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The top 20 shortstops for 2022 fantasy baseball are so stacked we may as well be at an IHOP, standing on a booth, screaming, “Rooty tooty fresh and fruity is woke culture gone wrong!” As I say in the video up on our Youtube channel, that does not mean you should think you can wait on shortstops. *puts on a big smile* Like and subscribe. Okay, let’s get to it! Here’s Steamer’s 2022 Fantasy Baseball Projections for Hitters and 2022 Fantasy Baseball Projections for Pitchers. Subscriptions are up and running, and you can already get Rudy’s Draft War Room. Anyway, here’s the top 20 shortstops for 2022 fantasy baseball:
NOTE: All 2022 fantasy baseball projections are based on a 162-game season, and will be until we hear definitively there will be less games, due to the CBA. Also, I’m going on the assumption the NL is getting the DH.
NOTE II: All my rankings are currently available on Patreon for the price of a Starbucks coffee, if you get one of those extra grande frappuccino jobbers. Don’t wait for the rankings to come out over the next month, and get them all now.
NOTE III: Free agents are listed as just that and not yet projected. Once a guy signs, I will write out their blurb and add in projections, or remove them, if they sign in an unfavorable place. They are ranked currently where I think they might be if they sign on for a full-time job.
1. Bo Bichette – Already went over him in the top 10 for fantasy baseball.
2. Trea Turner – Already went over him in the top 10 for fantasy baseball.
3. Wander Franco – Already went over him in the top 20 for fantasy baseball.
4. Trevor Story – This is a new tier. This tier goes from here until Anderson. I call this tier, “Nodding to Neil deGrasse Tyson.” This position is so deep it’s like Neil deGrasse Tyson talking about quantum physics and you’re nodding while in your head thinking his name is Neil Degrassijuniorhigh Tyson, but you’re nodding in a way that signifies you understand and aren’t just nodding like a big dummy, i.e. This tier goes deep into a deep position. UPDATE: Red Sox went out and added Trevor Story to play 2nd base, and my mouth fell open and I started drooling when I saw the Expected Homers by Story if he called Fenway his home park last year. This stat is in general an absolute goof that you shouldn’t pay too much attention to, but I’ve never seen someone with such a huge difference before between actual and expected homers. He had 19 expected homers in Coors last year (actually hit 24) and his expected homers in Fenway was 38 homers. That is comical. Last year, Story hit 35.5% to center and 27.3% to right. That’s a decent amount the other way (32nd in the majors) and little above average to center. In Fenway, you want to badonkadonk off the wall as many times as you can. Not so you can scare people on Lansdowne, or at least not only that reason. You wanna hit doodie shots off the wall for the doodie doubles. Like a PETA-sanctioned vet, Story has pulled more balls previously, so maybe he returns to that, but he’s been getting beat by fastballs, not exactly turning on them. Why does this sound negative? Because I think people’s first reaction is to think Story just got much better, but as Rudy’s hitter projections show, this was a pretty neutral move from Coors. Not bad, but things didn’t get much better. That extra eligibility doesn’t hurt though. Well, it doesn’t hurt Story. Where my Jarren Duran truthers at? You need a hug? 2022 Projections: 93/27/81/.269/19 in 554 ABs
