Top 25 Fantasy Shortstops for 2021 – Week 13

Around Major League Baseball, there are a host of outstanding players at every position. But the deepest position is unquestionably shortstop. Need some convincing? Eleven of the top 50 players in the Razzball Player Rater rankings or shortstops.

And these are not shortstops in the mold of Ozzie Smith or Omar Vizquel. These shortstops are in the mold of Cal Ripken Jr. and Alex Rodriguez, both the steroid and non-steroid versions. Fernando Tatis Jr. is must-watch television when he steps to the plate. Xander Bogaerts, Marcus Semien, Bo Bichette, and Carlos Correa are also must-watch television every time they are hitting.

I’m not giving anything away when I tell you they are my Tier 1 shortstops right now. As a group, they average 54 runs scored, 17 home runs, 48 RBI, and eight steals while slashing .294-.366-.553. Of the top 50 home run hitters in baseball, eight of them are shortstops. And shortstops account for nine of the top 50 RBI leaders this season. What does this have to do with fantasy rankings? Well, if you don’t have Tatis Jr. or one of the other Tier 1 shortstops, the position is so deep you can make a trade for a player from Tier 2 or 3 and still greatly improve your team.

Without wasting more of your valuable time, let’s see what the ranking order is for the Tier 1 group and the rest of the rankings for shortstops.

Tier 1

Picking the Top 5 shortstops right now is like being asked who’s your favorite child. Each of them has their own attributes, but you love them all. That is the case with the Tier 1 group this week and some of the players now in Tier 2 – I’m looking at you Brandon Crawford and Trea Turner.

Fernando Tatis Jr. continues to make this game look easy, smashing three home runs Friday night to give him 25 on the season. Tatis Jr. is so good right now, he is SLUGGING .702. That’s right, that is not his OPS, but his slugging percentage. His OPS entering Saturday’s game was 1.075. That’s pretty hard to do even when playing MLB The Show.

We can’t overlook Xander Bogaerts, Marcus Semien, Bo Bichette and Carlos Correa. Bichette, who after being dropped down to Tier 2 two weeks ago to make room for Crawford, is back in Tier 1 and he could be ranked second. But so, too, could the other three players. These are the numbers for the four remaining Tier 1 players, with slash line, then runs scored, home runs, RBI, and steals:

Player 1: .276-.328-.470 – 62-14-49-12
Player 2: .276-.343-.515 – 53-18-45-9
Player 3: .305-.400-.534 – 54-14-46-0
Player 4: .320-.385-.545 – 44-13-45-5

The players in order of the stats above are Bichette, Semien, Correa, and Bogaerts. If you like average, OBP, and slugging, then Correa and Bogaerts move to the top. If you want homers, RBI, and speed, then Bichette and Semien are the guys you want. So the point is this: you can’t go wrong with Bogaerts, Semien, Bichette, and Correa right now at shortstop.

I’m keeping Bogaerts and Semien at second and third because of how consistent they have been. Bichette moves back to fourth after slashing .315-.383-519 with 13 runs scored, three homers, 14 RBI and five steals the past two weeks. Correa, who got off to a slow start this season, continues to mash the ball for the Astros, slashing .447-.563-.816 over the past two weeks with 12 runs scored, three homers, and 13 RBI. The only thing he doesn’t do on offense is steal bases.

Tier 2

I caused quite a stir with a few readers when I moved Brandon Crawford into Tier 1 two weeks ago ahead of Bo Bichette. I’m still on board the Crawford renaissance, but Bichette and Correa tore the cover off the ball the past two weeks to earn their place in Tier 1. That forces Crawford and Trae Turner to drop into Tier 2.

Crawford is still having a great season, but he cooled off a bit the last two weeks in the slashing departing (.225-.304-.450), but he still had five runs scored, two homers, nine RBI, and one steal. For the year he has 40 runs scored, 16 homers, and 50 RBI as well as five steals. The home runs rank fourth among shortstops and the home runs rank second. Turner doesn’t have the home run and RBI totals of the players ranked ahead of him, but he is slashing .314-.364-.478 this year and has stolen 16 bases to lead all shortstops.

Jake Cronenworth is coming off a great series against the Dodgers and has been ripping the ball the last two weeks, slashing .349-.417-.860. He scored 14 runs, smashed six homers, and drove in 11. He now has 12 homers this season and 31 RBI to go with 53 runs scored.

Tier 3

Francisco Lindor has obviously figured out his problems at the plate. After finally moving back into the rankings two weeks ago, Lindor jumps into Tier 3 after another solid two-week stretch. While he didn’t hit for average (.41) or getting on base at a high clip (.328), he put a charge into the ball by slugging .500 with four homers and 12 RBI to go along with eight runs scored and a stolen base. Those 12 RBI represent nearly half of Lindor’s total this season.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa quietly produced for a struggling Texas Rangers team all season. A former catcher who can play all over the field, Kiner-Falefa has settled in nicely at shortstop. He isn’t going to hit for a lot of power, but he has 15 steals this year and 41 runs scored. If your team has an abundance of power and you can swing a trade for him, I would do it (in Yahoo leagues he can also catch and play third).

