Now that we’ve recapped the top 20 catchers, top 20 1st basemen and top 20 2nd basemen, we’re starting to see clarity on depth of positions, and shortstops have bounced back in a major way since last year. Shortstops were not as deep as 2nd basemen last year. Shortstops are much deeper again. That’s not shocking, but good to see. So, here’s the final ranking from our Fantasy Baseball Player Rater with my comments. The Player Rater allows me to be impartial while looking at how I ranked them in the preseason. Anyway, here’s the top 20 shortstops for 2022 fantasy baseball and how they compare to where I originally ranked them:
1. Trea Turner – Already went over him at the top 20 2nd basemen for 2022 fantasy baseball.
2. Dansby Swanson – First off, if you were to ask people who know their shizz about fantasy baseball who was the 2nd best shortstop, I bet you’d get a few different answers before they said Dansby. That might be partially due to a 2nd half fade. I think 2nd half fades tend to give a bit of a sour taste in people’s mouths. Like you’re sucking on a Cry Baby, going pouty-pouty, “Ooh, this player was good, but not as good as I wanted.” Ooh, poor Cry Baby. Second off, and this goes more for the entire position: Shortstops were pretty stacked. The top was similar to 2nd basemen, but the depth is dramatically different. Rojas barely sneaks in on this top 20, he was 13th for 2nd basemen. Third off, there’s no third off. Preseason Rank #14, 2022 Projections: 79/25/84/.258/12 in 577 ABs, Final Numbers: 99/25/96/.277/18 in 640 ABs
3. Francisco Lindor – Had 706 plate appearances, and Dansby had 696 in 162 games. These are absurd numbers and neither guy had 100 runs, which had me do a Curious Check. Were there less runs this year? Yes, not close, actually. There was roughly 1200 more runs last year league-wide. Last year there was 16 players who got to 101 runs, this year there was only eight. (There were 10 guys who had 100 runs this year, and still 16 last year.) Trea Turner had 708 plate appearances on a crazy strong hitting team only had 101 runs. That’s legit nuts. Any hoo! Lindor bounced back mostly on BABIP, and made good on opportunities on base like he hadn’t in three years. Preseason Rank #7, 2022 Projections: 95/24/88/.261/14 in 581 ABs, Final Numbers: 98/26/107/.270/16 in 630 ABs
4. Marcus Semien – Already went over him at the top 20 2nd basemen for 2022 fantasy baseball.
5. Bo Bichette – It’s not surprising that a guy named Boba was done in by high expectations. If you were to get within a round of value on all your picks, you would take that and be doing victory laps for the rest of your life like some kind of fantasy baseball genie. Instead, you’re still in your lamp and you ain’t playing djinn, but you are drinking, you rummy. I’m with you. I wanted more from Bichette too, but he ended up on the year in the top 17 overall on the Player Rater, and it’s really hard to fault that. If you went Boba, Judge and Nola, you’d be collecting boku checks. Instead, you went Tatis, Teoscar and Berrios, and we’re pouring some out for you. Preseason Rank #1, 2022 Projections: 115/30/92/.303/28 in 607 ABs, Final Numbers: 91/24/93/.290/13 in 652 ABs
6. Bobby Witt Jr. – BWJ aka Best Wrookieifnotfor Julio Rodriguez. Bet you didn’t know Jr. stood for Julio Rodriguez. I taught you something. I was in on BWJ in every league, prolly drafting him higher than just about anyone, and it paid off nicely. I was also in on Jul-Rod, which makes me think, “Damn, India and Berrios, you really killed my teams.” The biggest takeaway I have looking at Witt’s numbers is this looks like just the tip, a line you tried way more than you’re admitting. Preseason Rank #12, 2022 Projections: 71/22/68/.272/24 in 504 ABs, Final Numbers: 82/20/80/.254/30 in 591 ABs
7. Willy Adames – Time to type with one hand while I pat my back with the other. Gave you an Adames and Gleyber sleeper post, and told everyone to draft Jeremy Pena (as well as Boba, Dansby, and Edman). These recaps are mostly for me to evaluate how I did, and I think I did fairly well. It does go to show you how hard this shizz is though because you can be right in so many ways, but draft a few Berrioses and Indias, and you’re screwed. I just had the thought of more than one Berrios and India on my teams and I vomited into my mouth, spit it out and it spelled out, “Berrios and India.” Crazy stuff. Oh, and Giolito, you still suck too. Any hoo! Adames was insanely close to my projections, even his at-bats were dead-on! Preseason Rank #19, 2022 Projections: 81/30/88/.266/6 in 563 ABs, Final Numbers: 83/31/98/.238/8 in 563 ABs
