Updated Rankings (June 19): Top 15 Shortstops: Major Shakeup At The Top & More

by Eric Stashin (aka The Rotoprofessor)

We are over a month into the season so there have obviously been changes to our preseason rankings.  Who has shown signs of improving?  Who has struggled and thus has a cloudier outlook?  Let’s take a look at how things currently stand (Note: The number in parenthesis represents the player’s ranking in our latest updated ranking):

1. Carlos Correa – Houston Astros (4)
2. Trea Turner – Washington Nationals (2)
3. Corey Seager – Los Angeles Dodgers (5)
4. Francisco Lindor – Cleveland Indians (3)
5. Manny Machado – Baltimore Orioles (1)
6. Zack Cozart – Cincinnati Reds (14)
7. Jonathan Villar – Milwaukee Brewers (9)
8. Xander Bogaerts – Boston Red Sox (6)
9. Elvis Andrus – Texas Rangers (12)
10. Chris Owings – Arizona Diamondbacks (10)
11 Jedd Gyorko – St. Louis Cardinals (NR)
12. Trevor Story – Colorado Rockies (8)
13. Aledmys Diaz – St. Louis Cardinals (13)
14. Eduardo Nunez – San Francisco Giants (15)
15. Jose Peraza – Cincinnati Reds (NR)

Currently on the DL:

• Marcus Semien – Oakland A’s (DL)
• Jean Segura – Seattle Mariners (7)

Notes:

• While there is a lot of upside in the shortstop position, the bulk of the top options have underperformed thus far. While Correa certainly hasn’t blown the doors off with his production, there also is a lot to like as he’s hit the ball hard (40.4% Hard%), shown a good command of the strike zone (8.9% SwStr%, 27.6% O-Swing%) and increased power (18.8% HR/FB).  That’s a lot to like.
• Corey Seager has shown a significant improvement in his plate discipline, improving both his SwStr% (11.3% to 9.6%) and O-Swing% (32.2% to 23.4%). He’s also hitting fewer groundballs (41.5%) and racking up the doubles (18).  It all comes together to create a tremendous profile as he emerges as one of the best options in the league.
• It’s been a disastrous start to the season for Manny Machado, but he’s finally showing signs of heating up in June. Don’t be surprised if he’s back in the Top 2 or 3 the next time we review these rankings.
• Trevor Story continues to struggle with strikeouts, though the biggest issue is that he’s seemingly swinging for the fences.  His fly ball rate has jumped from 47.1% to 57.1%, and instead of hitting for more power it’s helped to sabotage his average.  Hopefully he can figure it out and turn things around, otherwise this could spiral into somewhat of a lost season.

Source – Fangraphs

Make sure to check out all of our updated rankings: