THE SHORTSTOP BATTLE

Who is the best young shortstop in baseball?

Most folks would scream out the name Carlos Correa when asked.

However, is Correa that far removed from three others names I would consider that you consider in this discussion – Xander Bogaerts, Francisco Lindor and Corey Seager?

Seager has appeared in 67 career games with his first big league effort coming on September 3rd last year. We will get back to him in a moment.

The other three options were all active starting on June 14th last season (Lindor was the last one called up). Let’s compare the three shortstops from that date, June 14th, to this point May 19th. Might be surprised a bit by what you see I’m guessing.

 

AVG

OBP

SLG

OPS

HR

RBI

RUNS

SB

wOBA

Bogaerts

.335

.373

.452

.825

9

79

90

12

.359

Correa

.277

.354

.495

.849

29

88

74

21

.364

Lindor

.316

.359

.470

.829

15

69

75

18

.357

 

Did you have any idea that Bogaerts had such a massive batting average lead over Correa? Ditto Lindor over Correa. As for the ability to get on base, pretty much a wash for the trio. When it comes to homers Correa beats the other two, combined, and he also paces the group in RBI. Still, you have to be surprised at the narrow OPS leads he holds, right?

How about we do the following. Let’s list each players finish in the category as 1 for first, 2 for second and 3 for third. We will then add up all nine categories. The lower the number, the higher the finisher (nine would be perfect as in nine “1’s”)

 

AVG

OBP

SLG

OPS

HR

RBI

RUNS

SB

wOBA

Bogaerts

1

1

3

3

3

2

1

3

2

Correa

3

3

1

1

1

1

3

1

1

Lindor

2

2

2

2

2

3

2

2

3

 

Final marks follow.

 

Total

Bogaerts

19

Correa

15

Lindor

20

 

So the “winner” is Correa. But there’s still a lot of similarity here, more than most would have you believe.

Let’s add in Seager to the mix. He doesn’t have enough games played to match the other three given that he is three months down on games played compared to Correa and Francisco and years to Xander. So, let’s do this. Let’s normalize things to the baseline of 162 games played. What would each shortstops performance be if we were talking 162 games? The answer follows.

 

AVG

HR

RBI

RUNS

SB

Bogaerts

.288

11

70

82

9

Correa

.277

34

103

86

24

Lindor

.316

18

82

89

21

Seager

.308

27

92

102

7

 

A few take always.

1 – Seager has only appeared in 67 big league games, so giving him 162 games of work, at his to date pace, is very aggressive. Still, look at those numbers. They would be stupendous work, would they not? Seager, despite some concerns of folks that spent too much on him on draft day this season, has performed exactly as advertised, already producing at elite levels.

2 – Lindor was lost a bit in the explosion that was/is Correa, but his overall game through 136 big league outings has been absolutely stupendous. No one, not a single person, though that Lindor would hit like this to start his big league career. Moreover, I don’t think many scouts or front office folks thought that Lindor would ever be this impressive. Look at those numbers folks. Lindor is doing a .315 thing with nearly a 20/20 pace. Players simply don’t do that, especially when they play shortstop.

3 – Correa has the most fantasy friendly game, zero doubt there, and he’s been stupendous. He has taken a back seat to the others in the batting average category. Still, Correa is the lone 20/20 guy on the list. In fact, his pace is for a massive 30/20. He’s also got the lowest batting average on the list, not that it should be a hindrance in the least.

4 – Obviously looking at things this way hurts Xander substantially. After all, he hit .245 with 51 RBI and 67 runs scored his first 162 games. The last season plus his performance has absolutely taken off. After a slow 162 games to start his career, the last 196 games for Bogaerts have been impressive as all get out: .324-11-103-115-16.

We’re in the age of coming greatness at shortstop yet again.

DFS DIAMONDS

*The following list of players are guys that Ray recommends as daily plays.

CATCHER: A.J. Ellis has a hit in 3-straight starts and has a 1:1 BB/K ratio this season. He’s also hit Jhoulys Chacin well with a .412 average and one homer over 17 at-bats.

FIRST BASE: Freddie Freeman has a .379 OBP against lefties this season with a .817 OPS. He has .377 and .901 mark in May against all hurlers. He takes on moderately effective Jeff Locke who has allowed lefties to bat .324 with a .395 OBP.   

SECOND BASE: I’m gonna do it, just cause it makes little sense. Why would you start anyone against Chris Sale? Good question. Maybe the answer is Jose Altuve. The diminutive second sacker has hit .357 over 14 at-bats against Sale. He’s also batting .444 against lefties this season and, get this, has hit .357 over 757 at-bats against lefties.  

THIRD BASE: Jung-ho Kang has a .419 wOBA the last week with two homers, four RBI and a .647 SLG. Mike Foltynewicz has allowed righties to bat .281 with a .340 OBO over the course of his young career.    

SHORTSTOP: Zack Cozart gets up for the matchup with the Indians hitting .339 with a .889 OPS over 16 games. He’s also gone 5-for-8 against Josh Tomlin, has a .881 OPS at home, and over his last five games he’s produced six hits, three runs and two RBI.   

OUTFIELD: Michael Saunders has a .322/.396/.522 slash line versus righties. He’s batting .352/.410/.606 on the road. He faces Ervin Santana who has allowed lefties to hit .291 with a .371 OBP.

OUTFIELD: Josh Tomlin has allowed six homers his last four starts. Yikes. He faces Jay Bruce who has four homers and a 1.054 OPS in May.

OUTFIELD: Lefties are batting .319 with a .369 OBP and .505 SLG against Colin McHugh. Adam Eaton is left-handed, and he has six RBI his last five games. Over his last eight games he’s also produced two hits five times.

 

Ray Flowers can be heard Monday through Friday, 7 PM EDT and Friday on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 6 PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).