2023 Secondbasemen
(Photo by Kyle Ross/Icon Sportswire)
by Doug Gruber
Last year BABS highlighted the scarcity at the keystone for players who possess multiple assets. For 2023, that pool is slightly larger, but BABS still only goes twelve deep with full-time 2Bmen who have two or more above-average skills. In a 15-team league that’s not enough to go around, making these twelve a priority at your draft table.
Let’s look closer at the BABS ratings for the second basemen in 2023:
| ADP | R$ | 2BMEN | Pos | Tm | PT | Pw | Sp | Av | * | Rg | Sk | Inj | Ex | Ag | Rg | RISK | |
| 49 | $20 | Chisholm,Jazz | 4 | MIA | F | PW | S+ | INJ | e | 7.00 | |||||||
| 40 | $22 | Altuve,Jose | 4 | HOU | F | p | s | AV | 0.00 | ||||||||
| 36 | $23 | Semien,Marcus | 4 | TEX | F | p | SB | a | 0.00 | ||||||||
| 170 | $7 | Lowe,Brandon | 4 | TAM | F | PW | a | Rg+ | INJ | 3.00 | |||||||
| 210 | $5 | Marte,Ketel | 40 | ARI | F | p | AV | Rg+ | inj- | 0.00 | |||||||
| 76 | $15 | Edman,Tommy | 46 | STL | F | SB | a | 0.00 | |||||||||
| 85 | $14 | Gimenez,Andres | 4 | CLE | F | SB | a | e | Rg- | 1.50 | |||||||
| 188 | $6 | Grissom,Vaughn | 4 | ATL | F | SB | a | EX | 2.00 | ||||||||
| 181 | $7 | Estrada,Thairo | 46 | SF | F | s | a | e | 1.00 | ||||||||
| 192 | $6 | Merrifield,Whit | 4o9 | TOR | M | s | a | 0.00 | |||||||||
| 584 | -$5 | Kemp,Anthony | 4o7 | OAK | F | s | a | 0.00 | |||||||||
| 52 | $19 | Albies,Ozzie | 4 | ATL | F | p | a | INJ | 5.00 | ||||||||
| 120 | $11 | Torres,Gleyber | 4 | NYY | F | p | a | 0.00 | |||||||||
| 160 | $8 | Polanco,Jorge | 4 | MIN | F | p | a | * | inj- | 1.00 | |||||||
| 511 | -$3 | Gorman,Nolan | 4 | STL | M | P+ | -A | EX | 5.00 | ||||||||
| 183 | $7 | India,Jonathan | 4 | CIN | F | a | INJ | 3.00 | |||||||||
| 235 | $4 | Lux,Gavin | 4o7 | LA | F | a | 0.00 | ||||||||||
| 243 | $4 | Wong,Kolten | 4 | SEA | F | a | inj- | 1.50 | |||||||||
| 266 | $3 | Rodgers,Brendan | 4 | COL | F | a | 0.00 | ||||||||||
| 384 | -$1 | Flores,Wilmer | 4350 | SF | F | a | 0.00 | ||||||||||
| 623 | -$5 | Arroyo,Christian | 4 | BOS | F | a | INJ | e | 4.00 | ||||||||
| 735 | -$7 | Harrison,Josh | 45 | CHW | M | a | 0.00 | ||||||||||
| 489 | -$3 | Castro,Rodolfo | 45 | PIT | F | p | EX | 2.00 | |||||||||
| 607 | -$5 | Aranda,Jonathan | 4 | TAM | M | p | EX | 2.00 | |||||||||
| 616 | -$5 | Lopez,Nicky | 465 | KC | M | SB | a | -P | 1.00 | ||||||||
| 751 | -$7 | Goodrum,Niko | 4 | BOS | P | p | s | * | -A | 3.25 | |||||||
| 193 | $6 | McNeil,Jeff | 4o7 | NYM | F | AV | -P | Rg- | 1.50 | ||||||||
| 602 | -$5 | Frazier,Adam | 4o9 | BAL | M | AV | -P | 1.25 | |||||||||
| 676 | -$6 | Madrigal,Nick | 4 | CHC | P | AV | -P | INJ | e | 5.00 | |||||||
| 190 | $6 | Cronenworth,Jake | 43 | SD | F | 0.00 | |||||||||||
| 588 | -$5 | Schoop,Jonathan | 4 | DET | F | Rg+ | 0.00 | ||||||||||
| 681 | -$6 | Toro,Abraham | 450 | MIL | P | Rg+ | e | 1.25 | |||||||||
| 721 | -$7 | Arcia,Orlando | 4 | ATL | P | 0.00 | |||||||||||
| 241 | $4 | Segura,Jean | 4 | MIA | F | a | -P | INJ | 4.25 | ||||||||
| 388 | -$1 | Donovan,Brendan | 4o59 | STL | M | a | * | -P | EX | 3.00 | |||||||
| 609 | -$5 | Newman,Kevin | 46 | CIN | M | a | -P | INJ | 4.00 | ||||||||
| 611 | -$5 | Espinal,Santiago | 4 | TOR | P | a | -P | e | 2.00 | ||||||||
| 642 | -$6 | Fletcher,David | 46 | LAA | F | a | Rg+ | -P | INJ | 4.00 | |||||||
| 749 | -$7 | Guillorme,Luis | 45 | NYM | P | a | * | -P | INJ | e | 5.00 | ||||||
| 1000 | -$10 | Lopez,Alejo | 4 | CIN | P | a | -P | EX | 3.00 | ||||||||
| 567 | -$4 | Massey,Michael | 4 | KC | M | p | -A | EX | 5.00 | ||||||||
| 658 | -$6 | Busch,Michael | 4 | LA | P | p | -A | 3.00 | |||||||||
| 675 | -$6 | Biggio,Cavan | 43 | TOR | P | p | * | -A | inj- | 4.00 | |||||||
| 746 | -$7 | Odor,Rougned | 4 | FAA | P | p | -A | 3.00 | |||||||||
| 290 | $2 | Rengifo,Luis | 45 | LAA | M | -P | 1.00 | ||||||||||
| 744 | -$7 | Gonzalez,Romy | 4 | CHW | M | -A | EX | 5.00 |
ASSETS: PT (Playing time), Pw (Power), Sp (Speed), Av (Batting Effectiveness), * (OBP help), Rg (Regression help). LIABILITIES: Sk (Skills risk), Inj (Injury), Ex (Inexperience), Ag (Age decline), Rg (Regression hurt), Risk cost. (Some BABS categories have been omitted due to space limitations but appear in the full database and spreadsheet charts.)
