MLB Top 10 Second Basemen- 2017

The Second Base position is full of longtime veterans and young players.. Second Base is a versatile position with power hitters, high batting average hitters, speedy players, and great defenders. One qualification this list has is the players must have played full time Second Base in 2016.

(note: NL= National League, AL= American League, HR= home run, RBI= runs batted in, OBP= on base percentage, SLG= slugging percentage, SO= strike outs, BB= walks, SB= stolen bases, E= errors, TC= total chances with putouts, assists, errors put together)

10. Jonathan Schoop- 25, BAL

Jonathan Schoop has played four seasons with two full seasons with injuries in 2015 preventing him from playing a full season. He is the youngest player on this list so he has the most potential and he has had one great season last year. He has not accomplished much yet but has hit 15 plus HR the past three seasons. 2016 was his best season where played all 162 games and he batted .267, hitting 25 HR, 38 Doubles, driving in 82 RBI, with a .298 OBP, a .454 SLG, only 21 BB, and 137 SO. His fielding was good too with a .989 fielding percentage and 8 Errors in 732 TC. He is number 10 because he is young with a lot of potential and he can move up the list if repeats or improves on his 2016 numbers. What holds him back is lack of experience compared others on the list with only one great seasons playing full time.

9. Jason Kipnis- 29, CLE

Jason Kipnis is a six-year veteran who has had a good career with less consistency as others on this list. He has been selected two AL All-Star with the last being in 2015. He has had a good career where he has hit 15 plus HR in two seasons, four seasons hit 25 plus Doubles, 75 plus RBI in three seasons, and three seasons with a .275 batting average. He has been a very good fielder, except for two okay seasons, having a .985 fielding percentage in three seasons and less than 10 Errors in four seasons. He had a great season in 2016 where he batted .275, hit 23 HR, 41 Doubles, drove in 82 RBI, with a .343 OBP, a .469 SLG, 60 BB, and 146 SO. His fielding was not as good as his offense but was still good with a .981 fielding percentage and 12 Errors in 632 TC. He is number 9 because he has been a good Second Basemen over his career. If he remains healthy, he has potential to have more productive seasons ahead being under 30 years old. What holds him back is he has been less consistent as others higher on this list in several stats such as HR, RBI, and batting average.

8. Ben Zobrist- 35, CHC

Ben Zobrist is an 11-year veteran who has proven to be a versatile player by playing at many postions throughout his career. He has played majority of his time at Second Base in 6 seasons. He has had many accomplishments with three All-Star team selections, he won the 2016 World Series MVP, and has been on two World Championship teams. He has been a durable player with seven seasons playing 145 plus games and has been versatile having played seven different positions throughout his career. He has been good offensively in his career with seven seasons hitting .270 plus, eight straight seasons with 25 plus Doubles, nine straight seasons with 10 plus HR, and six seasons with 70 plus RBI. He has played Second Base in nine seasons and has been good defensively with .980 plus fielding percentage in eight seasons and has never had 10 or more Errors. He is starting to get old being 35 but he is still producing in 2016 where he batted .272, hit 18 HR, 31 Doubles, drove in 76 RBI, with a .386 OBP, a .446 SLG, 96 BB, and only 82 SO. His fielding is also still good too with a .984 fielding percentage and 7 Errors in 434 TC at the Second Base position. He is number 8 because he has played the most games in his career at Second Base as well as being consistent and durable. What holds him back is he is older with only a few good years left and he does not have as good of numbers as others higher on this list.

