The All-Star break is thankfully over, allowing us to get back to watching baseball games every night. Watching the All-Star game no longer is the exciting matchup it used to be, especially with so many players opting out now. The Home Run Derby was great entertainment, but it isn’t a baseball game.
Thankfully the games are back this weekend, which means we get to watch Fernando Tatis Jr. do his thing with a smile and a lot of flash. We get to watch two outstanding players up the middle for the Toronto Blue Jays in Marcus Semien and Bo Bichette. It’s not a bad problem to have when you have two of the best three players at a position group, though that won’t be the case next season when Semien is only going to be classified as a second baseman.
With the second half of the season officially here, let’s see who is ranked where in the Top 25 Fantasy Shortstops.
Tier 1
| Rank | Name | Team | Prev. Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fernando Tatis Jr. | SD | 1 |
| 2 | Marcus Semien | TOR | 3 |
| 3 | Bo Bichette | TOR | 4 |
| 4 | Xander Bogaerts | BOS | 2 |
| 5 | Trea Turner | WSH | 7 |
The Tier 1 group features the return of Trea Turner. The Nationals shortstop has been red-hot the past month, slashing .369-.430-.690 with seven home run runs, 11 RBI and six steals while scoring 23 runs. This streak has boosted his season totals to 57 runs scored, 17 home runs, 42 RBI and 19 steals entering the weekend with a slash line of .319-.368-.520. His batting average is top among shortstops who qualify and his 19 steals trails only Fernando Tatis Jr. among shortstops.
Speaking of Tatis, we might as well just write his name into the top spot with a permanent marker. Tatis is tops among shortstops in Home Runs, RBI, stolen bases and slugging percentage, is second in runs scored and is tied for fourth in OBP. He has shown he is human the last two weeks, slashing .195-.250-.366, but he still drove in five runs, stole four bases and scored eight times while driving the ball out of the park twice.
I have moved Marcus Semien and Bo Bichette up one spot each with Xander Bogaerts dropping down to fourth in the rankings. But the order of these three players is pretty much arbitrary as all three are studs. Bogaerts has the better slash line (.318-.384-.540) compared to Semien (.279-.348-.539) and Bichette (.295-.343-.482), but the other two have better power numbers as Semien has 23 home runs and 57 RBI and Bichette is at 16 and 59 compared to Bogaerts’ 15-51. Runs scored are heavily in favor of Semien (70) and Bichette (72) compared to Bogaerts at 58, and stolen bases are in favor of Semien (10) and Bichette (12) while Bogaerts has five.
Tier 2
| Rank | Name | Team | Prev. Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Carlos Correa | HOU | 5 |
| 7 | Manny Machado | SD | 11 |
| 8 | Brandon Crawford | SF | 6 |
| 9 | Chris Taylor | LAD | 8 |
| 10 | Javier Baez | CHC | 9 |
Carlos Correa drops down to Tier 2 thanks to a cold stretch at the plate and then getting nabbed in the COVID protocols web, forcing him to miss the Astros’ series against the New York Yankees ahead of the All-Star break. Before getting ill, Correa was in the midst of a 30-day stretch in which he is slashing .246-.369-.478, However, he still hit four homers and drove in 15 runs while scoring 15 runs.
Manny Machado has been outstanding the last month, slashing .342-.438-.633 with 24 runs scored, six homers, 22 RBI and three steals. His numbers are even better over the last two weeks, slashing .344-.500-.719 with 12 runs scored, three homers and 11 RBI. While Machado has moved up the rankings, Brandon Crawford is holding steady in Tier 2. He is in the midst of a great season, slugging 18 homers with 58 RBI and seven steals to lead the Giants to the top of the standings in the NL West.
Yet, for whatever reason, fantasy owners are still not on board with Crawford. He is owned in only 81 percent of Yahoo leagues and 93 percent of ESPN leagues, despite what he has done for the season and especially the last month as he is slashing .390-.429-.610 with three homers, 14 RBI and three steals. If you are in a league and he is available, go add him to your roster right now.
Javier Baez still doesn’t have a pretty slash line this year, but over the last month he is slashing .270-.337-.568 to go along with six homers and 14 RBI. That has lifted his season slash line to .241-.287-.493 with 21 homers, 56 RBI and 11 steals. It will be interesting to see if his play on the field suffers over the next two weeks as he could be dealt by the Cubs if they don’t think there is any chance of re-signing him in the offseason. No matter what happens over the next two weeks, it’s good to see Baez back to being the player he was before falling off the cliff last season.
Tier 3
| Rank | Name | Team | Prev. Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Jake Cronenworth | SD | 10 |
| 12 | Francisco Lindor | NYM | 13 |
| 13 | Tim Anderson | CHW | 12 |
| 14 | Willy Adames | MIL | 19 |
| 15 | Trevor Story | COL | 20 |
Two new players are now in Tier 3. So let’s welcome Willy Adames and Trevor Story. Since joining the Brewers from the Rays, Adames has been outstanding. In 49 games with Milwaukee, he is slashing .299-.380-.559 with 29 runs scored, 10 homers and 34 RBI. Compare those numbers to his 41 games with the Rays, when he slashed .199-.254-.371 with only five homers and 15 RBI. Adames is owned in only 61 percent of Yahoo leagues and 55 percent of ESPN leagues. If you’re in a league where he is available, snag him and be happy you did.
While Adames has had a resurgence with the Brewers, Story is looking like the top shortstop everyone expected him to be over the last month, slugging .512 with six dingers, 16 RBI and six steals. For the season he is now slashing .249-.324-.439 with 11 homers and 42 RBI with 17 steals, which ranks third among shortstops. While I have moved Story up in my rankings, I am still worried about his home-road splits, especially if he is traded and no longer calls Coors Field home.