BABS and the market are generally aligned on the top three at this position. Jazz Chisholm (PW,S+|INJ.e), Jose Altuve (p,s,AV) and Marcus Semien (p,SB,a) are all rated by BABS as triple-asset players, very valuable for this shallow 2B position. Chisholm owns an exciting blend of power and extreme speed and he had those skills on full display over the first few months of 2022 before injuries derailed his season. His upside over a full schedule is very appealing, but the risk cost for your 3rd round selection is really high when considering Chisholm’s injury and experience liabilities.
Altuve and Semien are more reliable options in round 3. Altuve is coming off a great 2022, where he hit .300 with 28 HRs, with an unexpected added benefit of 18 steals, more than he had collected in the previous three seasons combined. Semien has played 159, 162, 162 and 161 games over his last four full seasons, enabling him to pack the counting stat categories. Over the past two years Semien has averaged 724 PAs, 108 runs, 35 HRs, 92 RBIs, 20 SBs to go with a .256 batting average.
The market and BABS begin to diverge when it comes to Ozzie Albies (p,a|INJ). In 2022, BABS saw a clear degradation in his skill metrics in addition to his unfortunate health setbacks. The market appears to be excusing his down year, placing an early 4th round wager on a return to form closer to his 2021 production. No need to make such a bet as BABS has identified several 2B options with potential value.
Brandon Lowe (PW,a|INJ) is also coming off an injury plagued season that limited him to 266 PAs, which has pushed his current market price a full eight rounds lower than Albies. Arizona’s Ketel Marte (p,AV|inj- – pictured) had a below par year as he was slowed with leg issues often relegating him to designated hitter duties and hampering his production. But he still holds plate skills that delivered batting averages well over .300 in both 2019 and 2021 while also showing above average power. The best part is that Marte has never been cheaper, as his ADP has fallen to the 200 range. BABS is a buyer.
In the same (p,a) asset group as Albies are Gleyber Torres and Jorge Polanco. Torres had his best season since his phenomenal 2019 debut, logging a 24/76/.257 slash line, and collecting more than 10 steals for a second straight term. A repeat of 2022 would make his current eighth round ADP a good investment. Polanco battled a series of injuries leading to a subpar 2022, and this recency bias has pushed down his price by over 100 picks from his draft position a year ago. BABS see this as an overreaction to a skill set that posted a stat line of 33/98/.269 just one year prior.
BABS places three 2Bmen in the (SB,a) asset group, making them attractive options if you need to target speed over power. In the 6th round, Tommy Edman has swiped 30 or more bags for two straight seasons while hitting in the .260s; Andres Gimenez had a breakout season where he earned $30 fueled by a .297 BA with 20 SB. But Vaughn Grissom can be acquired seven rounds later; he flashed significant speed while hitting around .290 after his August promotion. His Experience risk is reflected in that discount.
In the (s,a) group, Thairo Estrada quietly showed solid plate skills and contributed 21 SBs in his first full season. Whit Merrifield may not return to his 40-SB days of 2021, but could be an attractive selection at his 200 ADP. Tony Kemp (s,a) is being completely overlooked by the market. He spent more than 100 games in the leadoff spot for Oakland a year ago (someone must lead off in Oakland!) where his high contact skills and double-digit steals could again become a sneaky source of end game profit.
Once we advance past these names, BABS is skeptical on the remaining full-time 2Bmen. If you were to miss out on the preferred options, BABS lists several choices who could contribute positively to batting average if you needed a category boost — (a) players such as Jonathan India, Kolten Wong, Gavin Lux and Brendan Rodgers. The one thing that most of these 2Bmen have going for them is youth, so there is always the potential for more upside.
Last, one other name to monitor. Uber-prospect Nolan Gorman (P+,-A|EX) is a free swinger with major contact issues, especially against LHPs, but when he does connect BABS rates his power as Extreme. Gorman was promoted to the big leagues last May, hit 14 home runs in a little over 300 plate appearances for the Cards, and at age 23 maybe still has time to figure it out.
NOTES: The chart above may vary slightly from the latest database update which was run after this analysis was written. To engage with other readers on this topic, head over to the Reader Forums. If you have a question that would be best answered by one of our experts and benefit everyone, submit it on our Contact Page and put MAILBAG in the Subject Line.