Baseball fans have been spoiled for the past two decades. Some incredible ballplayers have played an exciting position and become the biggest stars of this generation.
I’m talking about shortstop. Is there a position that has seen as much star power over the past 20 years? In the mid- and late-90s, Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Nomar Garciaparra and Edgar Renteria began taking over as the young faces of baseball’s future. Later, electrifying, multi-talented players continued to show up in the form of Troy Tulowitzki, Jimmy Rollins and Hanley Ramirez.
Shortstop is a key position because those who play it well impact the game in ways no other position can, except perhaps a dominant pitcher.
Take a look at the minors, and it’s easy to see there is another wave of talent very close to the majors. We’ve already caught a glimpse of it in Addison Russell. He’s playing second in Chicago, but he’s likely to play short for the long haul. Also, there has been talk that Houston’s Carlos Correa (GotC’s No. 2 prospect) should be called up to the majors.
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The likelihood they all turn out to have the same career as Jeter or Tulowitzki is almost nil, but it won’t be long before young shortstops are snatching hits and scoring runs and leading teams to the playoffs. Among Grading on the Curve’s top 50 prospects, six are shortstops, five of whom are in the top 20. And they aren’t the only ones making noise.
Let’s take a look at the future of the left side of second base:
Corey Seager (Dodgers): GotC’s No. 7
Seager is quite simply the best hitting prospect not playing third base for the Cubs. Entering play Friday, Seager was hitting .372 with five home runs and 14 RBIs at Double-A and just go promoted to Triple-A. This comes after a monster 2014 when he slashed .349/.402/.602 with 20 homers. There is a good chance he ends up playing third base, but he has the necessary tools to play a quality short. If Juan Uribe’s age starts to show at third or Rollins gets injured, Seager might show up sooner rather than later.
Francisco Lindor (Indians): GotC’s No. 8
Lindor’s greatest asset is his defensive skill. He regularly makes plays like this…
It would be tough to make a case any of the other shortstop prospects are better defensively. He doesn’t have the gaudy offensive numbers some of the other prospects do, but he’s always been a steady hitter and isn’t a strikeout burden; his highest strikeout rate in his three professional seasons was 17.1 percent last season. Lindor also has the speed to steal 20 bases and already has six in 2015. He is the defensive centerpiece of the Tribe’s future.
Orlando Arcia (Brewers) MLB.com’s No. 86
Arcia is in a dead heat with Correa for the Double-A batting lead. He doesn’t waste any at-bats—he’s only struck out eight times in 20 games—which is why he leads the Southern League in hitting by a lot (link) at .409, is second in runs (14) and third in OBP (.468). He made a big jump offensively last season, finishing .289/.346/.392 after a rough 2013 when he slashed .251/.314/.333. He’s always had a stellar glove, and now his bat is catching up. With the Brewers struggling mightily early on, Arcia’s play may force the Brewers’ hand to promote him.
Tim Anderson (White Sox): MLB.com’s No. 75
The White Sox have been aggressive with Anderson, their 2013 first round draft pick, as he made it all the way to Double-A in his first professional season. He didn’t bat an eye, hitting .301 with nine home runs in 83 games. He did make 34 errors, leading to speculation that he could be moved to third base, but he is athletic enough to learn to play short, especially with the speed that’s allowed him to steal 11 bases in only 20 games. This season, he’s off to blistering start, hitting .321 in a small sample size. He does tend to strike out a bit—he has 18 strikeouts already and had a 22.5 K% last season—but the potential is obvious in Anderson.
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Dixon Machado (Tigers): Tigers No. 11 (MLB.com)
Machado is sneaking up on everyone. He’s come a long way from the .195/.283/.252 hitter back in 2012: last season he slashed .286/.375/.404 with 75 runs in 131 games and is following that up with an impressive .317/.367/.378/12 line in 20 games at Triple-A. He’s ready defensively to play in the majors, but now he just needs to repeat the offensive improvements from last season. Unfortunately, he’s being blocked by Jose Iglesias and Ian Kinsler, but Machado could be a worthy replacement for either of them.
Other notable shortstops:
Ketel Marte (Mariners)—following up a productive 2014 with a .310/.358/.345 line with eight stolen bases and only nine strikeouts in 95 plate appearances at Triple-A.
Ryan Cordell (Rangers)—On his way to repeating a solid 2014 when he hit .318/.385/.530 with 13 home runs in 89 games, Cordell already has four home runs while slashing .341/.368/.593. He has also played some time in the outfield this season.
Wilmer Difo (Nationals)—He’s come out of the gate strong, slashing .320/.386/.533 with three home runs and four stolen bases. Only has 13 Ks in 83 plate appearances.
All stats and rankings taken from Baseball Reference or MiLB.com.