Tier 4

Three new players appear in Tier 4 this week. Leading the charge is Eugenio Suarez. The Reds slugger still isn’t hitting for average, as his .176 batting average proves. But there is no denying his power and ability to drive in runs. He has 16 homers and 44 RBI this year. Over the last two weeks, he actually is hitting .244 and getting on base at a .327 clip while hitting three homers and knocking in 14.

Dansby Swanson dropped out of the rankings but is now back. Like many in Major League Baseball, his batting average is not pretty, sitting at .232 with an equally ugly .287 OBP. But he is driving the ball as he entered the weekend with 13 home runs and 34 RBI. In the last two weeks, he has scored five runs, hit three homers, driven in seven, and stolen two bases. He is rostered on only 77 percent of Yahoo teams and 79.5 percent of ESPN teams. If he’s available, add him.

Willy Adames has found a home in Milwaukee, it appears. Since joining the Brewers, he is slashing .284-.341-.500 (compared to .197-.254-.371 in Tampa Bay in 41 games) in his first 32 games with the team, with five homers, 20 RBI, and 15 runs scored. The biggest change for Adames is his strikeout rate, going from 51 Ks in 132 at-bats with the Rays to only 31 whiffs in 116 at-bats with the Brew Crew. He’s is hardly rostered in Yahoo (19%) or ESPN (17%) leagues and could be a nice add to play middle infield or provide depth at the position.

Meanwhile, Trevor Story is finally looking like the player we expected him to be after being MIA most of this season. In the last two weeks, he is slashing .292-.386-.604 with four home runs and 11 RBI as well as 11 runs scored. He is also running as Story wiped six bases. It appears he is finally 100 percent healthy. Whatever the reason is for his recent success, every Trevor Story owner is ecstatic after watching him flounder for most of the year.

Tier 5

J.P. Crawford has always been an outstanding player in the field. But at the plate, he has been a different story. However, Crawford has been having success hitting this year, slashing .285-.342-.405 with five home runs, 30 RBI, and three steals.  His current slash line would set career highs in all three categories (ignoring the .356 OBP he had in 70 at-bats in 2017). Over the last two weeks, he has been fantastic, slashing .346-.370-.519 with two round-trippers and eight RBI.

His improvement can likely be traced to the fact that he isn’t pulling the ball as much this season. In 2018, he pulled the ball 40.2 percent of the time. That number then dropped to 34.3 percent in 2019 and 28.1 percent last year. It now sits at 21.4 percent while he is hitting the middle on the middle 57.6 percent of the time and going to the opposite field in 21 percent of his at-bats.

Making his appearance in the Top 25 for the first time is Wander Franco. The top prospect in baseball, Franco made a splash in his first game for the Rays by going 2-for-4 with a double and a game-tying three-run homer. Since then, he has shown how hard it is to succeed at the major league level, going 0-for-15 with one RBI and a stolen base. Normally I wouldn’t have Franco owned, but I know if I didn’t there would be a few readers yelling “What about Franco! I can’t believe he is not ranked?” Well, now he is – but only because of his talent level and not current production.

Dropped Out

Adalberto Mondesi can’t catch a break. After missing all of April and most of May due to an injury, he returned to the lineup and displayed his talent immediately. In 10 games he slashed .361-.378-.833 with four homers and nine RBI. But Mondesi is back on the IL with a right oblique strain. His previous injuries this season were a left oblique strain and a left hamstring strain.

Alex Bregman drops out of the rankings as well due to a quad strain suffered while running to first base, and there is no timetable on his return. Bregman, however, was struggling at the plate before the injury, slashing .196-.232-.353 in 13 June games.

Players to Watch

Three players to keep your eye on are Amed Rosario, Myles Straw, and Nicky Lopez. Over the last month, Rosario is slashing .293-.327-.404 with three homers, 12 RBI, and three steals while also scoring 19 runs. He is rostered on only 41 percent of Yahoo rosters and 43 percent of ESPN rosters. Meanwhile Myles Straw has shortstop eligibility in Yahoo, so you may want to take advantage of the fact that he appears to have figured out he is not George Springer in center field for the Astros.

Straw doesn’t hit for power, but in the last month, he is slashing .318-.386-.443 with two home runs, nine RBI, and five steals. He has improved each month of the season for Houston, slashing .212-.289-.259 in March/April, .261-.330-.307 in May, and now .329-.393-.452 in June. Appearing on only 32 percent of Yahoo rosters, now would be a good time to add Straw and add his speed to your lineup if you are in need of steals.

Lopez, like Straw, does not hit for power. But you are looking for a middle infielder who can boost your team’s batting average or OBP, Lopez could be your guy. Over the last 30 days he is slashing .339-.439-.375 and in the last two weeks those numbers are .419-.500-419. With Mondesi on the IL once again for the Royals, Lopez is a good add right now.

I’ll be taking a needed break by sitting on a beach in Mexico this week, so the next installment of the second basemen rankings scheduled to come out July 4 will be pushed back to July 11.