5. Marcus Semien – Already went over him in the top 20 2nd basemen for 2022 fantasy baseball.
6. Xander Bogaerts – Eight homers and a .255 average in the 2nd half = “Grimacing Face emoji with a purple spraypainted face that walks into McDonald’s and tries to claim it works there as Grimace so it can get some free food but is denied.” It’s not great. Have to think Bogaerts was injured or pressing, because that’s so unlike him. Also, his BABIP was low (for him), his walks were up, his line drives were pretty close to normal, and his pull numbers were way down, which again makes me think he was favoring something. The best I can find is a wrist injury that hampered him in July and August, which tracks with when he struggled the most, bouncing back in September and he hit three homers in the postseason in only 11 games. Feel pretty good expecting X-Bogs bringing back the joystick. 2022 Projections: 104/28/109/.291/7 in 587 ABs
7. Francisco Lindor – Is there any hope for Lindor to regain that previous glory? Yes. Long answer: Yeeeeeeeeees. More detailed answer: He needs to steal 20+ bags and get lucky on average or home runs. How does one get lucky on homers? Hit a few wall-scrapers and drive the ball deep on the road, because he doesn’t have Metco power. If he can get to 22/20/.260 with great counting stats, he could sneak into a top 15 overall player. Okay, with a lot of counting stats, but, with the remade Mets’ lineup, it might not be out of the question. On a side note, as I’ve said before, I look at other projections. It would be foolish not to, but I try not to let it influence me. With that said, I’m seeing him down for 30 homers in 150 games by Steamer, and, woo boy, I’d love to believe that. I don’t, but I’d love to. 2022 Projections: 95/24/88/.261/14 in 581 ABs
8. Tim Anderson – He’s walking a tightrope of BABIP like his teammate, Yoan Moncada, who recently fell, and on the way down was screaming, “Hey, isn’t there supposed to be a net under this tightrooooooooooooo–” From BABIP to SPLAT. This Anderson ranking is assuming he’s got one more year in him where he’s able to appease the BABIP Gods with trinkets and false idols, like line drive rate and, wow, his fly ball rate was 22%. That’s crazy low. That’s like Anderson going into Yandy Diaz’s family Christmas party and being like, “Hey, I’m Yandy Diaz,” and Yandy’s whole family believing Tim, due to his Launch Angle. 2022 Projections: 101/17/66/.281/22 in 563 ABs
9. Jorge Polanco – This is a new tier. This tier goes from here until Jazz. I call this tier, “9 out of 5 on the Horn Scale.” These guys have me setting up a competing business next to the outdoors store, REI, where I’m selling pants tents. These guys are so sexy, but when you dance with the Horn Scale, you also might get the horns. As for Polanco, already went over him in the top 20 2nd basemen for 2022 fantasy baseball.
10. Javier Baez – Already went over him in the top 20 2nd basemen for 2022 fantasy baseball.
11. Adalberto Mondesi – Has the widest possible outcomes as anyone in baseball. On the table is anywhere from 20/60 to 6/15, which is what he did last year. By the way, Mondesi is so sexy, that I tried to think of his realistic worst case scenario, and looked at his last year and was like, “He only played for a month and still went 6/15? Man, this guy is sexy.” If Mondesi puts it together, he’s going to be on a lot of 2022 fantasy baseball championship teams. If he does nothing, then 3rd verse same as the last few verses. Wanna a guy who, if he stays healthy, can be a top five pick next year? Look no further. He’s even being drafted this year around where Vlad Jr. went last year. Yes, the “if” in “if he stays healthy” is the size of Kanye’s ego. 2022 Projections: 51/12/41/.242/32 in 337 ABs
12. Bobby Witt Jr. – Already gave you my Bobby Witt Jr. fantasy. It was written while inventing a ketchup bottle that doesn’t fart when you squeeze it. Also, here’s another one of my brilliant inventions, see video. 2022 Projections: 71/22/68/.272/24 in 504 ABs