7. DJ LeMahieu- 28, COL DJ LeMahieu is a six-year veteran who has been playing full time for the past four seasons with two consecutive good to great seasons. He has had some success with a NL All-Star selection in 2015 and winning a Gold Glove in 2014. He has not been a power hitter with only one season with 10 plus HR last year. He has been good in other areas offensively with a .280 plus batting average in four seasons, 20 plus Doubles in three seasons. He has been great defensively when he has played majority of his time at Second Base with a .990 plus fielding percentage in four seasons and never having over 10 Errors at Second Base. Last year was his best year where he batted .348, hit 11 HR, 32 Doubles, 192 hits, drove in 66 RBI, with a .416 OBP, a .495 SLG, 66 BB, and only 80 SO. His fielding in 2016 was also great with a .991 fielding percentage and only 6 Errors in 704 TC. He is number 7 because has been great for the past two seasons hitting for high average by getting a lot of hits and Doubles. He is low on the list because he has only been a top Second Basemen for two seasons, but he can move up if he proves he is consistent with another great season.

6. Dustin Pedroia- 33, BOS

Dustin Pedroia is an 11-year veteran who has had many accomplishments throughout his career and has been consistent throughout his career. He has been selected to four AL All-Star teams with the last being 2013, won the AL Silver Slugger in 2008, and has won four Gold Gloves with the last being in 2014. He won the AL MVP in 2008, he won the AL Rookie of the Year in 2007, and has been on two World Championship teams. He has been somewhat durable though his career with seven seasons playing 135 plus games, but he has had injury issues in two seasons. He has been consistent by having a .290 plus batting average in eight seasons, five seasons with 15 plus HR, five seasons with 70 plus RBI, eight seasons with 30 plus Doubles, and five seasons with 180 plus hits. He has been a great defensive Second Basemen with a .990 plus fielding percentage in nine seasons and has less than 10 Errors in every season. He is still productive because in 2016 where he batted .318, hit 15 HR, 36 Doubles, 201 hits, drove in 74 RBI, with a .376 OBP, a .449 SLG, 61 BB, and only 73 SO. His fielding is also still good too with a .990 fielding percentage and only 6 Errors in 613 TC. He is number 6 because he has been a good Second Basemen throughout his career offensively and defensively. What holds him back from higher up on the list is prior to 2016 he had shown signs of decline. He also may start declining due to his age but he could remain a top Second Basemen for a few more years.

5. Daniel Murphy- 31, WAS

Daniel Murphy is an eight-year veteran who has emerged to be one of the best Second Basemen over his last four seasons. He has been selected to two NL All-Star teams including last year and won the 2016 NL Silver Slugger. Overall, he has a good career by having seven seasons with a .280 plus batting average, six seasons with 30 plus Doubles, three seasons with 170 plus hits, and three seasons with 70 plus RBI. When he has played most of his games at Second Base he has not been as good defensively as others on this list by having only one season with a .980 plus fielding percentage and only one season with 10 or fewer Errors. Last year was his best year where he batted .347, hit 25 HR, 47 Doubles, 184 hits, drove in 104 RBI, with a .390 OBP, a .595 SLG, only 35 BB, and only 57 SO. His fielding was also good with a .981 fielding percentage and 9 Errors in 446 TC. He is number 5 because he has had great offensive numbers where he has become a great power hitter and has improved defensively. What holds him back is he has only played four full seasons at Second Base and has not been as good defensively as the next four Second Basemen. He could move up the list if he repeats similar numbers to 2016 and he can be a top Second Basemen for a few more seasons being 31 years old.

4. Ian Kinsler- 34, DET

Ian Kinsler is an 11-year veteran who has been a top Second Baseman for most of that time. He has seemed to have improved with age having his best years over the last three seasons. He has been selected to four AL All-Star teams with the last being in 2014 and won the AL Gold Glove in 2016. He has been very good offensively with seven seasons having a .275 plus batting average, seven seasons with 15 plus HR, nine seasons with 25 plus Doubles, and eight seasons with 70 plus RBI. He has been good defensively with six seasons having a .980 plus fielding percentage and three seasons with less than 10 Errors. The Errors may seem unimpressive but it is deceiving because has 700 plus TC in six seasons, which means he has had a lot of fielding chances. He has had his best seasons over the last three years including 2016 where he batted .288, hit 28 HR, 29 Doubles, 178 hits, driving in 83 RBI, with a .348 OBP, a .484 SLG, 45 BB, and 115 SO. His fielding was also good too with a .988 fielding percentage and 9 Errors in 744 TC. He is number 5 because he has been a good Second Baseman throughout his career and has had his best seasons over the last three years. What holds him back from being higher is because he has been less consistent in his career than others on the list. He may remain a top Second Basemen but might not for long because he is aging and will start to decline.

