Mid-Season Fantasy Baseball Second Base Dynasty Rankings, Prospect Rankings, Buys, and Sells (2025)

July 21, 2025

Eric Cross provides his 2025 fantasy baseball prospect and dynasty rankings for the second base position and discusses 2B to buy, sell, or hold moving forward.

Welcome to the third installment of my mid-season dynasty and prospect rankings series here on RotoBaller. After covering the catcher and first base positions so far, we're heading to the keystone today to talk about the top second baseman in both the Major Leagues and the minor leagues.

After being on the rise over the last several seasons, the second base position has taken a step back this season due to some disappointing seasons from both veterans and younger players. However, there's still plenty of talent at this position, and some buying opportunities have popped up that I'd look to take advantage of.

Below you'll find my current Top 20 dynasty rankings and Top 15 prospect rankings for the second base position, along with thoughts on several notable players, their values moving forward, and whether to buy, sell, or hold right now.

Second Base Dynasty Rankings

Tier 1: Jazz Chisholm Jr., Ketel Marte

Tier 2: Jackson Holliday, Jordan Westburg, Maikel Garcia

Tier 3: Matt McLain, Kristian Campbell, Gleyber Torres, Brice Turang, Colt Keith, Michael Arroyo

Tier 4: Brandon Lowe, Brendan Donovan, Jose Altuve, Ozzie Albies

Tier 5: Travis Bazzana, Jordan Lawlar, Nico Hoerner, Tommy Edman, Luis Garcia Jr.

Second Base Prospect Rankings

Tier 1: Travis Bazzana, Michael Arroyo, Luke Keaschall

Tier 2: Brice Matthews, Aroon Escobar, Cole Young

Tier 3: James Triantos, Shay Whitcomb, Christian Moore, Demetrio Crisantes, Yoeilin Cespedes

Tier 4: Sam Antonacci, Tommy Troy, Hao-Yu Lee, Devin Fitz-Gerald

Second Basemen to Buy/Sell/Hold

Colt Keith, Detroit Tigers (Buy)

Very quietly, Colt Keith has been sneaking his way back up my dynasty rankings with how he's performed of late. After slashing just .171/.318/.200 with zero home runs in his first 27 games of the season, Keith has slashed .292/.353/.510 with 14 doubles and eight home runs over his last 60 games. He's also walked at an 8.8% clip while striking out just 19.1% of the time during this timeframe.

a blast fitting for mountain time

450 ft 🚀 for Colt Keith! pic.twitter.com/tk4oLpUe7a

— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) May 8, 2025

When you dig into the metrics, there are plenty that breathe confidence into his surge over the last two and a half months. Keith has been hitting the ball much harder this season. After posting a 5.6% barrel rate, 87.8 mph AVG EV, and a 35.3% hard-hit rate in his 2024 rookie season, those metrics have jumped to 10.3%, 89.8 mph, and 45.6% respectively, this season.

On top of that, Keith has improved his walk rate from 6.5% to 11.3% and dropped his chase rate from 29.9% to 23.9% while maintaining an above-average 85.8% zone and 77.5% overall contact rate. Given all of the improvements we've seen from Keith this season, he's put himself back into the Top-10 discussion at this position, and I'm believing in the breakout moving forward.

Matt McLain, Cincinnati Reds (Buy)

While the return of Matt McLain after missing 2024 due to injury hasn't quite gone as swimmingly as McLain managers hoped, I'm still confident in him being a potential Top-5 player at this second base position moving forward. In 366 plate appearances this season, McLain has slashed just .214/.301/.350, but has a shot at a 20/25 season with 11 home runs and 14 steals to his name at the moment.

When you pop the hood, not many metrics look different from his 2023 rookie season. McLain's AVG EV and hard-hit rate are just a hair below his 2023 metrics, but the barrel rate has dropped from 10.8% to 7% this season. But on the plus side, McLain has increased his zone contact rate by 1.9%, his overall contact rate by 1.5%, his walk rate by 2.1%, and his strikeout rate by 1.7%.