13. Jazz Chisholm – Already went over him in the top 20 2nd basemen for 2022 fantasy baseball.
14. Dansby Swanson – This is a new tier. This tier goes from here until Gleyber. I call this tier, “Vincent Adultman but under his trenchcoat is a bunch of shortstops.” There’s so many shortstops that I want a shortstop in the first ten rounds, and an MI and a UT that is a shortstop. Then I might take a bench shortstop just to trade for a top ten pick, because we know that Vincent Adultman has shortstops under his trench and someone is gonna wanna move Gerrit Cole for Willy Adames by July. As for Dansby, I just re-counted all the shortstops before him to make sure I wasn’t losing my mind and he was really this deep. So, you’re getting a guy who just went 27/9/.248 this late? Um, thank you. That .248 came with a low BABIP, and he’s right in the middle of his prime. A prime where I don’t think we’ve seen the best Swanson has to offer. This is legitimately the deepest position I’ve ever seen. 2022 Projections: 78/28/89/.262/11 in 572 ABs
15. Corey Seager – Here’s what I said this offseason, “Signed by the Rangers. “Hey, we have everyone from the Rangers’ front office on this conference call, right?” Few hellos, few what’s ups, one distant “hey” that sounds like it’s from outside and being screamed into the 12th-floor window by GM Chris Young. Continuing, “Okay, great, just want everyone to know we’re guessing there won’t be a 2022 season, so let’s just sign everyone.” And that’s how the Rangers committed to $561.2 million. Sure wish all these bats weren’t going to be calling their new home, Arlington National Cemetery of Home Runs. Rather than a humidor, can the Rangers add in a giant industrial fan? Last year, Seager hit 16 homers, and that would’ve been 14 in Texas. Seager’s high in power since 2017 was 22 homers. He’s basically a .300 hitter with 22-homer power and no speed. Does that ignite the nethers? It doesn’t for me. For fantasy (and kinda real baseball), I can’t figure out Seager’s attraction. He has some kinda spell over the world, like David Blaine over Michael Jackson.” And that’s me quoting me! 2022 Projections: 86/22/81/.302/1 in 507 ABs
16. Carlos Correa – I don’t love Correa and even I have to admit that it’s insane to think about getting Correa this late. Of course, he will likely be off the board, but still. You don’t go this deep in any position and find guys of this caliber. Also: FREE AGENT. UPDATE: Signed by the Twins. Or as I like to call them, the Minnesota Sorta-Going-For-Its. The Minnesota Sorta-Going-For-Its have a sorta contending team and are sorta going for it. A spokesman for the team said, “Yeah, you could say, we’re sorta going for it.” Ya know what else is sorta good? Rudy’s hitter projections for Carlos Correa. For whatever reason, projections always seem to love Correa. He did drop his strikeouts last year in a big way, so maybe he holds gains on average — .280 vs. .260. He did hit for decent power with a HR/FB% that wasn’t exorbitant. I get the projections like him, and why. I, how’ever, are always left feeling meh with him. I did move him up in my shortstops rankings though, because I looked at it like this, “Would I really draft Tatis right now over him?” And the answer there is no. 2022 Projections: 85/25/79/.272/1 in 531 ABs
17. Fernando Tatis Jr. – FTJ aka Fun The Jewels, he missed 32 games last year with one of the worst injuries a hitter could have, and still went 42/25/.282 and I will now cackle for the next fifteen minutes. Machado was mad at that?! Please, bro. Repeating in caps for emphasis, PLEASE BRO. If FTJ can stay on the field for 150+ games, he’s not only a number one player, he’s one of the best players we’ve ever seen. Even with a mild uptick at 23 years of age (!!!), he’s going to go 50/40/.280 if he plays for a hunnie-fifty. On a small note that prolly means nothing, but look at these Fernando Tatis stats: 104/34/107/.298/21. Oh, I didn’t forget the Jr. on the end of his name. That’s FTJ’s Pops. He did that at age 24, then disappeared. Not saying that’s what’s gonna happen to Fun The Jewels, but I did find it interesting that 23 years ago, we might’ve thought Tatis Sr. was headed for a huge career too. Wait, I just thought of something, his dad had a great season 23 years ago, then Junior was born. Did Tatis Sr. put his slashline in his sperm? Don’t fun your family jewels, Junior! UPDATE: What a fantastic time to become The Joker. *hums a tune, while applying lipstick and cheek white* FTJ is out for three months with a fractured wrist. Unclear how much the wrist will heal properly or if we really can’t have anything nice. Around here is where I’m willing to take a chance that Fun The Jewels is still worthwhile to take a stab at. Wait, that’s Tommy Pham I’m thinking of. Oh, man, I’m so discombobulated. Please, let me be combobulated again! 2022 Projections: 51/17/45/.287/15 in 303 ABs