3. Brian Dozier- 29, MIN

Brian Dozier is a five-year veteran who has proven to be a great offensive Second Baseman, who had his best season in 2016. He was selected to the AL All-Star team in 2015 but he has not won any major awards because there are two other second basemen that are better in the same league. He has proven himself with three seasons hitting 20 plus HR, hitting 30 plus Doubles in four seasons, and 70 plus RBI in three seasons. He has also been good defensively with four seasons at Second Base full time, which he has had .980 fielding percentage every year and three seasons with 10 or fewer Errors. In 2016 he batted .268, hitting 42 HR, 35 Doubles, driving in 99 RBI, with a .340 OBP, a .546 SLG, 61 BB, and 138 SO. His fielding was also good too with a .989 fielding percentage and 8 Errors in 713 TC. He is number 3 because he has proven to be a great hitter and a good defensive Second Basemen. His lower batting average and higher amount of SO hold him back from being higher on the least. He is in his prime so could remain could remain in the top 5 for a while, especially if he repeats the same numbers from 2016.

2. José Altuve- 26, HOU

José Altuve is a six-year veteran who is still a young Second Baseman and he has put up great numbers. He has some accomplishments with three straight selections to the AL All-Star team, two straight AL Silver Sluggers, and one AL Gold Glove in 2015. So far, he has not been a power hitter but is impressive in other areas where he has batted .280 plus in five seasons, 30 plus Doubles in five seasons, 200 plus hits in three straight seasons, less than 100 SO every season, and 30 plus SB for five seasons. He has also been durable by playing 145 plus games for five straight seasons. He has also had a great defensive career so far by having five seasons with .985 fielding percentage and less than 10 Errors in four seasons. 2016 was his best year where he batted .338, hitting 24 HR, 42 Doubles, 216 hits, driving in 96 RBI, 30 SB, with a .396 OBP, a .531 SLG, 60 BB, and only 70 SO. His fielding was also good too with a .988 fielding percentage and 7 Errors in 574 TC. He is number 2 because he is a good all-around Second Baseman who is a great hitter and a good fielder. He is still young and can still improve even though he has proven to be a great hitter. If he remains healthy and continues being consistent, he may remain a top Second Baseman for a long time.

1. Robinson Cano- 34, SEA

Robinson Cano is a 12-year veteran who has played his entire career at Second Base and has had an accomplished career. He has been selected to seven AL All-Star teams including six of the last seven years. He has won five AL Silver sluggers with the last being in 2013 and he has won two AL Gold Gloves with the last being in 2012. He was on a World Championship team in 2009 as well. He has put up great numbers over the years with eight seasons batting .300 plus, eight seasons with 180 plus hits, seven seasons hitting 20 plus HR, eight seasons with 80 plus RBI, and hitting 30 plus Doubles every year. He has also had a great defensive career with a .980 plus fielding percentage in 11 seasons and seven seasons with less than 10 Errors. He has been durable as well with 150 plus games played in nine seasons. He is also still producing great numbers in 2016 where he batted .298, 195 hits, hit 39 HR, 33 Doubles, drove in 103 RBI, with a .350 OBP, a .533 SLG, only 47 BB, and 100 SO. His fielding was also impressive too with a .996 fielding percentage and only 3 Errors with 743 TC. He is number one because he is the best all-around Second Baseman with great offensive and defensive stats. He may not be the best Second Baseman for too long because he is older and will start to decline, but he might be a top one for a few more years.