Fantasy baseball shortstop

Shortstop appears to be an extremely top-heavy position entering the 2015 season. My list of top 10 fantasy shortstops for the upcoming season is filled with big names, but by the mid-teens, nearly all the reliable, consistent performers will be off the board.

Troy Tulowitzki, Ian Desmond, Hanley Ramirez (soon to be OF eligible) and Jose Reyes make up the position’s top tier, and my second one consists of (in order) Alexei Ramirez, Jimmy Rollins, Starlin Castro and Jhonny Peralta.

Tulowitzki is undoubtedly the position’s top fantasy player, but he has played in over 130 games just once since 2009. He is seen as a late first round pick, but with his injury history there is no way I am risking my season on Tulowitzki’s ability to stay healthy.

Ramirez and Reyes have also been known to spend extended periods of time on the disabled list, so drafting one of them at their current ADPs would probably be a reach in my opinion.

Rollins (36) and Peralta (32) have continued to put up top fantasy numbers despite their ages, so there is little reason to believe either one will experience a steep decline this season.

Alexei Ramirez had iffy 2012 and 2013 seasons, but bounced back in a big way last season with his .273/15/82/74/21 line. In a newly potent White Sox offense, I would not be surprised if all five numbers experienced slight increases.

Castro’s batting average skyrocketed by 47 points from .245 in 2013 to .292 in 2014. He actually hit .329 after the All-Star break (tops among SS) and while he does not look to steal as much as he used to, I would be more than happy with a .305/15/65/65 line out of the Cubs shortstop.

To begin my third tier, I would pencil in Xander Bogaerts, Elvis Andrus and Alcides Escobar. Bogaerts is definitely the riskiest of the three, but if he could come close to a .285/20/75/70 line, I would be incredibly satisfied. Andrus and Escobar can be great early to mid-round picks for runs and SBs and a little bit further down I could see myself taking the very consistent Erick Aybar, but then the position becomes quite dicey.

J.J. Hardy and Jean Segura were both easily top 10 shortstops in 2013, but both experienced steep drop-offs in production in 2014. Hardy has five seasons of 22+ HRs under his belt and experienced a similar decrease in production in 2010 and 2011, so I definitely see a rebound in his future. He is a risky pick, but has the potential to lead the position in HRs.

Segura’s average and SBs fell drastically in 2014, but a .275 BABIP was a big factor for the large declines. He may not be a .294 hitter like he was in 2013, but a .275 average with 35 stolen bases is well within reach.

Jung-Ho Kang is probably the position’s most intriguing fantasy player for 2015. He had a line of .356/40/103/117 in the Korean Baseball Organization, which would clearly be MVP-type numbers in the MLB, but the level of play in the KBO is significantly worse than that of the MLB. So in America, will Kang be a .300/25/90/90 hitter or will it be more like .230/7/35/35?

In terms of sleepers, Jose Ramirez (Cleveland) and Chris Taylor (Seattle) both had great minor league numbers. Ramirez has 30-40 SB potential and could approach .300 if everything clicks. Taylor is the more likely one to hit above .300 and he stole 38 bases in A and AA combined two years ago.

Potential Steals: Ryan Rua, Corey Seager, Everth Cabrera, Jed Lowrie, Andrelton Simmons, Marwin Gonzalez.

Potential Busts: Asdrubal Cabrera, Didi Gregorius, Jordy Mercer, Danny Santana, Ben Zobrist, Javier Baez.