In Denver, Story is slashing .308-.364-.513 with six homers, 30 RBI, 25 runs scored and nine steals. But when he gets on the road, he has been horrible. His slash line is .180-.278-.353. Despite having 23 fewer at-bats on the road than at home, he has 42 strikeouts on the road compared to 30 at Coors Field. So if you are thinking of trading for Story, I would try to wait until the trade deadline passes.
Tier 4
| Rank | Name | Team | Prev. Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | Jorge Polanco | MIN | 22 |
| 17 | Luis Urias | MIL | NR |
| 18 | Dansby Swanson | ATL | 18 |
| 19 | Joey Wendle | TB | 15 |
| 20 | David Fletcher | LAA | NR |
Jorge Polanco, Luis Urias and David Fletcher have made the move into Tier 3 while Joey Wendle has fallen into this grouping from Tier 3.
Polanco has been improving each month of the season this year. In April he slashed .207-.268-.287 before slashing .253-.343-.494 in May. In June he went .290-.350-.484 and over the last 145 days he is slashing .300-.326-.550. Aside from April, when he hit one homer, he has slugged four, four and three in each month since with 11, 10 and 12 RBI. He is owned in only 64 percent of Yahoo leagues and 82 percent of ESPN leagues. Middle infield always seems to be a position of need, and Polanco can certainly help you right now.
Like Polanco, Luis Urias is available in many leagues (39% rostered in Yahoo, 44% in ESPN), and like Polanco, he can certainly help your depth at middle infield as well as third base. For the season he is slashing .241-.332-.443 with 13 homers and 44 RBI with five steals. But he has been more than solid the last month, smashing six homers and driving in 18 while swiping three bases and slashing .283-.349-.515.
I’ve dropped Wendle down thanks to a 30-day stretch in which he is slashing .264-.344-.340 with no home runs and only four RBI. However, he is showing signs of life at the plate in the last two weeks with a .350-.381-.500 slash line, though with only one RBI in his last 20 at-bats. Meanwhile, like I did in my second basemen rankings, I’m giving some love to Fletcher. No, he is not going to help you with your power or your slugging percentage. But Fletcher knows how to hit. For the season his average is .314. And over the last month, he has been simply outstanding, slashing .427-.440-.584 with two of his three home runs and 12 RBI. There are plenty of leagues that still use batting average. Considering Fletcher qualifies at second, short, third and left field in Yahoo and both middle infield spots in ESPN, he would be a good add.
Tier 5
| Rank | Name | Team | Prev. Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | Jazz Chisholm | MIA | 21 |
| 22 | Isiah Kiner-Falefa | TEX | 14 |
| 23 | Tommy Edman | STL | 24 |
| 24 | Gio Urshela | NYY | NR |
| 25 | J.P. Crawford | SEA | 23 |
The last month of the season has not been kind to Isiah Kiner-Falefa. The Rangers shortstop is slashing .161-.196-.226 over his last 93 at-bats with only one homer and four RBI. He also has zero steals. Considering he speed is one reason why people are rostering him (he has 15 steals this season), not swiping a base over the last month is not good for fantasy owners who have him on their roster.
Gio Urshela qualifies at shortstop in Yahoo leagues, so with that in mind, I have added him to the rankings this week as he moves into the Tier 5 group. Urshela is slashing .275-.315-.441 with 30 runs scored, 11 homers and 38 RBI. Over the last month, that slash line is .315-.342-.521 with four homers and 11 RBI. His 11 homers on the season tie him with Chris Taylor, Story, Francisco Lindor and Jazz Chisholm for 16th among shortstops, and his 38 RBI ranks 17th.
Dropped Out
| Name | Team | Prev. Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Ketel Marte | ARI | 16 |
| Eugenio Suarez | CIN | 17 |
| Wander Franco | TB | 25 |
Ketel Marte just can’t stay healthy. When he has been on the field, he has been outstanding this year. But he has spent more time on the IL than on the field this year, and is once again not helping any fantasy owners. Meanwhile, Eugenio Suarez has great power numbers with 18 homers and 52 RBI. but he is slashing .177-.262-.376, so unless you care only about homers and RBI, he is killing your fantasy stats. I prefer players who will help me in more than one or two categories unless I’m ahead of the pack in the other categories.
Wander Franco got his time in the sun when first promoted. However, he is showing why even top prospects shouldn’t be rushed to the majors. In his first 67 at-bats, he is slashing .209-.264-.358 with two homes and seven RBI with two steals and 10 runs scored. He will certainly become a mainstay in the rankings in the future. But right now, he is not a top 25 shortstop.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Two players to keep an eye on are Ramon Urias of Baltimore and Myles Straw of Houston. Since joining the Orioles, Urias has posted solid numbers for the Orioles. He is slashing .274-.342-.434 in 106 at-bats with four homers and 14 RBI. Over the last month, his slash is even better at .306-.358-.490. He is rostered in only one percent of Yahoo and ESPN leagues. If you’re in a league with deep rosters, he is a good player to watch and possibly stash.
Meanwhile, Straw is shortstop eligible in Yahoo leagues. and if you are needing some speed, he would be a good add. Straw started the season slowly at the plate, slashing .212-.289-.259 in April. But he then slashed .261-.330-.307 in May and improved to .330-.413-.432 in June. With 13 steals, that ranks eighth among shortstops. Only owned in 48 percent of Yahoo leagues, he could be a good backup at shortstop, middle infield, center field and outfield.
