Fantasy baseball shortstops #4: Xander Bogaerts
We now enter the elite tier of shortstops, starting with the newest Padre, The X Man. He slashed .307/.377/.456/.833, good for a 131 OPS+. He hit 15 homers, 38 doubles, drove in 73 runs, and scored 84. That home run total was low for him, so I’d expect a bounceback in that category. He doesn’t even really need the power with the contact skills he displays, but it will increase his fantasy baseball value for sure. It’ll be interesting to see where he fits into what’s going to be a very deep and dangerous Padres lineup.
Fantasy baseball shortstops #3: Bo Bichette
Bo Bichette has been one of the best hitters in baseball over the last two seasons. Last year, he slashed .290/.333/.469/.802, good for a 127 OPS+. He hit 24 homers, 43 doubles, drove in 93 runs, and scored 91. He has led the American League in hits in each of the last two seasons, tallying 189 hits last year and 191 in 2021. His stolen bases (13) were down a bit in 2022, so it’d be good to see that number rise back to their 2021 level (25). He’s entrenched in the middle of a dangerous Blue Jays lineup, so expect him to continue this level of production.