Welcome to Second Baseman Rankings Week on the Patreon! The position closest to my heart, as that was the position I mostly played growing up. And please stop just displacing and undervaluing natural 2B with bad defenders from other positions thinking it’s easy! Get off my position! You stunk at SS and now you also stink at 2B! And while we’re at it, I can also play a better SS than you if the damn coach gave me chance! And one more thi … okay, I let that get away from me for a second there 😉 But back on track, let’s show these slick fielding middle infielders the love they deserve this week. Top 5 free on the Brick Wall. Full analysis, projections and prime projections for every player. Here is the 2025 Deep Positional Dynasty Baseball Rankings: Top 98 Second Baseman:
1) Mookie Betts – LAD, 2B/OF, 32.6 – Betts is the leader of the Slow Bat Speed Kings with a 69 MPH swing that is 442nd “best” in baseball (minimum 50 swings). But he proves swinging an electric bat isn’t the only path to success. He had another great season which was only interrupted by a fractured hand in mid June, slashing .289/.372/.491 with 19 homers, 16 steals, and a 11.0/11.8 K%/BB% in 116 games. The 11% K% tied a career best, and his 16 steals tied for a 6 year best. The 26.7 ft/sec sprint was a career low and in the bottom 30% of the league, so while there certainly seems to be some physical decline, it hasn’t impacted his stats quite yet. Like I’ve been saying with elite players like this, 33 years old is when I start to think about selling, so I’m running it back in 2025 with Mookie. 2025 Projection: 110/32/100/.290/.370/.525/18
2) Jackson Holliday – BAL, 2B, 21.4 – There always has to be one. Chourio was a beast. Langford was really good and beasted at the end of the season. Merrill exceeded all expectations all year. Caminero showed flashes and laid a solid foundation. And then there was Holliday, who had a nightmare rookie year. He slashed .189/.255/.311 with 5 homers, 4 steals, and a 33.2/7.2 K%/BB% in 60 games. The .262 xwOBA backs up the terrible surface stats. To continue with the bad, just to get it all out of my system, his bat speed also wasn’t very impressive with a 71.2 MPH swing that was very slightly below average. There are very real things to be concerned about, like the hit tool being bottom of the scale bad, because he doesn’t necessarily have the biggest game power/base stealing to truly make up for that. It’s possible for prospects to bust, or have decent but unspectacular careers, even elite ones who feel can’t miss. Now having said that, I’m not even close to giving up on Holliday. Even with the extreme struggles, he put up a very good 8.2% Barrel% and 89.3/94.8 MPH AVG/FB EV. Hitting the ball that hard as a 20 year old is impressive. He’s also lightning fast with a 29.4 ft/sec sprint, and he had an above average 27.2% Chase%, so it’s not like he was completely lost up there. His hit tool has been very strong at every stop of the minors, so a 33.9% whiff% as a 20 year old in his first taste of the majors really isn’t that huge of a deal. It’s almost certain to improve as he gains experience. Do I think his terrible season has his stock dropping a bit? Yes. But he’s still a Top 50 dynasty asset for me, and I’m expecting a much better year 2. – 2025 Projection: 77/16/68/.247/.318/.411/18 Prime Projection: 98/25/83/.278/.360/.485/25
3) Ketel Marte – ARI, 2B, 31.6 – Marte has always hit the ball hard, but he went absolutely bonkos in 2024 with a 94 MPH EV which was a career high by a mile (91.1 MPH in 2023). It was the 6th best EV in baseball amongst qualified hitters. And it resulted in him smashing 36 homers in 136 games to go along with his usual excellent plate plate approach (18.2/11.1 K%/BB%) and high BA (.292). His righty swing is just an insane 77.2 MPH, and it resulted in a 1.080 OPS vs. lefties. His 71.5 MPH lefty swing is just fine too and it resulted in a .841 OPS. I have to say, the jump in EV is suspiciously high, but what do I know. It sure feels like a career year, but if the throwback steroid era 30 year old power breakout is for real, maybe he can hold this level for the next couple years. I find it hard to bet on that, but even if he falls back to career norms, he’s still a damn good hitter. – 2025 Projection: 97/29/90/.280/.357/.506/8
4) Ozzie Albies – ATL, 2B, 28.3 – I’m a little torn on Albies. On the one hand, Albies is still in the prime of his career, and has a long track of excellent production, which makes predicting a bounce back season in 2025 seem very easy. But on the other hand, his 27.2 ft/sec sprint speed was a career low and was below average, he swings a well below average bat with a 69.1 MPH swing, and he chases a lot with a 33.6% Chase%. He also doesn’t hit the ball hard enough (32% Hard Hit% in 2024 and 35.5% in his career) to make up for a lot of those deficiencies. He thrives based on the contact (14.9% K%), lift (18.4 degree launch), and pull (48.8% Pull%) profile, but I’m starting to question if this is a profile I want to bet on long term. The profile isn’t that much different than Jose Altuve, who has aged just fine, so maybe I’m overthinking it, but I’m starting to think that Albies might have more name value than real dynasty value at the moment. I’m not too concerned over the next couple of seasons, but in the medium and long term, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him as just a good fantasy player, rather than a true difference maker. – 2025 Projection: 83/25/87/.266/.321/.461/16
5) Matt McLain – CIN, 2B/SS, 25.8 – Don’t forget about little Matty Mclain. He underwent shoulder surgery in late March and then suffered a late season rib injury which knocked out his entire regular season. But he returned in time for the AFL to prove his shoulder was healthy, and he hit well there with 4 homers and a .876 OPS in 13 games. It gives confidence that with a full normal off-season, he will be ready to build on his awesome 2023 MLB debut where he slashed .290/.357/.507 with 16 homers, 14 steals, and a 28.5%/7.7% K%/BB% in 89 games. He obliterated Triple-A too with a 184 wRC+ in 40 games. He has double plus speed with a 29 ft/sec sprint and he has above average power with a 89.3 MPH EV and 13.8 degree launch. His plate approach wasn’t great with a 28.5%/7.7% K%/BB% in the majors, but his chase rate was above average at 25.4%, and his 28% whiff% shows he isn’t going to have any major contact issues. He also had a 20.6%/16.7% K%/BB% in the minors. And the cherry on top is that he is a good defensive player, so his glove will keep him on the field. Assuming full health, McLain is the real deal, but factoring in some rust and/or risk from the surgery wouldn’t be crazy. Just don’t factor in too much, because McLain can be a really exciting fantasy player. – 2025 Projection: 82/25/79/.269/.343/.468/22
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