18. Jake Cronenworth – Already went over him in the top 20 1st basemen for 2022 fantasy baseball.
19. Willy Adames – Already gave you my Willy Adames sleeper. It was written while chortling. 2022 Projections: 81/30/88/.266/6 in 563 ABs
20. Gleyber Torres – Already went over him in the top 20 2nd basemen for 2022 fantasy baseball.
21. Chris Taylor – This is a new tier. This tier goes from here until Pena. I call this tier, “Palm of your hand is melting like wax.” You know that thing where you place your hand over a candle to see how long you can hold it there? It’s some psycho shizz. Well, that, but for drafting shortstops. I still love these shortstops, but you really held your hand over the flame for a long time to get this deep without grabbing one. More than likely, these are more than fine MIs or Utils. As for Taylor, already went over him in the top 20 2nd basemen for 2022 fantasy baseball.
22. Luis Urias – Already went over him in the top 20 2nd basemen for 2022 fantasy baseball.
23. Brendan Rodgers – Already went over him in the top 20 2nd basemen for 2022 fantasy baseball.
24. Jeremy Pena – Already gave you my Jeremy Pena fantasy. It was written while training for a marathon by watching someone else run and taking notes. 2022 Projections: 63/17/52/.266/12 in 509 ABs
25. Amed Rosario – This is a new tier. This tier goes from here until Gimenez. I call this tier, “Patronizing pat on the back.” This tier is the pat on the back you get from a true friend after they see your shortstop position has one of these guys. Of course, if the league is deep enough, a starter is a starter, but I don’t want these guys if I can have my druthers, and know what druthers are. As for Amed, full disclosure alert! Went back through my posts to find my Amed Rosario sleeper, which apparently I hadn’t written, then I looked at his stats, and I understood why I didn’t write the sleeper post. Amed is fantasy for “send a doctor to his power and speed.” 2022 Projections: 79/15/61/.272/14 in 569 ABs
26. Gio Urshela – I can squint Gio into a 25/.290 hitter, can you? Why are your eyes tearing? You don’t have to squint that hard. C’mon, stop making fun of me! Gio needs to regain his launch angle from previous years. Not last year previous, but previous previous. The good news is outside of last year, the 25/.290 hitter was lurking there every year. The bad news is he never did that and he turned 30 this year. So, yeah, I might’ve been optimistic with 25/.290, but there might be something here late. UPDATE: Traded to the Twins. Hearing from sources that Gio will play shortstop, so I boosted Urshela’s at-bats, but lowered his stats. 2022 Projections: 71/19/78/.277/1 in 547 ABs
27. Brandon Crawford – *looking at every Giants’ hitter previous season’s stats* So, do we have to wait until Mike Fiers is traded to the Giants to find out they were cheating or what? Even Crawford’s eleven steals last year were obscene! How many signs were the Giants stealing? All of them? Cool. 2022 Projections: 64/16/71/.259/6 in 505 ABs
28. Josh Rojas – Already went over him in the top 20 2nd basemen for 2022 fantasy baseball.
29. Oneil Cruz – Already gave you my Oneil Cruz fantasy. It had muerous misspellings. UPDATED: Pirates doing Pirates things and being booty, by saying Cruz will start year in the minors. 2022 Projections: 51/18/54/.242/7 in 421 ABs
