limited him to under five. Lucky that Bud Black is managing the Rockies–*bursts out laughing* I’m sorry, I tried to get through that without massive giggles. Preseason Rank #6, 2019 Projections: 90/34/105/.276/17 in 582 ABs, Final Numbers: 111/35/85/.294/23 in 588 ABs
3. Jonathan Villar – Went over him in the top 20 2nd basemen for 2019 fantasy baseball.
4. Xander Bogaerts – I don’t want this to become about 2020 (which is what I say before making this about 2020), but, wow, people do not seem as impressed with Bogaerts as I am, if early drafts and mocks hold up. His HR/FB% was 16.7, that is way within his ability, and he upped his fly balls this year, as he has promised in previous years, and he’s in a lineup/park that easily produces a repeat of his stats. All as he sits in his prime. I’m not a fan of batting average first guys, but, with neutral luck, Bogaerts doesn’t hit below .290. Without injury, he feels like a top 5 shortstop for at least the next two years. Preseason Rank #8, 2019 Projections: 89/25/105/.291/10 in 534 ABs, Final Numbers: 110/33/117/.309/4 in 614 ABs
5. Ketel Marte – Went over him in the top 20 2nd basemen for 2019 fantasy baseball.
6. Marcus Semien – He had a funny year, and not because you can’t get away from the double entendres when you say Semien really came into his own, but because I still don’t think people understand how good a season it is that he had. Semien became a great leadoff man. His Ks dropped from 18.6% to 13.7% and walks went up from 8.7% to 11.6%. Ready for some wonky math? Great! Almost 5% down on Ks and 3% up on walks, so that’s 8% total difference. I wonder what the highest percentage difference is for a player in 2019 who had at least 2500 previous major league at-bats. I have to think Semien’s close to the best, or edging near. Preseason Rank #20, 2019 Projections: 68/20/80/.246/12 in 551 ABs, Final Numbers: 123/33/92/.285/10 in 657 ABs
7. Francisco Lindor – Everyone knows Lindor at this point, so will keep it brief. If Lindor had an extra 75 ABs given back to him because of lost injury time, he would’ve been the 2nd best shortstop. Preseason Rank #5, 2019 Projections: 89/28/91/.282/18 in 525 ABs, Final Numbers: 101/32/74/.284/22 in 598 ABs
8. Trea Turner – I’m surprised I only projected him for 41 steals, but not as surprised I was that he only stole two bags in a game once after Opening Day. It’s hard for a guy with his speed to not steal at least two bags in a game, so I have to think it was on purpose, due to his hand injury. Not like he wasn’t on base a ton to steal or was caught a lot of times. What’s even odder, he seemed to have no problem hitting, which you would think the hand injury would’ve hurt, if that was a problem. Honestly, I’m still trying to work through what Treat Urner was and can be. 20/35 is solid, though Villar does that two rounds later. Preseason Rank #5, 2019 Projections: 105/20/71/.292/41 in 603 ABs, Final Numbers: 96/19/57/.298/35 in 521 ABs
9. Eduardo Escobar – Went over him in the top 20 2nd basemen for 2019 fantasy baseball.
10. Gleyber Torres – Went over him in the top 20 2nd basemen for 2019 fantasy baseball.
11. Javier Baez – Went over him in the top 20 2nd basemen for 2019 fantasy baseball.
12. Elvis Andrus – He stole 15 more bags than I predicted (remember, he only stole 5 bags in 2018 and under 30 the previous four years). Those 15 steals don’t sound like a lot, until you consider only 32 players stole more than 15 bags, and five players stole more than 31 bags. Somewhere, Ron LeFlore’s running down a line, thinking WTF. Preseason Rank #23, 2019 Projections: 81/8/61/.261/15 in 577 ABs, Final Numbers: 81/12/72/.275/31 in 600 ABs
13. Tim Anderson – To undercut my pristine genius of ranking Anderson 13th and him finishing 13th, I honestly didn’t come anywhere near a correct projection for Anderson. I even projected him for three benches-clearing bat flips and he only had one. I was almost a hundred points off on his average (!!!) because his BABIP was .399 (exclamation mark times infinity). Preseason Rank #13, 2019 Projections: 72/21/84/.248/24 in 577 ABs, Final Numbers: 81/18/56/.335/17 in 498 ABs
14. Jorge Polanco – I’m not taking a bow or picking up tossed roses from the stage for Jo-Po, but Rudy absolutely should. His preseason ranking had Polanco 13th. Hashtag Rudy nailed it. Preseason Rank #36, 2019 Projections: 78/13/39/.262/13 in 561 ABs, Final Numbers: 107/22/79/.295/4 in 631 ABs
15. Adalberto Mondesi – While I did take half an L on Anderson and a full L on Polanco, I refuse to L Mondesi. He didn’t return top 20 overall value, but he would’ve came very close to it if he didn’t miss sixty games. If I remember correctly (and I do), he was a top 15 overall bat when he went down to injury. His projections and end-of-season stats are actually very close and he missed at least five weeks worth of at-bats on my projections vs. reality. I’m still sucking on the teet of Mondesi and I won’t stop any time soon. Preseason Rank #7, 2019 Projections: 91/20/71/.249/40 in 594 ABs, Final Numbers: 58/9/62/.263/43 in 415 ABs
16. Amed Rosario – If McNeil and Albombso went from zero to hero in record time, Rosario is thinking, “It’s a marathon, not a sprint.” He moves up a few slots each year, but he’s only 23 years old, so, yes, I’m going to love him next year. 24 years old? Juiced ball? 25+ steal speed? Prepare for a lovefest; it’s coming. Preseason Rank #19, 2019 Projections: 71/16/48/.268/22 in 595 ABs, Final Numbers: 75/15/72/.287/19 in 616 ABs
17. Manny Machado – I should’ve discounted Machado more for his move to San Diego. Petco’s not the worst park and their lineup isn’t the bottom of the barrel for barrels, but take a guy who doesn’t care and put him in the world’s nicest weather? Dude, I don’t blame Manny, I’d be lamping for months at a time too, playing baseball in flip-flops. Preseason Rank #4, 2019 Projections: 96/34/105/.281/12 in 602 ABs, Final Numbers: 81/32/85/.256/5 in 587 ABs
18. Paul DeJong – Colonel Mustard in a Starbucks with a stack of coffee sleeves! DeJong’s perfs (what the kids call them) are indicating to me he’s Kyle Schwarber without the constant late-night phone calls from Joe Buck. Preseason Rank #22, 2019 Projections: 78/27/87/.250/2 in 566 ABs, Final Numbers: 97/30/78/.233/9 in 583 ABs
19. Fernando Tatis Jr. – FTJ! Fun the Jewels fast! All of that, but no one, and I repeat no one is talking about how he had a .410 BABIP and a 29.6% strikeout rate. Damn, I don’t want to be the bad guy with Tatis Jr., but those aren’t the most alluring numbers. The great news is, of course, his K% should fall, but by how much? Does his BABIP fall too? It has to, doesn’t it? Please, world, don’t make me the Grinch who stole the fun from Fun the Jewels. Preseason Rank #18, 2019 Projections: 14/3/11/.252/3 in 75 ABs, Final Numbers: 61/22/53/.317/16 in 334 ABs
20. Kevin Newman – Went over him in the top 20 2nd basemen for 2019 fantasy baseball.
