Year of the shortstop? A wave of young talent is redefining the position, again

Shortstops aren’t supposed to be sluggers. Sure, there have been some exceptions through the years, from Ernie Banks to Cal Ripken Jr. to Alex Rodriguez. But for the most part, if you wanted power, you looked to the outfield or corner infield. If you wanted defense, you looked to the middle infield. That was baseball tradition.

But someone forgot to tell Bobby Witt Jr. about this. Or Gunnar Henderson. Or Elly De La Cruz. Or Corey Seager. Or Francisco Lindor. Or Trea Turner. Or … you get the point. This is a golden generation of shortstops who can crush the ball as well as catch it.

“In the ‘80s, it was stereotyped as an all-glove, speed, defense and light-bat position,” said Orioles general manager Mike Elias, whose club selected Henderson 42nd overall in the 2019 Draft, his first at the helm in Baltimore. “Since the ‘90s and early 2000s for sure, when you had that era with Nomar [Garciaparra], [Derek] Jeter and A-Rod, and then through now, it's just turned into more of a superstar position.”

As Elias notes, this isn’t the first time a wave of talented young shortstops has taken baseball by storm. But this current crop brings a combination of elite talent and depth that we have never seen before.

It might even be fair to say that 2024 is the Year of the Shortstop. But is this a blip, or a lasting trend?

NOTE: All stats are entering Thursday, Aug. 22.

The best shortstop season ever?

To start things off, we can analyze how this year’s shortstops have performed in comparison to those of prior years. To no one’s surprise, the record shakes out very favorably for the current group.

Among the many stats that one could use to make this point is wRC+, a ballpark- and era-adjusted stat for which 100 represents the league average. This year’s shortstops (based on primary position, not their position at the time of each plate appearance) have a collective wRC+ of 102, or a couple of ticks above average. That’s the highest out of any year’s shortstops in the 125 seasons of the Live Ball Era, and as a matter of fact, each of the top seven values have come since 2016. If that wRC+ figure holds, this would be the first full season (so excluding 2020) in which primary shortstops collectively produced offense at a better-than-average clip.

On a similar note, when looking at FanGraphs’ Wins Above Replacement (WAR) metric, the single-season record for shortstops in the 30-team era (since 1998) is 96.8, set in 2019. This year’s group is on pace to shatter that mark, already closing in on the record with more than a month remaining. And the past eight full MLB seasons lead the list.

Highest collective WAR by shortstops in a season
Since 1998, via FanGraphs

1. 2019: 96.8
2. 2021: 93.9
3. 2022: 90.1
4. 2024: 90.0 (on pace for 114.8)
5. 2018: 89.4
6. 2023: 81.2
7. 2016: 75.5
8. 2017: 74.5

Four shortstops already have cleared the 5-WAR mark in 2024, via FanGraphs: Witt, Henderson, Lindor and De La Cruz. Among that quartet -- all in the MVP Award conversation -- only the 30-year-old Lindor has celebrated his 25th birthday.

Shortstops top the charts

We’ve established that the 2024 season has provided some of the best stats in the history of the shortstop position. But are shortstops actually gaining significant ground when compared with other position groups? The answer, emphatically, is yes.

This season, shortstops (based on their position at the time of each plate appearance, not their general primary position) have a .257 batting average, .321 OBP, .419 SLG and .740 OPS. Across all positions, excluding pitchers and pinch-hitters, that batting average is the highest in MLB this season, with the other three metrics each ranking second, behind only designated hitters (who, obviously, don’t have to play defense at all).

Best OPS by position, 2024

1. DH: .750
2. SS: .740
3. 1B: .730
4. RF: .729
5. LF: .709
6. 3B: .707
7. CF: .697
8. C: .689
9. 2B: .682

As if this isn’t impressive enough on its own, a new element gets added when we look at how shortstops have performed historically. For example, the chart below shows how shortstops ranked in OPS among the nine primary offensive positions (C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, LF, CF, RF, DH) in 2024 as well as in each of the previous 50 seasons. (The DH debuted in the AL in 1973.)

Across different metrics, the 2024 season stands out in a parallel way. The No. 2 rank in OBP by shortstops in 2024 is the highest in any season since at least 1974, as is the No. 2 rank in slugging percentage. In batting average, this is the fifth time since 1974 that shortstops have led all positions, with all five coming since 2018. No matter how you slice it, shortstops are hitting for both contact and power like never before.

The stars behind the stats

If shortstops weren’t always hitting like this, that means something must have changed. Who gets all the credit for the robust numbers we’re seeing nowadays?

We’d be remiss not to mention a trio of current or former Dodgers shortstops who are all in their primes. It appears that Mookie Betts’ conversion to the shortstop position has come to an end, but the time he spent there earlier this season greatly aided the position’s collective stats. Turner reached his third All-Star Game in the past four seasons this year, continuing to excel since he left Los Angeles for Philadelphia. And Seager has been a star with both the Dodgers and Rangers, finishing second in AL MVP voting last year for the World Series champs and holding an .851 OPS in 2024.

