2024 Positional Rankings: Second Base

By: Jake Russell and Jacob Zanolla

Hello everyone, and welcome back to our joint positional rankings! This is the third of our series that will cover every position in baseball. We have each compiled our lists and then combined them to make a joint top 10–plus several honorable mentions below. Second base was the hardest to rank so far, and it might be the most stacked position in baseball. We have written a small writeup for each member of the top 10 and given five honorable mention players with a small writeup for all of them. Hope everyone enjoys the list!

Mookie Betts

This one was pretty easy–Betts is moving from Right Field after playing almost his entire career out there, though he was drafted as an infielder. Betts played nearly 600 innings between second and short last season, and Dave Roberts came out and made it known Betts would be the everyday second baseman. For not playing infield in 5 years, Betts was pretty good–he had 6 DRS at second base (though just -1 OAA, which honestly isn’t terrible considering his history). Not much needs to be said about Betts–he is a future Hall of Famer in the middle of his prime, one of the most complete players in baseball, coming off an 8-WAR season, and this was a pretty easy ranking.

Jake’s rank: 1

Jacob’s rank: 1

Marcus Semien

Coming in at number two is reigning champion Marcus Semien, who was elite in 2023. He made his second all-star game, came third in MVP voting, and won the AL 2B Silver Slugger. He played in every game this season and led the MLB in Plate Appearances and At-Bats. He also led the AL in runs (122) and hits (185). With 15 outs above average at second base, Semien was elite on both sides of the ball. He continued to have a great eye this past year, with a 14.6% K rate, and 21.4 chase%. ZiPS Fangraphs projections have Semien .334 wOBA and wRC+ of 110. After signing a massive deal with Texas along with Corey Seager, it proved to pay off and he already has one World Series with the Rangers.

Jake’s rank: 2

Jacob’s rank: 2

José Altuve

Altuve, unfortunately, missed about the first two months of the year due to a fractured thumb from the World Baseball Classic, and then went on the IL due to an oblique strain in July. He still seemed like the same old Altuve, hitting for a 154 wRC+ across those 410 plate appearances. Though, over the last two seasons, Altuve’s exit velocities have been career-worst, he has still posted a 160 wRC+ over that span, and over his career has been able to outperform his expected numbers. Altuve pulls the ball a lot, (over 50% of the time last year!) and it allows him to use the corners to hit for more power, despite a declining exit velocity profile as he ages. Altuve still projects to hit for a 127 wRC+ per Steamer off of his 125 million dollar extension and is easily one of the best second basemen in baseball.

Jake’s rank: 3

Jacob’s rank: 4

Ozzie Albies

Albies recovered very nicely after a rather disappointing 2022 season where he missed 100 games and had a wRC+ below 100 for the first time in his MLB career. In 2023, Albies had the best offensive output of his career, boasting a 124 wRC+ and a career-high 33 home runs while being a part of one of the most dynamic offenses in MLB history. Albies likes to swing–a lot. Just 9 players had a higher swing% than Albies last year, and it has led to very high chase rates throughout his career but also very high zone-swing rates. Albies has pretty good raw power, which helps the frequent mishits (he was just 29th percentile in hard-hit rate last year), likely due to how much out-of-zone contact he makes. Albies also has an excellent hit tool, frequently hitting a high number of sweet spots. Though last year he had -9 OAA, he has proven himself to be a good defender in the past–and could certainly rebound next year,

Jake’s rank: 8

Jacob’s rank: 3

Ketel Marte

Coming in at fifth is Ketel Marte, easily one of the most underrated players in baseball. Since his breakout in 2019, Marte has a 127 wRC+ with 14.9 fWAR. You might not guess it, but Marte’s raw power is absolutely off the charts. In 2023, he set a career-high exit velocity of 117.1–top 1% in all of baseball. Marte has kind of struggled with launch angle optimization in his career, but he is still a very talented hitter. In addition to pretty good power, Marte has good plate discipline and is pretty athletic. In 2023, he had +1 OAA and +2 DRS at second base. Marte is just a great all-around player who is also very fun to watch and was instrumental to their playoff run last season.

