MLB Rankings: Top Shortstops of 2019

10. Paul DeJong, St. Louis Cardinals

Paul Dejong has solidified the shortstop position for the Cardinals over the last two years. He burst onto the scene in 2017, hitting 25 home runs and posting an .857 OPS in 108 games. He finished that year second in Rookie of the Year voting.

In 2018 DeJong had a lot of expectations, and was supposed to be a threat in the middle of the Cardinals lineup. Yet he slashed just .241/.313/.433 and hit 19 home runs in 115 games.

What needs to be considered though is that Dejong suffered a serious hand injury in May that sidelined him for nearly two months and clearly affected his swing all season.

Yet despite his struggles, we saw Dejong get stronger and healthier at the end of the year when he slashed .269/.325/.452 over the final month. He also improved leaps and bounds defensively, which is part of the reason he put up a 3.3 WAR. The Cardinals have a shorstop with youth on his side and who has improved drastically in some aspect each season, he could break out this season.

9. Didi Gregorious, New York Yankees

Despite his injury, Gregorious makes the list because he is expected to return to the Yankees sometime this summer and take his usual position as their starting shortstop.

Gregorious’s injury was unfortunate both for him and the Yankees. Obviously, for the Yankees, it’s because they lose one of their key players.

For Gregorious it’s because he was having a career year, on pace to set new career highs in OBP, slugging, OPS, OPS+, and homers. It’s unsurprising that he was also hitting the ball harder than ever in his career, at 36%.

Despite logging two fewer games than he did the previous year, Gregorious was still able to put up a better WAR (4.6 compared to 4.0 in 2017) and if he can get back on the field in time it’s not out of the question that the 29-year-old could crack 5 WAR for the first time in his career.