MLB Rankings: Top Second Basemen of 2019
Let’s take a look at the ten best MLB second basemen.
As the baseball season nears with every passing day, and with Spring Training pretty much upon us, these positional rankings continue. Today’s list is, as the title says, the top second basemen currently in MLB.
Second base is a position somewhat in flux, but quickly becoming stronger. There are a lot of young up and comers, some who will appear in these rankings, and some steady veterans near the top.
Second base is not typically known as a position that has a lot of power or big hitters but that too is starting to change, with some of the guys coming in being more than just quick defenders.
These rankings do take into account performance prior to 2018 but these rankings are more about expected 2019 performance than entire career. So while someone like Robinson Cano will get a little extra leeway because of his past excellence, we can’t discount the breakout performances of people like Whit Merrifield.
As always, credit for all statistics and references to Fangraphs, Baseball Reference and Baseball Savant
*Note: Cubs infielder Javy Baez is excluded from this list as he is expected to play shortstop a fair amount in 2019
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.
8. Rougned Odor, Texas Rangers
While Odor didn’t replicate the 30 homers he hit in 2017, the Rangers second baseman actually had a better year in 2018 in 33 fewer games.
How?
Well even though he hit those 30 homers in 2017, he only slugged .397 and had an OPS of .649, not exactly the power numbers you’d like out of a guy with 30 or even 40 homer potential.
In 2018 Odor rounded his game out. He only hit 18 home runs, but he hit .253/.326/.424 overall, a big improvement from 2017. He also provided a lot of value on defense, logging 10 defensive runs saved and a 6.9 UZR, which ranked third out of all second basemen.
If he can stay healthy and carry over that same rounded approach to 2019 the Rangers could be sending Odor to the All-Star game.
7.Joey Wendle, Tampa Bay Rays
Last offseason, the Tampa Bay Rays acquired Joey Wendle from the Oakland Athletics for a player to be named later. It made sense, Wendle was 27-years-old and had struggled to break through with the A’s.
In 2018, the Rays won 90 games in the powerhouse AL East and Wendle slashed .300/.354/.435, finishing fourth in Rookie of the Year voting. He rated above average in all defensive metrics at second base and at least average at third and in the outfield.
Wendle isn’t a player with a lot of home run ability but he has good contact skills and gap-to-gap power, he had 33 doubles and six triples in 2018.
The one thing the Rays would probably like to see Wendle improve on in 2019 is his walk rate, which was just 6.8 percent in 2018. Wendle has speed, as shown by his 16 stolen bases in 2018, but if he could draw a few more walks he could probably push that number into the mid-20s and provide further value.
6. Ozzie Albies, Atlanta Braves
In his first full season in the majors and at 21-years-old, Ozzie Albies went to his first All-Star game. It was easy to see why, Albies slashed .281/.318/.516 with 20 homers in the first half. He looked like the favorite for the Rookie of the Year award.
However it was Albies’ second half that raises concerns. He slashed .226/.282/.342 and hit just four home runs.
We can assume that pitchers started adjusting to Albies and finding the holes in his swing. So now it’s up to the Braves and Albies to figure out to make another adjustment of their own. Whether that is training his eye better (just a 5.4% walk rate) or hitting the ball in the air more (38.8% ground ball rate) we know that the All-Star potential is there.
Despite his second half struggles at the plate, Albies was still one of the best defensive second basemen in 2018, ranking fourth in DRS and UZR. If he can adjust his swing the Braves have a potential dynamic duo with Albies and fellow young star Ronald Acuna.
5. Scooter Gennett, Cincinnati Reds
Gennett has broken out in the last two years with the Reds. In the first four years of his career, Gennett hit 35 total home runs.
In the last two, he’s hit 50. This has come with the 28-year-old hitting over .295 in both years as well. He also notched his first All-Star appearance of his career in 2018.