Sure, it's fair to say that myself and others pushed McLain a bit too high after 2023, but this is still a second baseman with solid upside who gets to play half of his games in the hitter-friendly Great American Ballpark. And with how low his perceived value and pricetag likely are right now, McLain is a solid buy in dynasty leagues.

Ozzie Albies, Atlanta Braves (Hold)

One of the most disappointing players of the 2025 season has been Ozzie Albies. In 412 plate appearances, the former all-star second baseman has slashed an underwhelming .224/.294/.334  with nine home runs and eight steals. While he's on around a 16/14 pace, which isn't terrible, the all-around offensive production has bee a major let down for anyone who rostered him entering the 2025 season.

Albies is still making above-average contact, both in zone (84.3%) and overall (77.8%). However, his quality of contact has dipped down to a 3.9% barrel rate, 87.4 mph AVG EV, and a 30% hard-hit rate. And overall, Albies ranks in the bottom 18% of hitters in xBA, xSLG, xwOBA, AVG EV, barrel rate, hard-hit rate, bat speed, and chase rate this season.

Is Albies done being a fantasy-viable hitter? No, probably not. But are his days of elite production as a Top-5 second baseman in the rearview mirror? Most likely. If you roster him in dynasty, it's not currently an ideal time to sell, given how far Albies' perceived value and potential return value have fallen. I'd just stash him on your bench for now and cross your fingers that he can recoup some value so you can trade him. In general, I do think he'll rebound to some degree, but not to Top-10 levels at this position.

Michael Arroyo, Seattle Mariners (Buy)

For me, Michael Arroyo is one of the most underrated Top-100 prospects in the game right now. After slashing .285/.400/.509 with 23 home runs and 18 steals in 121 games last season, Arroyo has kept that high level of production going so far in 2025. In 82 games between High-A and Double-A, Arroyo has racked up 20 doubles, 17 home runs, and six steals with a .278/.422/.516 slash line.

Michael Arroyo (MLB No. 78) just keeps on belting homers 📈

The @Mariners' No. 7 prospect tags his seventh long ball in June, 15th on the season for the High-A @EverettAquaSox. pic.twitter.com/TpoRYPVmw1

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) June 20, 2025

Most of his production has come since the start of May, as Arroyo was slashing just .195/.367/.351 with two home runs at the end of April. But since the calendar flipped to May, Arroyo has slashed .310/.445/.580 with 14 doubles, 15 home runs, and nearly as many walks (39) as strikeouts (46).

While Arroyo's profile doesn't have that one buzzy tool, he does have an above-average to plus hit tool thanks to an above-average 77% contact rate combined with an elite approach, which has yielded a 13.3% walk rate and a 19% strikeout rate this season. There's also above-average raw power, and while he's not a burner, Arroyo has enough speed to be a 10-15 steal guy annually as well.

Christian Moore, Los Angeles Angels (Sell)

I'm sorry, but I'm just not a Christian Moore guy long-term for fantasy. Moore started his professional career with a bang, cranking six home runs in his first eight games, including two multi-homer games in his 6th and 8th professional games. However, over his final 16 games of 2024, Moore slashed just .231/.296/.292 with four extra-base hits, zero home runs, and a 33.8% strikeout rate.

Fast forward to 2025, and it's been more inconsistent production from Moore. In 54 minor league games between Double-A and Triple-A, Moore slashed a respectable .279/.374/.422 with eight doubles, five home runs, and eight steals in 12 attempts. However, Moore was making contact just under 70% of the time, which was also his issue in 2024 when he had a contact rate around 67%.

With the Angels so far, Moore is slashing .189/.302/.396 in 64 plate appearances with a 31.3% strikeout rate, 75.5% zone contact rate, and a 63.8% overall contact rate. His quality of contact metrics have also been underwhelming with an 86.3 mph AVG EV and 31.4% hard-hit rate. However, the barrel rate has been fine at 8.6%.

The power/speed upside from the second base position makes Moore intriguing for fantasy, but I don't think he makes enough contact to fully maximize his potential. It's not a direct comp, but Moore gives me some Zack Gelof vibes. Do with that what you will.

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