8. Tommy Edman – Already went over him at the top 20 2nd basemen for 2022 fantasy baseball.
9. Corey Seager – All his perfs (as the kids say) look highly repeatable, and not the least bit ridiculous. Seager might finally be coming into his own, now that he doesn’t have to carry the weight for him and Kyle, as their mom might say. Something that is standing out to me on shortstops in general is how many at-bats they got. Doesn’t bode well for next year’s projections, but will cross that bridge after filming ourselves in black and white and saying things like, “This is life, right here.” Preseason Rank #15, 2022 Projections: 86/22/81/.302/1 in 507 ABs, Final Numbers: 91/33/83/.245/3 in 593 ABs
10. Andres Gimenez – Already went over him at the top 20 2nd basemen for 2022 fantasy baseball.
11. Amed Rosario – Just looked at his Launch Angle (5) and made the Larry David “meh” face. Just looked at his Statcast page and made the Michael Scott “cringe” face. His 88.4 MPH exit velocity and 3.7% BB% is legitimately funny. Well, good work having him in your league, but, holy moley, his stats don’t look great. Preseason Rank #25, 2022 Projections: 79/15/61/.272/14 in 569 ABs, Final Numbers: 85/11/71/.283/18 in 637 ABs
12. Xander Bogaerts – Finally a guy that was disappointing! Lowercase yay! I will say the nature of doing a top 20 recap leaves off the guys who truly sucked up the ol’ suckhole. I’m farting in the general direction of Fernando Tatis Jr., Wander Franco, Trevor Story, Tim Anderson, Mondesi, Adalberto, Adalberto Mondesi, Ad. Mondesi, A. Mondesi, A.M. (stands for Adalberto Mondesi) and Jazz Chisholm. Though, Jazz was good when he played, and you could’ve replaced him, unlike Mondesi who was never good. Just really bad, A-bad-berto Mondesi. As for Bogaerts, his numbers were awful. He finished this high because of runs and RBIs, but 15 homers and 8 steals with a .307 average? Yo, who are you, an expensive Luis Arraez? I will call you Luis Balenciagarraez. Preseason Rank #6, 2022 Projections: 104/28/109/.291/7 in 587 ABs, Final Numbers: 84/15/73/.307/8 in 557 ABs
13. Gleyber Torres – Already went over him at the top 20 2nd basemen for 2022 fantasy baseball.
14. Eugenio Suarez – I way overestimated how much platooning he’d be doing in the preseason. Don’t get me wrong, he kinda sucks for average vs. righties, but the Mariners weren’t going to platoon him. Not sure what I was thinking. Platooning with Toro? El oh–*coughs* No. That’s just dumb, in retrospect. Welp, might Marwin some, just Marlost that one. Preseason Rank #35, 2022 Projections: 62/26/66/.202/1 in 417 ABs, Final Numbers: 76/31/87/.236 in 543 ABs
15. Thairo Estrada – Already went over him at the top 20 2nd basemen for 2022 fantasy baseball.
16. Jake Cronenworth – Already went over him in the top 20 1st basemen for 2022 fantasy baseball.
17. Carlos Correa – He just edged out Pena with $12.30 vs. $12.20 in fantasy value. So, I guess congratulations if you drafted Correa, but, when you figure in his preseason cost vs. Pena, well, Pena went for 425th overall and Correa went at 98. Though, I will help you Correa drafters out, I, honestly, don’t know what ADP has to do with anything at this point in the year. It’s why I don’t love putting a lot of shine on ADP in the preseason either. Does it matter where you drafted a guy if your team finished 10th out of 12 teams? Does it make you feel better? I didn’t think so. Preseason Rank #16, 2022 Projections: 85/25/79/.272/1 in 531 ABs, Final Numbers: 70/22/64/.291 in 522 ABs
18. Jeremy Pena – Here’s an ADP dilemma for you. I ranked Pena way earlier in the rankings then his ADP, and projected him for roughly what he did. It was obvious he was going to get 500 at-bats because his glove is so good. It was clear he could hit 20-ish homers, steal 10-ish bags. So, did you dare draft him around the 20th shortstop off the board, or did you not because you were afraid people in your league would think you’re crazy for reaching vs. ADP? I drafted him in a few leagues, and I’ll admit to getting murmurs in the draft room for reaching. Does that matter now? Not at all, but it really does mess with people. So many times you don’t make a draft pick because the ADP is saying a guy should be so much later, when that literally matters not at all. Preseason Rank #24, 2022 Projections: 63/17/52/.266/12 in 509 ABs, Final Numbers: 72/22/63/.253/11 in 521 ABs
19. Jorge Mateo – Just started looking to see if Mateo would be getting everyday at-bats next year. Ha, it’s a sickness. For what it’s Cronenworth, I do think Mateo could have everyday playing time. a%1sf271–Sorry, my fingers were crossed. Guys and five girl readers, you show 40-steal speed and I get excited. Excuse me! Preseason Rank #36, 2022 Projections: 51/7/47/.221/23 in 451 ABs, Final Numbers: 63/13/50/.221/35 in 494 ABs
20. Josh Rojas – Already went over him at the top 20 2nd basemen for 2022 fantasy baseball.
