Like many other sports, Major League Baseball is delayed in 2020. With this, fantasy baseball is also not operating as planned. However, there is still a possibility of the season happening, even if it is different than the typical major league season. Should the fantasy baseball season happen this year, a lot of participants will be doing research prior to their draft. Position rankings are a way for people to get an idea of who they might want to target in their fantasy baseball draft. Here is a list of second basemen for the 2020 fantasy baseball season.
Note: To be eligible for these rankings, the player’s first position listed on ESPN fantasy baseball must be second base. For example, since Gleyber Torres is listed as (SS, 2B), he is eligible for the shortstop rankings in this series, but will not be included in the second base rankings.
20. Robinson Cano, New York Mets (2B)
Factors like age and playing time can make it tough to predict how Robinson Cano will do in the upcoming season. The five-time Silver Slugger award winner played in 107 games with the Mets in 2019, which is an upgrade from the 80 games he played with the Mariners the year prior. His 2019 line with the Mets was .256/.307/.428.
19. Nick Madrigal, Chicago White Sox (2B)
Nick Madrigal has spent multiple seasons in the minors. In 120 minor league games last season, Madrigal had a slash line of .311/.377/.414. Something that stands out is that in those 120 games, he struck out just 16 times. He walked nearly three times as much as he struck out with 44 base on balls.
18. Hanser Alberto, Baltimore Orioles (2B, 3B)
Hanser Alberto collected 160 hits with the Orioles last season. He played in 139 contests, slashing .305/.329/.422. Alberto played three seasons with the Rangers prior to 2019, but only saw action in 92 total games, including three Postseason games. He should continue to get solid playing time with the Orioles in the upcoming season.
17. Cesar Hernandez, Cleveland Indians (2B)
It’s a small sample size, but Cesar Hernandez had an OPS of 1.032 through 10 spring training games in 2020. He also had a career high 48 extra-base hits in his 2019 campaign, including 31 doubles. Another career high Hernandez had in 2019 was 71 RBIs.
16. Jonathan Schoop, Detroit Tigers (2B)
Jonathan Schoop hit both 23 doubles and 23 home runs in 121 games last season. He scored 61 times and totaled 59 RBIs. With the Tigers, he should still get solid playing time, but there’s a chance some of his offensive numbers might decrease such as runs scored and RBIs. The Twins had one of the best scoring offenses in 2019, and switching to a team such as Detroit may limit his RBI opportunities.
15. Roughned Odor, Texas Rangers (2B)
In Roughned Odor‘s career, he has a sub .300 OBP. However, he has found a way to reach 30 homers in three of his first six big league seasons. Last year he hit both 30 doubles and 30 home runs along with a triple. About 57 percent of his hits were for extra-bases last season.
14. Kolten Wong, St. Louis Cardinals (2B)
Kolten Wong had one of his best seasons on both sides of the ball. He won his first Gold Glove award, and had a career high slugging percentage at .423. His 136 hits were his most since 2015. Those 136 hits included 25 doubles and 11 home runs along with four triples.
13. Starlin Castro, Washington Nationals (2B, 3B)
Starlin Castro certainly has the ceiling to be ranked higher. However, with Howie Kendrick and Asdrubel Cabrera on the roster, it could be hard to tell how much playing time Castro will get. Castro has spent the last two seasons with the Marlins, notching 63 doubles and 34 homers.
12. Tommy La Stella, Los Angeles Angels (2B, 3B)
After being voted into his first career All-Star game, Tommy La Stella fractured his tibia and missed considerable time. He still finished the season with 80 games played, slashing .295/.346/.486. If healthy, he should be a starter with the Angels this season, and could get back to the pre-injury form.
11. Gavin Lux, Los Angeles Dodgers (2B)
Gavin Lux played in just 23 regular season games in his young career. He slashed .240/.305/.400. He can become a consistent hitter at the big league level. Drafting him in a bench role to start the season could be a smart move, as he can end up proving himself to find a starting spot in fantasy lineups in 2020.
10. Cavan Biggio, Toronto Blue Jays (2B)
One of multiple guys to debut for the Blue Jays last season is Cavan Biggio. He played in 100 contests, and had a line of .234/.364/.429. He drew 71 base on balls, which helped his OBP be 130 points higher than his batting average. Similar to Lux, seeing if Biggio can reach his potential could be a smart move for fantasy owners this season.
9. Luis Arraez, Minnesota Twins (2B, OF)
The third player in-a-row on the list to debut in 2019 is Luis Arraez. He finished one spot behind Biggio for AL Rookie of the Year at sixth, with Biggio coming in fifth. Arraez had a slash line last season of .334/.399/.439 in 2019. His slugging percentage wasn’t the highest, but getting a hit in over a third of his at-bats should be a trait that fantasy owners would like to have on their roster.
8. Jonathan Villar, Miami Marlins (2B, SS)
Jonathan Villar played in all 162 games with the Orioles in 2019. He has since moved to the Miami Marlins and should continue to play often. Last year, Villar hit 24 long balls, 33 doubles and had 73 RBIs. His .453 slugging percentage was his highest since 2015.
7. Brandon Lowe, Tampa Bay Rays (2B)
While battling injuries in 2019, Brandon Lowe managed to play in 82 games and finish third for AL Rookie of the Year. In those games, he had 17 homers, 17 doubles and 51 RBIs. His .850 OPS stands out, as he had a .336 OBP and a .514 slugging percentage.
6. Keston Hiura, Milwuakee Brewers (2B)
Keston Hiura showed a lot of pop off his bat in his debut season. In just 84 games, he hit 19 homers, 2 triples and 23 doubles. He finished the regular season with a .938 OPS, .570 of it being from his slugging percentage. He could go pretty early in fantasy drafts this season seeing his potential.
5. Max Muncy, Los Angeles Dodgers (2B, 1B, 3B)
The ability to use Max Muncy in three different positions is a big upside in fantasy baseball. He also gets a lot of extra-base hits, which is less frequent at second base than it is at some other positions. After two seasons with the Dodgers, Muncy has a line of .256/.381/.545. He also hit 35 homers in each of those seasons.
4. Whit Merrifield, Kansas City Royals (2B, OF)
Whit Merrifield led the MLB in 2019 with most at-bats (681) and most hits (206). He also tied for the most triples in the league with 10. Leading the league in at-bats could be of huge value in fantasy baseball, especially when the guy doing it bats over .300 on the year.
3. DJ LeMahieu, New York Yankees (2B, 1B, 3B)
After having a breakout season in 2019, DJ LeMahieu won his first Silver Slugger and finished fourth in the AL MVP voting. In his first season with the Yankees, he slashed .327/.375/.518. He hit a career high in both doubles (33) and home runs (26). LeMahieu also has eligibility at first base and third base.
2. Jose Altuve, Houston Astros (2B)
Jose Altuve had 500 at-bats in 2019, the third year in-a-row that the number has decreased. He still hit 27 two-baggers and a career high 31 homers. His 149 hits are his lowest since his debut year in 2011. A big part of this is that Altuve only played in 124 games in 2019.
1. Ozzie Albies, Atlanta Braves (2B)
Ozzie Albies reached 40 doubles for the second year in-a-row, totaling 43 of them in 2019. Albies also had the most at-bats (640) and hits (189) in the National League last season. He averaged 159 games played over the last two seasons. These factors are usually weighed pretty heavily in a players’ fantasy value, helping Albies be first on this list.
Feature Image Courtesy of kansascity.com
You can like The Game Haus on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for more sports and esports articles from TGH writers along with Tommy.