Now that Derek Jeter has retired and with some new faces on the scene whose the next all-star shortstop to take over the position? On this list we’ll take a look at the top ten current best starting shortstops in the league.
10) Jimmy Rollins (Los Angeles Dodgers)
2014 Stats – (17 HR, 55 RBI’s, 28 SB, .243 BA) (7 E, .988 FPCT)
Fifteen seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies and a 2007 MVP award, sets as a good career. But in the 2014-2015 offseason, Rollins was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers. It’s a new look for baseball fans. You can tell Rollins is heading towards the end of the line but still can produce the numbers just not at the pace of his younger days. Additionally he plays solid defense still at he age of 36 and still can keep up with most shortstops in the league.
9) Erick Aybar (Los Angeles Angels)
2014 Stats – (7 HR, 68 RBI’s, 16 SB, .278 BA) (10 E, .982 FPCT)
Aybar has been the Angels shortstop for the past 9 seasons. He gives you a solid glove on defense and will give you a .250 plus batting average each season. He is an all around player and produces good leadership on the field and takes control of each play. He also gives you options at leadoff him or in the second spot of the lineup. His speed can also give plenty of pitchers and catchers problems on the base paths.
8) Alcides Escobar (Kansas City Royals)
2014 Stats – (3 HR, 50 RBI’s, 31 SB, .285 BA) (16 E, .976 FPCT)
Escobar has been the starting shortstop for the Royals since 2011. And since then he’s put up good numbers on offense averaging a .267 batting average and 20 plus steals a season. Now defensively, he’s not always the best but with his range he’s able to get to a lot of balls in the hole which in some cases can make up for the lapses he has throughout the year.
7) Ian Desmond (Washington Nationals)
2014 Stats – (24 HR, 91 RBI’s, 24 SB, .255 BA) (24 E, .963 FPCT)
When the Nationals came into the league in 2005, they thought they had the next Derek Jeter. Offensively this could be the case but most definitely not on the defensive side of things. Desmond has a ton of power and is a nice hitter. But when it comes down to defense, he’s probably one of worst defenders in the league. Most likely in a few years he will become a third baseman or move to first base.
6) Jhonny Peralta (St. Louis Cardinals)
2014 Stats – (21 HR, 75 RBI’s, 3 SB, .263 BA) (12 E, .981 FPCT)
Peralta created himself in Cleveland in the early stages of his career. His rookie season (2003), he showed everyone he could play good defense and swing the bat. The hitting portion stayed but gradually his defensive skill got worse. After getting traded to the Tigers in 2010 he remained an average defender at best but cemented himself as a pretty good 4, 5 or 6 hitter in the lineup.
5) Elvis Andrus (Texas Rangers)
2014 Stats – (2 HR, 47 RBI’s, 27 SB, .263 BA) (18 E, .971 FPCT)
Andrus has been in a Rangers uniform for 7 seasons. Coming into the league at the age of 20 (2009), he looked very promising but his defensive skills have been pretty awful throughout his career. Averaging 16 errors a season is not good but he makes it up with his range. He can get to ground balls in the hole quicker than most people and has the arm to throw them out. He’s also a base stealing threat to all pitchers when he gets on base averaging 27 steals a season. That’s pretty good coming from a guy who bats at the end of your line-up.
4) Alexei Ramirez (Chicago White Sox)
2014 Stats – (15 HR, 74 RBI’s, 21 SB, .273 BA) (15 E, .978 FPCT)
Ramirez is another guy who can just flat-out hit the ball. Coming into the league in 2009 at the age of 26, Ramirez didn’t develop into the greatest defender but makes most hard plays look pretty easy that some. He will give you a good batting average and some power while driving in runs.
3) Jose Reyes (Toronto Blue Jays)
2014 Stats – (9 HR, 51 RBI’s 30 SB, .287 BA) (19 E, .965 FPCT)
What else can you say about Reyes besides that he’s a freak on the base path. This guy can steal a bag whenever he wants and is the closes to a Ricky Henderson on the bases since Henderson himself. Meanwhile his defense isn’t the greatest. Reyes has a cannon for an arm but you can see most times he rushes a throw without setting himself up. He has no problem getting to the ball. Most of his errors are throwing errors.
2) Starlin Castro (Chicago Cubs)
2014 Stats – (14 HR, 65 RBI’s, 4 SB, .292 BA) (15 E, .973 FPCT)
For only being 25 years old and already playing in 6 seasons in the MLB, Castro has made a good name for himself. Playing for an awful Cubs team, Castro still produces good numbers on offense however his ability to steal bases has dropped dramatically over the years. He had 4 steals in 2014 season and 9 in 2013. But before that he had 25 in 2012. The upside however is Castro’s power and batting average is still there but when it comes to his ability on defense he’s an error machine. In 2014, the Cubs shortstop had 15 errors which was actually a big improvement. Like I said though, he’s only 25 years old and should continue to improve in all aspects of his game as his career progresses.
1) Troy Tulowitzki (Colorado Rockies)
2014 Stats – 91 games (21 HR, 52 RBI’s, 1 SB, .340 BA) (4 Errors, .990 FPCT)
Since his rookie season in 2007 Tulowitzki has been mentioned as an MVP candidate in each of those years as the guy just crushes the ball and plays great defense. In 2014 he was off to a crazy hot start but was only limited to 91 games due to injury. If he stays healthy, this team is very dangerous. The Rockies have built around him with great hitters (C. Gonzalez, C. Blackmon, C. Dickerson, J. Morneau, and N. Arenado) but the only problem with Colorado not winning is no one wants to pitch at Coors Field.
Baseball is a lot like life. It’s a day-to-day existence, full of ups and downs. You make the most of your opportunities in baseball as you do in life. – Ernie Harwell