2018 Second Base - Early Points League Rankings and Tiers

6 years ago by Andrew Le

Aside from catcher, second base is amongst the shallowest positions heading into the 2018 season. Assuming a standard 10-12 team league, depending on the bench size it makes sense to roster only one 2B upon conclusion of your draft. If you can’t scoop up Jose Altuve, Jose Ramirez or Anthony Rizzo, you may need to burn a mid-to-early round pick on a third or fourth tier player in lieu of addressing more pressing needs like padding your outfielders or starting pitchers.

However, buyer beware. If you whiffed early on Rougned Odor or Jonathan Villar last year, or waited until the final rounds to grab sneaky sleepers-turned-busts like Kolten Wong or Ryan Schimpf, you are too familiar that your second base position can quickly become a black hole, void of useful stats on a nightly basis.

When strategizing, it may make sense to identify some consistency to round out your team such as stolen bases, runs or average rather than looking for the high-volatility player that will hit two HR on your bench after a week of strikeouts. Patience is a rare asset in fantasy baseball and 2B exemplifies that ethos. Don’t get cute about it; after the top-10 players, teams should not be shy about cutting bait with underperformers by mid-May. Draft picks aren’t children folks, they’re research-based investments that need revisiting when the initial thesis doesn’t pan out. Now, let’s get to the rankings.

Editor's Note: Our incredible team of writers received five total writing awards and 13 award nominations by the Fantasy Sports Writers Association, tops in the industry! Congrats to all the award winners and nominees including Best MLB Series, NFL Series, NBA Writer, PGA Writer and Player Notes writer of the year. Be sure to follow their analysis, rankings and advice all year long, and win big with RotoBaller! Read More!

Editor's Note: You can find even more of our staff's initial 2018 fantasy baseball rankings for other formats including dynasty leagues, points leagues, AL/NL only leagues and more.

2018 Fantasy Baseball Points League Rankings: Second Base (January)

Ranking	Tier	Player Name	Pos	Nick	Bill	Chris	Kyle R.
1	1	Jose Altuve	2B	2	2	2	2
2	1	Anthony Rizzo	1B/2B	28	19	16	19
3	1	Jose Ramirez	2B/3B	26	22	28	26
4	1	Brian Dozier	2B	43	31	31	44
5	2	Dee Gordon	2B/OF	34	56	47	43
6	2	Robinson Cano	2B	37	51	62	51
7	2	Daniel Murphy	2B	53	45	52	52
8	2	Jonathan Schoop	2B	72	50	49	56
9	2	DJ LeMahieu	2B	66	79	86	80
10	2	Matt Carpenter	1B/2B/3B	119	102	104	97
11	2	Chris Taylor	2B/SS/OF	105	119	125	119
12	2	Ian Kinsler	2B	113	128	137	113
13	3	Whit Merrifield	2B/OF	125	131	133	129
14	3	Rougned Odor	2B	164	130	132	136
15	4	Ian Happ	2B/OF	179	141	143	145
16	4	Ozzie Albies	2B/SS	#N/A	169	166	155
17	4	Yoan Moncada	2B	196	168	150	148
18	4	Javier Baez	2B/SS	251	133	134	157
19	4	Scooter Gennett	2B/3B/OF	214	143	178	168
20	5	Eduardo Nunez	SS/3B/2B/OF	257	147	155	177
21	5	Jason Kipnis	2B/OF	155	226	222	199
22	5	Marwin Gonzalez	1B/2B/3B/SS/OF	273	182	170	213
23	5	Paul DeJong	2B/SS	241	213	208	228
24	5	Howie Kendrick	2B/OF	#N/A	232	232	240
25	5	Chris Owings	2B/SS/OF	233	253	252	236
26	5	Jose Peraza	2B/SS	252	248	262	237
27	5	Starlin Castro	2B	287	246	241	253
28	6	Dustin Pedroia	2B	216	285	297	254
29	6	Jonathan VIllar	2B	248	275	298	276
30	6	Logan Forsythe	2B/3B	133	348	341	278
31	6	Neil Walker	2B	297	287	296	290
32	6	Devon Travis	2B	283	#N/A	360	243
33	6	Josh Harrison	2B	351	276	274	296
34	6	Jose Reyes	2B/SS/3B	#N/A	301	307	303
35	6	Asdrubal Cabrera	SS/2B/3B	298	308	311	304
36	7	Cesar Hernandez	2B	330	294	302	299
37	7	Brandon Phillips	2B	#N/A	337	326	333
38	7	Joe Panik	2B	#N/A	361	343	342
39	7	Kolten Wong	2B	370	354	339	354
40	7	Ben Zobrist	2B/OF	341	#N/A	377	360
41	7	Hernan Perez	2B/3B/OF	409	347	338	358
42	7	Nick Franklin	2B	#N/A	380	415	400
43	7	Brett Lawrie	2B	#N/A	395	438	426
44	7	Adam Frazier	2B	414	#N/A	456	443

Tier One

Jose Altuve belongs by himself atop the 2B hierarchy. It shouldn’t surprise anyone if he’s the consensus number one pick as draft day approaches. He’s a five-tool All-Star and has increased his Isolated Power and Slugging Percentage for five consecutive years. He hits third for the defending champs putting him in favorable position to both create and produce runs.

