Rest of Season Shortstop Rankings
I re-rank my top shortstop for the second half of the 2024 fantasy baseball season.
Other Positions
Tier One
Gunnar Henderson
Bobby Witt Jr.
Elly De La Cruz
Trea Turner
Francisco Lindor
Shortstop has proved to be even more loaded than we initially thought. I suppose you could separate Gunnar and Witt Jr. from this tier, but I think it’s better that they’re all right here.
Henderson: The edge over Witt he gets here is the power. He has 28 homers to Witt’s 16. He gives up quite a bit in steals to Wit, but he does have 14 swipes and a .286 batting average on his resume. The team context is also quite a bit better, so Gunnar takes the top spot.
Witt Jr.: The Royals’ collective step forward has been big for Witt. We never doubted the steals and 25 homers felt pretty easy for him as well, but what has changed is these counting stats. He’s scored 75 runs and driven in 63. He’s #3 on my player rater behind only Ohtani and Judge.
De La Cruz: He’s right there in production with these two, but I just think the risk of an extended slump is much greater with him. He’s already gotten there in steals with 46, and he’s added 17 dingers. The stuff that is short of elite is the batting average (.223 xBA) and RBIs (43). But he’s a major asset in steals without hurting you anywhere else, and there’s untapped upside still here.
Turner: He’s having one of his better seasons at a per-game pace. He has hit 11 homers and stolen 12 bags with a .349 batting average in 256 PAs. Elite roto player.
Lindor: He’ll probably get to his 20-20 season by mid-August, with 17 homers and 18 steals already. The batting average keeps him down the list a bit (.253), but he’s on his way to an easy 100 run, 25-homer, 25-steal, 75 RBI season.
Tier Two
Corey Seager
Mookie Betts
Each guy here has one flaw that keeps them out of the top tier. Everybody in tier one has steals; Corey Seager does not. And Mookie Betts is set to miss at least a couple more weeks, which is 20-25% of the rest of the season.
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