Jake’s rank: 4

Jacob’s rank: 7

Luis Arráez

Arraez got traded to the Marlins and immediately became the team’s most productive hitter en route to a career-best season almost across the board, and the highest single-season batting average since 2010 Josh Hamilton (aside from the COVID-shortened 2020 season). Arraez’s hit tool is absolutely off the charts. In back-to-back years Arraez has had the lowest strikeout league in baseball, and every year since 2019 has had the lowest whiff% in baseball. Most of his contact isn’t good quality, but he hits so many line drives/sweet spots that he can run super high BABIP numbers–and had a very good .354 xwOBA in 2023. Defensively, he is a liability–he had -10 OAA last season–but the bat is more than enough to make up for it.

Jake’s rank: 6

Jacob’s rank: 5

Ha-Seong Kim

Kim has been a little bit of a utility infielder, bouncing around at second, third, and short through his first three years, but has seemed to settle into his role as a second baseman. In 2023, Kim had a 112 wRC+, while in 2022 he posted a 106. Kim also had 7 OAA and 10 DRS in just over 800 innings at second base last season, and the season before 6 OAA and 10 DRS at short. He is one of the game’s best and most versatile defenders, which adds a ton to his value. Though Kim’s power is underwhelming, (he ranked in just the 11th percentile in barrel% and 7th in exit velocity), he makes up for it a bit with a top 20 percent pulled-fly ball rate, allowing him to maximize output on fly balls in play. Kim is also very passive at the plate, which allows him to take a solid amount of walks. Off the back of a 4.4 fWAR season, Kim is a good bet to once again be a productive player this season.

Jake’s ranking: 9

Jacob’s ranking: 6

Gleyber Torres

Who led all primary second basemen in xwOBA in 2023? If your answer was Gleyber Torres, you would be correct! Gleyber Torres has a very underrated and good bat. Torres has really transformed himself from a swing-happy hitter with good power to a very well-disciplined hitter with still good power (and set a career-high in Max Exit Velocity in 2023). Torres also had a career-high walk% (aside from the 2020 season) and career-low K%. Consider this: in his rookie year, Torres chased over 30% of the time while swinging in-zone roughly 70% of the time. Cut to 2023, he has improved his chase% by 4.3%, swinging in the zone still at a 69% rate, and was 85th percentile in Bobby Orr’s Plate Discipline metric, SEAGER. Torres is such a great bet to be a consistent 120 wRC+ hitter, and for that reason, he has such a high floor and is one of the better second basemen in the game.

Jake’s rank: 5

Jacob’s rank: 10

Nico Hoerner

At number nine is Nico Hoerner of the Chicago Cubs. He came up in 2019 and started off hot, before struggling in 2020. During the 2023 season, he hit .283 with 175 hits and 98 runs. Often leading off or hitting near the top of the lineup, he was also able to steal 43 bases, a new career high. He ranked in the top four percent for K rate (12.1%, 96th percentile) and whiff rate (12.4%, 99th percentile), which classifies him as one of the best bat-to-ball hitters in the league. On the other side of the ball, Nico is one of the best defensive stars in the game. He won his first Gold Glove Award in 2023, and that surely won’t be his last. After moving from shortstop to second base to accommodate Dansby Swanson, he continued the elite defense with 15 OAA.

Jake’s rank: 10

Jacob’s rank: 8

Eduoard Julien

Julien burst onto the scene as a rookie in 2023, hitting for a 136 wRC+ for what was one of the best offenses in baseball. Julien is a good candidate to be a poster boy for the three-true outcomes style of player, as in 2023 he walked 15.7% of the time (also had the best chase% in baseball), struck out 31.4% of the time, and was on pace for 24 home runs over the course of a full season. (His barrel rate was also in the top 14% of all hitters). Julien combines great PD with fantastic power and a lot of line drives, which all resulted in a top 15 percentile xwOBACON. Julien’s defense may be called into question–he had -3 DRS at second base last year, with 0 OAA, but there is no calling into question his offensive talent, led by his incredible power-eye combination.

Jake’s rank: 7

Jacob’s rank: NR

Honorable Mentions/Just Missed (alphabetical order)

Zack Gelof

Andrés Giménez

Nolan Gorman

Matt McLain

Bryson Stott

As per usual, every player in our honorable mention section has a great argument to be top 10. Second base is perhaps the deepest infield position in recent memory. Guys like Gelof and McLain had very successful rookie years, Gorman is one of the best young hitters in baseball, and Stott was an above-average hitter with gold-glove caliber defense last year. Gimenez is just a season removed from a 6-WAR season and looking for a bounceback. The position has quickly gone from desolate, to rich and overflowing with talent.

Jake’s Top 15