Xander Bogaerts, among others making history at shortstop position
Xander Bogaerts is part of a new wave of baseball players.
Baseball is much different now from what it was in the1900s. For example, it was considerably harder to produce a .400 slugging percentage at that point than it is today.
Anyway, with that out of the way, the shortstop position has collected an incredible 100 wRC+ this season. Courtesy of Fangraphs, I was able to see how this compares to every single season since 1900. In only 1904 was the position more adept at being a positive offensive contributor, running a 101 wRC+.
From 1900 to 2018, 119 seasons have passed. This year is an exceptional feat for shortstops, even though the season is not even halfway finished. There could be regression to the mean on the horizon, but for right now this group of players is doing something extraordinary.
It is not even as if their production was trending in an apparent upward direction. Last season, shortstops posted a combined 88 wRC+. It will be helpful to see how shortstops have done in other recent seasons, so here are the last ten, including this year.
- 2018: 100 wRC+
- 2017: 88 wRC+
- 2016: 93 wRC+
- 2015: 85 wRC+
- 2014: 87 wRC+
- 2013: 86 wRC+
- 2012: 86 wRC+
- 2011: 88 wRC+
- 2010: 87 wRC+
- 2009: 87 wRC+
2016 seemed to be an indicator that the position was getting better but it fell a little bit the next season. Apparently, this year’s coalition of shortstops has made a humongous jump in offense.
This is surprising because of the magnitude of the leap, but is sensible when one considers the boom of young, talented shortstops we have seen over the past couple of years.