30. Gavin Lux – Already went over him in the top 20 2nd basemen for 2022 fantasy baseball.
31. Andres Gimenez – Already went over him in the top 20 2nd basemen for 2022 fantasy baseball.
32. J.P. Crawford – This is a new tier. This tier goes from here until Leury. I call this tier, “The food sucks, but the portions are great!” I will say this of the late shortstops. Not always great, or not great at all, but there’s very few platoons. Some randos are getting lots of at-bats here. As for Crawford, actually this goes kinda for a bunch of the guys in this tier. They are making new records for terrible statlines with 600+ ABs. If Joan P. Crawford gets 600 ABs again this year, he might challenge the record for the worst back-to-back 600 at-bats seasons, if that were a record. Seems the only thing Joan P. Crawford hits is hangers. 2022 Projections: 83/7/43/.265/7 in 544 ABs
33. Isiah Kiner-Falefa – Having dreams of drafting the Israel Diner Falafel and Christian Vazquez last year, having the best April any fantasy team has ever seen, then never mentioning later in the year when I fall to seventh place. Analyze those vibes! True Boss Baby vibes for Grey Albright, Fantasy Master Lothario (don’t abbreviate). I saw Israel Diner Falafel had 8 homers in 635 ABs last year, and I choked on my boba. UPDATE: Traded to the Yankees. Israeli Diner-Falafel goes from one less-than-ideal park to a much better one, but might actually see less at-bats in his new home, and the Yankees might not be done acquiring players. Likely about as neutral of a move as you’re gonna find, but I docked him some at-bats, because the Yankees may not put up with his special brand of nothing. 2022 Projections: 71/5/54/.283/15 in 522 ABs
34. Nicky Lopez – Here’s the thing, you had a lot of opportunities to draft a shortstop. Like 200+ draft picks, and, instead, you made some clever-to-you jokes in the draft chat room. Don’t worry, all people really care about is who makes the best draft chat room jokes. 2022 Projections: 73/3/41/.279/16 in 516 ABs
35. Eugenio Suarez – I’m getting the shakes just thinking about Reds’ manager Dumb Bell putting Eugenio at leadoff last year. He hit .198 with a .286 OBP. Honestly, it’s hard to be as dumb as Dumb. That’s like a new record in dumb. It’s like someone saying in the morning, “Don’t talk to me until I’ve analyzed the vibes.” I’m analyzing Dumb’s vibes and they’re dumb! Eugenio’s stats should be taught at the College of Fantasy Baseball at Charleston to illustrate what happens when a slugger, who is prone to a bad average, ages. It rarely gets better. UPDATE: Traded to M’s. This was the money the Reds were unloading — $35 million. Perhaps even more importantly, Eugenio Suarez showed up with a reverse skunk haircut.
After you see that haircut, “You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.” In fact, that look is called The Can’t Stay “Hair.” Hope Eugenio was working on his defense…of that hairdo! Okay, so I kinda prefer Abraham Toro over Eugenio. Do I get a vote? I’m hearing I don’t get a vote. By the way, movie made of that horror show on Eugenio’s shoulders was called The Hairing. Unfortunately, Suarez sucks, and not just at the barber. M’s might just be eating Eugenio’s money and hair, and starting Toro still. This doesn’t help Toro though, if I’m being honest, and it lowers Eugenio. 2022 Projections: 62/26/66/.202/1 in 417 ABs