So not only has Gennett become a true power threat at second base, he’s also continuing to make contact and getting on base, with an OPS of .847 and .874 in the last two years as well.
On defense Gennett rates as just an average defender but when he’s providing that much value at the plate average defense is all the Reds require.
It’s in part because of Gennett’s breakout that the Reds felt comfortable adding pieces like Sonny Gray and Yasiel Puig to try and come out of their rebuild in full force.
4. Daniel Murphy, Colorado Rockies
Despite playing in just 91 games between the Washington Nationals and Chicago Cubs last year, Daniel Murphy was still quietly excellent. He slashed .299/.336/.454 with 12 home runs in just 91 games.
He also kept his strikeout rate at just 11% and made soft contact just 12% of the time. Murphy maintained solid contact in his limited time, which is his career norm, while also keeping some pop.
Now in Colorado and playing 81 games in Coors Field, Murphy is likely to rediscover the power that he had the first two years in Washington, when he hit 25 and 23 homers respectively and led the league in doubles.
Murphy also provides value defensively in that he can play not only second base but also first and third base.
In Murphy the Rockies have the potential to put together one of the best group of bats in baseball with him, Nolan Arenado, Charlie Blackmon and Trevor Story. That’s a middle of the lineup the Rockies hope can keep up with the Dodgers in the NL West and keep Colorado in playoff contention.
3. Robinson Cano, New York Mets
Regardless of your personal feelings on Cano’s suspension in 2018, the fact of the matter is he was still able to rack up 2.9 wins above replacement according to Fangraphs.
Even in 80 games Cano was still one of the best hitters in the game, he slashed .303/.374/.471 with 10 home runs and 22 doubles. While Cano is probably not the 30+ home run hitter that got him MVP votes anymore, he is still a good power source that can hit 20-25 homers. Cano was also on pace to hit more than 40 doubles for the first time since 2013 when he was still a member of the New York Yankees.
Working in Cano’s favor now is that Citi Field is a lot easier to hit in than Safeco Field in general. This could be especially true for Cano, who in 14 games there (admittedly a small sample) he’s slashed .298/.344/.561
With a good pitching nucleus and some potential breakout stars in the outfield, the Mets are attempting to capitalize on their window now, and they’re hoping Cano can still bring enough value to bring the whole product together.
2. Whit Merrifield, Kansas City Royals
It’s not often that you see a player debut at the age of 27 and two years later become a full on star in Major League Baseball. But that is exactly what Whit Merrifield has done with the Kansas City Royals.
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What’s interesting in this case is that Merrifield hasn’t built his newfound stardom on power or hard contact as we usually see. In fact, he was 255th out of 332 hitters in average exit velocity and has hit just 33 total homers in his career.
Instead, Merrifield excels in skills that have become what some might call a lost art in today’s game. He’s led the league in stolen bases the last two years, and about 70-percent of his hits were singles.
Yet Whit Merrifield received MVP votes and was worth 5.2 fWAR in 2018. For reference that’s just 0.1 less than Javier Baez, who finished second in MVP voting.
On a rebuilding Royals team, Merrifield isn’t going to have much help around him in the lineup, but that was true of last year as well and he still shined. Signed to a very cheap four year deal, don’t be surprised if the Royals flip Merrifield to a contender in the future.
1. Jose Altuve, Houston Astros
Things change in baseball, and they change fast. But Jose Altuve’s continued excellence at second base has stayed the same.
In 2018 the Astros star notched his fifth straight year hitting above .300, being an All-Star, receiving a Silver Slugger award and receiving MVP votes.
Altuve was able to do all this even though he missed 25 games, the most in a single season for his career. Yet he still hit 17 home runs, still put up an OPS of .837 and still had a WAR of 4.9.
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Year in and year out Altuve continues to pump out All-Star and MVP-type numbers, he’s been a huge part of why the Astros have become one of the powerhouses of the league. It’s no coincidence that the same year Houston took the World Series trophy home Altuve also took the MVP home.