All-MLB Watch looks at the stars at shortstop
2:12 AM UTC
The All-MLB Team, created in 2019, has provided the answers to an oft-asked question following every season: Who were the best players at each position this year?
The All-MLB Team is split into a First and Second Team, with each team featuring one selection at catcher, first base, second base, shortstop, third base and DH, as well as three outfielders (regardless of specific outfield position), five starting pitchers and two relievers. And before you ask, yes, Shohei Ohtani (or any other player) is eligible to be picked at more than one position — Ohtani was the first-team DH and a second-team SP in 2021. (See the all-time selections at this link.)
The teams are chosen through a voting process in which 50% of the vote comes from fans and 50% comes from a panel of experts. The nominees will be announced in November, and the winners will be unveiled in December.
Throughout the rest of the regular season, we will be breaking down the top players at each position and separating them into three groups: favorites, contenders and dark horses. In this article, we continue our position-by-position series by covering the shortstop candidates.
Here are nine shortstops who could make the 2023 All-MLB Team presented by MGM Rewards.
All stats are updated through Sept. 20.
Seager is arguably as much of a no-brainer for All-MLB honors as anyone else in the sport. Even though he’s missed more than 40 games due to an assortment of injuries, when he’s been on the field, his production has been better than ever. He leads the AL with a .331 batting average, and he ranks second in MLB behind only Ohtani in slugging percentage (.637) and OPS (1.029).
If we dive into the advanced stats, Seager’s 2023 season only stands out more. His .422 expected wOBA and .627 xSLG blow all other shortstops out of the water, and both rank in the top five among all qualified hitters. His 11.9% barrels/PA rate ranks third in MLB, only behind Ronald Acuña Jr. and Aaron Judge. And via Baseball Reference, his 6.6 WAR leads all shortstops, and he’s on pace to be the first player with at least 7 bWAR in 120 or fewer games since both Kenny Lofton and Jeff Bagwell did so in the strike-shortened 1994 season. No matter how you slice it, Seager has been the cream of the crop, making him a near-lock to join Trea Turner and Fernando Tatis Jr. as the only shortstops with multiple All-MLB selections.
Entering this season, you already knew that Witt was fast. But in case you needed a reminder, his 135 bolts (runs with a sprint speed of at least 30 feet/sec) are comfortably the most in MLB, and his four extra runs added on the basepaths are tied for second, trailing only Gunnar Henderson’s six.
However, it’s the ability to raise the other aspects of his game that has driven Witt from intriguing rookie to star. He’s crushed a team-high 29 homers, putting him on the brink of becoming the fourth player (and first shortstop) with a 30-50 season, joining Ronald Acuña Jr. this year, Barry Bonds in 1990 and Eric Davis in 1987. His .373 xwOBA and .537 xSLG rank second among qualified SS, trailing only the aforementioned Seager. And his .814 OPS ranks fourth at the position, as the 23-year-old has made a remarkable sophomore surge this year.
Though Bichette, like Seager, has dealt with the injury bug at times this year, his dominance when he’s been on the field has put him in the conversation for All-MLB honors.
He’s the only shortstop not named Seager with at least a .300 batting average this season (currently at .305), though the injury luck has unfortunately ended his chances of leading the AL in hits for the third straight season. Bichette also comfortably passes the Statcast test, ranking in the top three among qualified shortstops in xwOBA (.364), xSLG (.501) and xBA (.313). Bichette’s efforts have helped keep Toronto afloat in an extremely competitive AL Wild Card race.
Speaking of shortstops helping their teams compete in competitive Wild Card races, Swanson has done all he can to help the Cubs reach the playoffs for the first time since the COVID-shortened 2020 season.
Even though Swanson’s conventional statistics have actually fallen off somewhat from his final season in Atlanta, his 4.5 bWAR still ranks tied for sixth among shortstops. The Statcast metrics suggest that Swanson has had some poor luck at the plate this season, as his .346 xwOBA and .459 xSLG both rank fifth among qualified shortstops (compared to his actual .326 wOBA and .422 SLG). But there’s no talking about Swanson without mentioning his defense, where he leads all MLB players with +19 Outs Above Average.
Though the Mets’ season has been disappointing in several regards, Lindor has quietly continued to do what he has done for most of the past decade: be among the best of the best at his position.
Last year’s Second Team All-MLB shortstop, Lindor has a shot to repeat that honor this year, as his 5.6 bWAR trails only Seager and Gunnar Henderson at the position. His average exit velocity of 91.1 mph also trails only Seager among shortstops. And with 26 homers and 28 steals, he has an outside chance to join Alex Rodriguez, Barry Larkin, Hanley Ramirez and Jimmy Rollins as the only 30-30 shortstops all-time (a list Witt is one homer away from joining as well).
Henderson was also featured in our story on All-MLB 3B candidates, as it’s still up in the air which position (if not both) the voters will keep him in mind for. As of now, he has a slight edge in both games played (79 to 76) and starts (65 to 58) at third base, but those gaps are closing.
While his positional status is ambiguous, what’s extremely clear is his impact on the AL’s current #1 seed. After a rough couple of months to begin the season (.201 batting average through May 31), Henderson has dominated everything in his path, with a .285 average and .554 slugging percentage since the start of June. For the season as a whole, his 6.1 bWAR ranks seventh in MLB, trailing only the Texas middle infield combo of Seager and Marcus Semien among AL players.
The 28-year-old Crawford has had a career year by several metrics, seeing comfortable career highs in home runs (16), batting average (.264), OBP (.378) and slugging percentage (.429). Crawford’s 4.6 bWAR trails only Seager, Henderson, Lindor and Franco among shortstops, as his breakout year has helped Seattle stay afloat in the difficult AL West.
Bogaerts’ production has fallen from where it was in his Boston days, but even a down year for him is still a season that most shortstops would love to have. His .283 batting average trails only Seager and Bichette among qualified shortstops, and his 4.2 bWAR ranks tied for eighth at the position. He is one home run and two steals away from his first 20-20 season.
Turner almost surely has too much ground to make up after a rough start to the season. But ever since “The Ovation” on August 4, he has re-established himself as one of the game’s best shortstops. Since that date, Turner has a .351 batting average, a 1.110 OPS and 16 homers — the last of which trails only teammate Kyle Schwarber among all MLB players in that span.
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