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MLB Rankings: Top Second Basemen of 2019

By Jake Hasan

TOKYO, JAPAN - NOVEMBER 11: Whit Merrifield #15 of the Kanas City Royals celebrates during the Japan All-Star Series game against Team Japan at the Tokyo Dome on Sunday, November 11, 2018 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Yuki Taguchi/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
TOKYO, JAPAN - NOVEMBER 11: Whit Merrifield #15 of the Kanas City Royals celebrates during the Japan All-Star Series game against Team Japan at the Tokyo Dome on Sunday, November 11, 2018 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Yuki Taguchi/MLB Photos via Getty Images) /
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10. Gleyber Torres, New York Yankees

Just one year in, Torres is already establishing himself as one of the fastest rising stars in the game. On the back of a .271/.340/.480 batting line Torres earned his first All-Star appearance and a third place finish in Rookie of the Year voting.

However, there is a reason Torres isn’t higher on this list and below two other rookies.

First is his defense. Torres recorded a UZR of -7.7, which rates pretty poorly by that metric. Now that could be just the nuances of the 22-year-old learning a new position (he had been a shortsop up until last year) and being a rookie on the biggest stage. We can assume Torres will improve at least a little bit at the position, maybe never to a Gold Glove level but at least average.

The second part is that Torres fell off hard in the second half. In his first 63 games Torres slashed .294/.350/.555 with 15 homers.

In his last 60 games, Torres slashed .249/.329/.404 with just nine homers.

These are two fixable things and things that are often seen with young players. Assuming Torres makes the proper tweaks he could be in the top 5 of this list in 2020.

9. Ben Zobrist, Chicago Cubs

Even though Zobrist spent most of his time in the outfield in 2018, with the suspension of Addison Russell and his questionable future going forward with the Cubs it seems likely that Zobrist will at least open the season at second base if not stay most of the season there.

Zobrist bounced back from what was a sub-par 2017 in which he hit .232 and slugged just .375 in nearly 500 plate appearances. In 2018 he hit .305 and slugged .440, putting up a WAR of 3.6, his highest since 2014.

Zobrist’s value to the Cubs comes from playing multiple positions and ability to shift around the field, we’ll have to see if he can bring the same value at just one position but as long as he can remain constant with the bat and keep his walk rate above 10 percent and his strikeout percent around 11 he’ll still be a big contributor for the 2019 Cubs.

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