36. Jorge Mateo – Already went over him in the top 20 2nd basemen for 2022 fantasy baseball.
37. Ha-Seong Kim – Already went over him in the top 20 2nd basemen for 2022 fantasy baseball.
38. Edmundo Sosa – Already went over him in the top 20 2nd basemen for 2022 fantasy baseball.
39. David Fletcher – Already went over him in the top 20 2nd basemen for 2022 fantasy baseball.
40. Jonathan Villar – Already went over him in the top 20 2nd basemen for 2022 fantasy baseball.
41. Nico Hoerner – Already went over him in the top 20 2nd basemen for 2022 fantasy baseball.
42. Miguel Rojas – Seeing in FanGraphs’ depth charts, Jazz Chisholm as a part-time player, and Rojas as a full-time player and I whisper to myself, “I’m becoming the Joker.” 2022 Projections: 61/6/34/.257/9 in 434 ABs
43. Nick Ahmed – I went to a psychic recently who taught me how to unleash 100% of my brain power to make things happen with my thoughts. Pretty cool, actually. Unfortch, I can only harness my brain power once a year, and the first thing I thought was “Nick Ahmed no longer has a full-time job.” We’ll see how well it works! UPDATE: Ahmed sounds like a WebMD knockoff, and he needs it because he’s injured. 2022 Projections: 54/13/58/.257/6 in 481 ABs
44. Elvis Andrus – A possible outcome here is 650 ABs and a line of 3/10/.220, which would be amazing. Not good amazing. Just amazing. 2022 Projections: 68/4/41/.249/15 in 478 ABs
45. Didi Gregorius – Sure, no, I mean, no way does Didi do anything this year, but also. Dot dot dot. This is very late and deep for a guy as good as Didi has been as recently as two years ago with a full-time job. Will he do anything? No, I mean, sure, maybe, I doubt it, but you can get him this late? That’s kinda crazy. 2022 Projections: 57/14/64/.261/3 in 411 ABs
46. Jose Iglesias – Already went over him in the top 20 2nd basemen for 2022 fantasy baseball.
47. Leury Garcia – Already went over him in the top 20 2nd basemen for 2022 fantasy baseball.
48. Paul DeJong – This is a new tier. This tier goes from here until the end of the list. I call this tier, “Dee sire.” It’s not that I desire these players. No, it’s that rostering these players would be like getting sired by a bull named Dee. As for DeJong, Colonel Mustard in the lavatory with a plunger to help get down his stats. 2022 Projections: 33/15/41/.209/2 in 309 ABs
49. Jose Barrero – Already gave you my Jose Barrero fantasy. It was written while humming HAIM. Okay, I fell in love with this girl group, HAIM, this offseason. After seeing Licorice Pizza — great, by the way — I have not stopped listening to HAIM for like six weeks. UPDATE: Broken hamate bone, and will miss six weeks. 2022 Projections: 34/7/38/.261/6 in 266 ABs
50. Geraldo Perdomo – Dbags might look to him as their starting shortstop with Nick WebMD sidelined. Here’s what Prospect Itch had to say about the Italian coastal city Perdomo, “(He) got a lot of well-deserved love for being among the youngest players to hold his own in 2019’s Arizona Fall League. He reminds of a young Robinson Cano for the way he stands right on the top of the plate and uses that angle to his advantage, working deep counts and walking as much or more than he strikes out. It’s a little unfathomable that as a 19-year-old in High A, he walked 12.3 percent of the time while striking out in just 9.6 percent of his 114 plate appearances. This came after he split Ks and BBs right down the middle in A ball at 14.5 percent. He might have to get a little more aggressive in his approach as he gets attacked in the zone at the higher levels, but if ain’t broke . . . .Speaking of which, I’d like to break Grey.” What the eff, my dude? Put in waiver claims on Perdomo in NL-Only leagues, and am monocle’ing in mixed leagues. 2022 Projections: 39/4/31/.246/9 in 304 ABs
51. Cole Tucker – Already went over him in the top 20 2nd basemen for 2022 fantasy baseball.
52. Alcides Escobar – Already went over him in the top 20 2nd basemen for 2022 fantasy baseball.
53. Nick Gordon – Already went over him in the top 20 2nd basemen for 2022 fantasy baseball.
54. Willi Castro – Already went over him in the top 20 2nd basemen for 2022 fantasy baseball.
55. Kyle Farmer – My hopes and dreams are resting on the laurels of Barrero, so I hope the Farmer does sire my bull out of loneliness. 2022 Projections: 41/9/43/.251/3 in 312 ABs
56. Tyler Wade – Already went over him in the top 20 2nd basemen for 2022 fantasy baseball.
Omitted, but considered: Niko Goodrum (FREE AGENT), Ramon Urias, Bryson Stott, Mauricio Dubon, Royce Lewis, CJ Abrams, Jack Mayfield, Jose Peraza, Andrelton Simmons, Luis Garcia