But while those stars were established entering this season, what’s more notable is a new wave of rising shortstops making their mark on the sport. One of MLB’s biggest breakout stars at any position this year has been Henderson. Arguably the new face of the franchise for the Orioles, the 23-year-old is on pace for a historic season. His 33 homers already are five more than he had last season, when he won AL Rookie of the Year honors, and he has a strong chance to break the record for most home runs from the leadoff spot in a season (41, set last year by Ronald Acu?a Jr.).

But the AL’s other young superstar shortstop might do even better in MVP voting this season. The 24-year-old Witt's bat has caught up to -- if not surpassed -- his speed and his glove this season. Witt leads MLB with a .352 batting average, 110 runs and 178 hits. To no one’s surprise, he earned his first career All-Star selection this season.

Over in the NL, human highlight reel De La Cruz has been electrifying during his two MLB seasons. Though De La Cruz was certainly exciting as a rookie, his overall offensive game has improved by leaps and bounds in Year 2, moving from a .235/.300/.410 batting line in 2023 to .262/.345/.493 this year. Combine that with his historic steals pace and his defense, which is much more effective than the naked eye suggests, and it’s clear that we have a rising star.

Of course, the long list of shortstops to excel this season doesn’t end there, even with former All-Stars such as Bo Bichette and Dansby Swanson struggling. Correa, Lindor and Willy Adames are the elder statesmen (relatively speaking) of the group, which also includes a number of other up-and-coming players posting above-average offensive seasons, such as Zach Neto of the Angels, Oneil Cruz of the Pirates, CJ Abrams of the Nationals, Masyn Winn of the Cardinals and Jeremy Pe?a of the Astros.

Overall, it’s a stacked group, and the credit can’t just go to one or two studs. Not only is the top of the position arguably better than it’s ever been, but what’s perhaps more important is the incredible depth. That's obvious even just from looking at how things have progressed since MLB expanded to 30 teams in 1998.

That season, the aforementioned trio of Garciaparra-Jeter-Rodriguez shined bright, each finishing top-10 in AL MVP voting at age 24 or younger. But overall, only five of the 30 primary shortstops with the most plate appearances in 1998 posted a league-average 100 OPS+ or better, and a whopping 14 came in far below average (an 80 OPS+ or lower).

Over time, though, that dynamic has shifted considerably. This season, 17 of the top 31 have been above average, while only five have been below an 80 OPS+. (The cutoff of 31 players is used instead of 30 because Geraldo Perdomo and Zach McKinstry are tied in plate appearances.)

Simply put, those truly weak-hitting shortstops -- the ones who might be in the lineups almost entirely for their gloves -- are an endangered species. That reflects something Elias has noticed during his time in baseball: Teams are "more mindful" about projecting physically limited athletes as big league shortstops, even if they can reliably handle the position.

"We’re a little more realistic about the types of physical animals they're actually going to be competing with when they get to the Major League level to win that shortstop job," said Elias, whose career began as a Cardinals scout in 2007. "It doesn't mean there's not value in just being able to play shortstop, even though there’s maybe going to be somebody better on your team. That's still valuable. But you look around the league right now and the guys that are actually doing it on a day in, day out basis, they all have plus arms, they all run, they have range; they're incredible athletes and incredible offensive players."

Another way to look at this rapid transformation: The median OPS+ among that group of 30 primary shortstops with the most plate appearances was 93 or lower in all but one season from 1998-2015. It's now been at 100 or higher in five of the past six seasons, including 102 in 2024.

“When I first started, it was a defensive position, but one of the guys I worked with a long time ago when I was an intern was Miguel Tejada, who won an MVP as a shortstop,” Reds president of baseball operations Nick Krall said. “When I was a kid, it was a lot of defensive guys, but it slowly and surely has become more of an offensive position. From Cal Ripken Jr. to Nomar Garciaparra to Tejada to the guys we have now, it’s become guys that play both sides of the ball.”

Why is this happening?

It’s easy for us to establish that shortstops are hitting more proficiently than ever before. But what led to this drastic shift? For starters, we can thank The Iron Man himself. Ripken, at 6-foot-4 and 200 pounds, revolutionized the position while hitting 20-plus homers in each of his first 10 full seasons.

“Ripken was the only really big shortstop for a while,” Krall said. “He started it, then you had A-Rod, then the offensive shortstop started from there, where it wasn’t just the scrappy guy that could really field.”

“[Cal Ripken Jr.] was the outlier, and that’s what teams started looking for,” added Deric Ladnier, a former Minor League third baseman who now serves as the Astros’ senior director of amateur scouting after being hired away from Arizona last offseason. “We’re always looking for up-the-middle guys with athletic ability and offensive potential. More and more teams are looking for that, because it’s so valuable.”

Across any position in baseball -- or really, just about any position in sports altogether -- it should go without saying that “athletic ability and offensive potential” have always been good things. But what’s changed in recent years is the way that those traits have been weighed by executives, compared to other tools.

