2018 Fantasy Baseball Rankings: Shortstop
Not only did Francisco Lindor play the entire season, he got better as the season wore on. There's no reason to think Correa and Turner won't have full seasons this year, but we had to give Lindor the nod (this year).
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The days of slap-hitting, defense-only shortstops are gone. Nowadays, there is no shortage of fantasy baseball studs at the shortstop position. On this page, we'll rank the Top 40 shortstops, and we'll be the first to tell you that this list could shuffle significantly by the time the All-Star break rolls around.
First, we really struggled to justify not giving Trea Turner the top spot, but he just lacks the power of Francisco Lindor and Carlos Correa. Then, we really struggled not giving the top spot to Carlos Correa, but then Correa doesn't have the speed that Turner and Lindor have (and no one has the speed that Trea Turner has, either).
How did we choose the top fantasy shortstop? Well, we couldn't find a 3-sided coin to flip, so we went with the best lineup, the and best likelihood that one of them would approach a 30/30 season. That and Francisco Lindor blew us away with his 33 HR and 44 doubles. Honestly, the last ranking factor was the fact that, out of the top 3, Lindor was the only one who stayed healthy last season, and we all know your best ability is your availability. But given that all these guys are practically teenagers, you can expect a full, kickass season out of any of them. If your top 3 is different than ours, take yer pick and don't look back with any regrets. Given they all stay healthy, you can't go wrong with any of them as your top shortstop pick.
First, we really struggled to justify not giving Trea Turner the top spot, but he just lacks the power of Francisco Lindor and Carlos Correa. Then, we really struggled not giving the top spot to Carlos Correa, but then Correa doesn't have the speed that Turner and Lindor have (and no one has the speed that Trea Turner has, either).
How did we choose the top fantasy shortstop? Well, we couldn't find a 3-sided coin to flip, so we went with the best lineup, the and best likelihood that one of them would approach a 30/30 season. That and Francisco Lindor blew us away with his 33 HR and 44 doubles. Honestly, the last ranking factor was the fact that, out of the top 3, Lindor was the only one who stayed healthy last season, and we all know your best ability is your availability. But given that all these guys are practically teenagers, you can expect a full, kickass season out of any of them. If your top 3 is different than ours, take yer pick and don't look back with any regrets. Given they all stay healthy, you can't go wrong with any of them as your top shortstop pick.
Top 40 Shortstops for 2018
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Three Different Astros Qualify at Shortstop and They're ALL in the Top 10We're not gonna check the fantasy baseball nerd annals, but this has to be a record: the Houston Astros have three different players who qualify as fantasy shortstops and they're all fantasy studs, too. Carlos Correa is the obvious choice as he's the Astros' actual shortstop. But when he got hurt, Marwin Gonzalez and Alex Bregman got enough playing time at short to qualify on this list, Not only that, but each of them lit it up in 2017, landing each of them not just in the top 40, but in the top 10 list of all fantasy shortstops. Ridiculous, man.
When you average these 3 guys out to a full season, they paced at 97 runs, 27 HR, 100 RBI and 11 stolen bases while hitting .299. Those numbers could have de-throned Francisco Lindor at the #1 spot, so keep that in the back of your mind on draft day. Jean Segura as the #5 Fantasy ShortstopThis was a tough call, but we had to do it because of Jean Segura's potential and somewhat-relevant track record. Jean Segura has the potential to go 20/30 (maybe even 20/40), and he's in a stacked lineup in Seattle. Dee Gordon just showed up to hit leadoff which means more RBI for Segura. Plus, the Mariners added Ryon Healy into the mix to go along with Robinson Cano, Nelson Cruz, Kyle Seager, Mitch Haniger and Mike Zunino behind him. Segura's on-base percentage over the last 2 seasons is .359, so we fully expect him to score 90-100 runs, 15 HR, 60-80 RBI and 25-45 stolen bases - yes, anywhere in there for steals.
Who Was the Top Fantasy Shortstop in 2017? Elvis AndrusDon't let anyone lie to you if they told you they knew that Elvis Andrus was going to be the #1 fantasy shortstop in 2017. Anyone who says that is full of shit, hence he's at #7 on our list in 2018. Andrus went crazy last season with 100 runs, 20 HR, 88 RBI, 25 stolen bases and a .297 batting average. That is, officially, a career year. In standard fantasy baseball leagues, you have to win 5 offensive categories, and Elvis Andrus helped his teams win each one of those categories every week last season. Do we think he'll do it again in 2018? Hell no. But do we now have to respect him a little more? Fo sho. He's only 29 years old, too, so it's not like he's out of gas. Draft him appropriately in 2018 and you just might get away with murder again.
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