While it’s tempting to christen Jose Ramirez as the second-coming of Altuve, we recall that his 2016 campaign was solid but not spectacular, posting .825 OPS, 11 HRs, 84 runs, 76 RBI, 22 SBs in his first full big-league season. In 2017, there was a dramatic spike in ISO from .150 to .265 supported by a 7.2% increase in Hard-Hit Rate to 34.0%. As a result, his home runs ballooned to 29 last season, launching him into the top tier discussion. Jose 2.0 has demonstrated consistent plate discipline in his 484 career games. He also just turned 25, which supports the opinion that the arrow points unequivocally up. However, the longer-term track record will prevent the old men in the room from anointing Ramirez their Jose of choice. As for Rizzo, consider it foolish for any manager that drafts him as a prototypical cornerstone slugger and doesn’t take advantage of the 2B eligibility. This is a gift from the fantasy gods, don’t ask questions.

Tier Two

The majority of the second basemen in this tier are known commodities as balanced set-and-forget options in the mid-rounds of a draft. Based on these rankings, the value pick here could be Matt Carpenter. Despite a .241 batting average last year (30 points lower than 2016), his .384 On Base Percentage was nearly identical to 2016. The above-average Soft-Contact Rate (12.1% vs. 11.5% career) simply does not justify the .274 BABIP which was 47 points lower than his career numbers. Jonathan Schoop in the sixth round appears slightly expensive considering the high-end starters and outfielders surrounding his ADP; the absurd 21.0% strikeout ratio was also tops amongst the Top-10 second basemen ranked by WAR. Daniel “Hits” Murphy could be a more dependable option in the fifth round or it may be worth letting another manager take the risk on Schoop while waiting on a 2B.

Tier Three

Any drafters taking Merrifield or Odor should have a contingency plan. Merrifield was a bargain basement revelation last year, but only has 226 career games played to his credit. Odor has seen his K-rate increase from 16.8% to 24.9% over the last three seasons; that drag in a points league could be brutal over a long season.

Tier Four

Ozzie Albies could provide a higher return than any Tier Two or Three player if we believe the small sample size. The kid makes solid contact (85.4% Medium + Hard-Contact rate) and struck out only 14.8% of the time as a late-season callup. His OPS was fairly impressive in the minors so as long as the plate discipline remains, Albies could become this year’s Merrifield or Ian Kinsler. Javy Baez is an incredibly enjoyable player to watch, possessing certain intangibles stats can’t reflect. But until he quits his second job as a wind turbine for the Northside Power Authority (29.3% career K-rate), he’s tough to vouch for in leagues penalizing strikeouts. The good times could keep rolling for Scooter Gennett as he remains in Cincinnati; Great American Ball Park rates among the best ballparks for lefty power hitters.

Tier Five

Players here become relevant in drafts when managers realize they forgot to pick a second baseman. The leash for players from Tier Five onwards should be relatively short. Chances are most of these guys will be recycled to and from the waiver-wire regularly based on streakiness and off days throughout the season. Once Eduardo Nunez finds a team, he should be a credible source of production without ruining you by strikeouts (13.0% career K-rate). Starlin Castro could also be a low-risk pick to provide a handy 60-run, 15-HR, 60-RBI line. Even though it seems like he’s been around forever, he’s still only 27 years old. The only question is whether he'll remain in Miami or wind up traded again.

Tier Six

Most of these guys will likely be deemed immaterial and interchangeable until they prove otherwise during the season. At some point, many managers will weigh the mundane choice of picking up Neil Walker or Asdrubal Cabrera for the fifth time, so just prepare for those crossroads when the time comes. Dustin Pedroia is a name brand in a high-octane offense but struggles with health while his Soft-Contact Rate and ISO shifted significantly in the wrong direction last season.

Tier Seven

Again, these guys will likely enter the season in the free agent pool unless they show something exciting during spring training. Joe Panik may be the only guy worth real consideration if you’ve totally punted 2B to this point. Most pundits expected a step-up in his numbers in 2017 but the Giants overall were a disaster. In a vacuum, his stats were very similar over the past two seasons and the offensive investments of Evan Longoria and Andrew McCutchen should only enhance prospects for run production in San Francisco. Cesar Hernandez has improved in every season since entering the league in 2013, but plays with a questionable offense. Hernan Perez has performed well for two seasons but struggles for playing time averaging only 444 plate appearances a year; a variable to watch would be his ability to steal bases, which dropped from 34 to 13 in 2017.