“I think teams are now willing to sacrifice a little of the extraordinary defense -- the 70 or 80 defender [on baseball's 20-to-80 scouting scale] -- for the guy who might not be an elite defender, but is an above-average defender who provides offensive production,” Ladnier said. “The teams that are winning have that type of guy. All good teams have that guy who provides offensive production, when it used to be that you would sacrifice offense for a guy who could defend there.”

In the old days, there was a far-reaching philosophy that the guys in the top and middle of the batting order were there to hit, and the players closer to the bottom would earn their stripes defensively. But as the analytics movement has taken over baseball, so has the notion that offensive production from all nine spots in the batting order is vital -- a notion that has gone a long way in facilitating this pinnacle of shortstop power.

“The days of taking just a defensive shortstop, I think that's gone away. When you're in a draft room, it's all about the bat. It's not that we ignore the defense, but … the only position that I think is an exception is catcher, where the guy who can catch and throw, you're still drafting that guy,” said Royals general manager J.J. Picollo, who first joined the organization in 2006 as its director of player development. “With shortstop, you're talking more about if he's going to hit or not. The really good defender that might have been taken 15 or 20 years ago, I don't think you see as much of that.”

Simultaneously, it’s not fair to attribute the changing of the position solely to a shift in evaluators’ preferences. At the end of the day, the remarkable generation of young players deserves its share of credit, too.

As Ladnier put it, "A lot of it is determined by the talent coming in." And that talent is now coming from all over. Of the top 30 primary shortstops this season by Baseball Reference's WAR, 14 were born in six countries or territories outside the continental United States (Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Panama, South Korea and Cura?ao).

Those talented players can only make an impact if the proper eyes are laid upon them, though. Players may be getting better, but what’s also improving is the baseball community’s collective ability to discover, evaluate and develop such players.

“Another factor that we haven't mentioned yet is the efficiency of international scouting and development. This is probably new in the last 20 or 30 years to this degree, but you have all these crazy good athletes and players being developed out of the Dominican and Venezuela, primarily,” Elias said. “They have raised the bar for the position, which creates more of a pyramid to get to the top in the big leagues. It's raised the talent level.”

Who's got next?

The future of the shortstop appears to be bright based on the aforementioned names alone. Witt, Henderson, De La Cruz, Abrams, Neto and Winn are all 24 years old or younger, as are the Rockies’ Ezequiel Tovar and the Yankees’ Anthony Volpe.

As a matter of fact, with more than a month still remaining in the regular season, all eight of those age-24-or-younger shortstops have compiled at least 2.5 WAR this season, per Baseball Reference. That’s already the most such shortstops in an entire season in MLB history, breaking the record of seven set in both 2017 and 2023. (By comparison, Andrelton Simmons was the only shortstop to satisfy those criteria just 10 years ago, in 2014.)

On a similar note, thanks to Henderson and Witt, this year has already matched 1998 as the only seasons to have multiple shortstops have at least 7.5 bWAR at age 24 or younger, when both Jeter and Rodriguez did so.

But the current crop of shortstops soon could be supplemented even further. Per MLB Pipeline’s recently updated Top 100 Prospects list, five of the top nine prospects have shortstop listed among their positions, though Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero is primarily a third baseman at this point, and No. 1 prospect Jackson Holliday of Baltimore is at least beginning his MLB career at second base in deference to Henderson. Regardless, the others are No. 5 Marcelo Mayer (Red Sox), No. 8 Jordan Lawlar (D-backs) and No. 9 Carson Williams (Rays).

Holliday and Lawlar have both already appeared in the Majors, with Holliday making a splash this season and Lawlar getting in three playoff games during Arizona’s run to the World Series a year ago. All four are 22 years old or younger, and each one is capable of adding a splash to what already looks to be a very strong shortstop group moving forward.

Furthermore, at the start of this season, 23 of MLB Pipeline’s top 100 prospects were shortstops, the most of any offensive position besides outfield (which, of course, accounts for three times as many players on the field as shortstops do). This was the third consecutive season in which at least 22 of the top 100 were shortstops.

Just how different is this from previous years? In 2012 -- the first year MLB Pipeline expanded its rankings from 50 to 100 players -- only 11 of the top 100 were shortstops. In 2004, only four of the top 50 were shortstops.

Percentage of MLB Pipeline top prospects who were shortstops
Rankings taken at the beginning of each season

• 2004: 8% (4 of 50)
• 2009: 8% (4 of 50)
• 2014: 13% (13 of 100)
• 2019: 12% (12 of 100)
• 2024: 23% (23 of 100)

All in all, the shortstop position isn’t what it was 50 years ago, or 30 years ago or even 10 years ago. These guys can crush the ball just about as well as any other position group -- and that doesn’t appear to be changing any time soon.

“I think it's a little bit of a coincidence right now, but it may set a precedent of what we're looking for in the future. Redefining the shortstop position might be what's happening,” Picollo said. “You're not going to settle for something that doesn't look like a Gunnar, Elly or Bobby. That's what you want. That's going to be what you're targeting in the future.”

MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand and Jonathan Mayo contributed reporting to this story.