X
Lost password?

Don't have an account?
Gain Access Now

X

Receive free daily analysis

NFL
NBA
NHL
NASCAR
CFB
MLB
MMA
PGA
ESPORTS
BETTING

Already have an account? Log In

X

Forgot Password


POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Daily Stats & Leaders
All Pitcher Matchups
Compare Any Players
Compare Any Players
Rookies & Call-Ups
24x7 News and Alerts

Jon Anderson's Early Second Base Tiers & Rankings for 2023 Fantasy Baseball

Marcus Semien - Fantasy Baseball Rankings, MLB Injury News, DFS and Betting Picks

Jon Anderson gives his early second base rankings for 2023 fantasy baseball. Who should you draft high and whose value has gone lower than expected?

Welcome back RotoBallers to my early 2023 fantasy baseball second base rankings and projections. Today we are onto the second base position in my early positional ranks and tiers posts. So far, we have hit up catcher and first base, read those below:

Second base has long been a tough position to fill in fantasy baseball, but in recent years, things have strengthened a bit. I wouldn't call it a deep position yet, and there is not a single top-20 overall pick at the position, but there are strong options pretty far down the list.

Nothing more to say in the introduction, let's get to Tier 1.

Be sure to check all of our fantasy baseball lineup tools and resources:

 

Tier 1 - Best Available

Player Team Rank Tier PA R HR RBI SB AVG
Marcus Semien TEX 1 1 643 97 25 66 21 .250
Ozzie Albies ATL 2 1 555 69 18 69 17 .246
Jazz Chisholm Jr. MIA 3 1 587 85 29 72 36 .256

You could argue that Semien and Albies have had first-round caliber seasons in recent years, but they never actually project that way - and that's true again this year. Semien is great across the board, but he depends a ton on the volume of PAs for his fantasy production (he's not elite in anything, but good in everything - so when he plays 162 games as a lead-off hitter, he will inevitably turn in a great rotisserie season). The risk here is that he finally hits the IL and falls a bit shy of the lofty heights he's reached recently in scoring runs and stealing bags.

There's no reason to not think this ironman will play a full year, and he's locked in as the lead-off man in a capable lineup. With Albies having some injury-related concerns, Semien leap-frogs him for the top second baseman for me in 2023.

Albies and Chisholm are close to Semien in my estimation, and they get drafted significantly later. We are seeing a steep discount on Albies this year after all of the injury problems he had last year. Those concerns aren't really convincing me, however, as he came back late in the year from his original foot injury but then broke a finger. Finger breaks aren't a long-term concern, of course, so I'm willing to believe Albies will be 100% in 2023. That means he should put up some really great counting stat numbers in a loaded Braves lineup. This guy is just one year removed from a 30-20 season, let's not forget that!

My #3 here might make some waves, as I'm sliding Chisholm into Tier 1 territory. I just love his power and speed ability, very few hitters have the skills he has. I'm also not going to ding him too much for his injury history; to me, it's too early in his career for that. If he plays a full year, I don't see how he doesn't easily go 25-25 with a "fine" at worst batting average, and that's a Tier 1 bat.

 

Tier 2 - A Lone Stro

Player Team Rank Tier PA R HR RBI SB AVG
Jose Altuve HOU 4 2 641 110 28 76 15 .278

Altuve certainly projects as a Tier 1 guy here, but I'm dinging him because of his age and questions about his power and speed. That said, he didn't have any trouble in 2022 as at the age of 32. He scored 103 runs, hit 28 homers, stole 18 bags, and hit .300. That's one of the better seasons of his Hall of Fame career.

The Astros lineup certainly allows a huge run projection here, and he's shown the ability to pull enough fly balls to easily get into the twenties in homers. The bigger bases and pickoff restrictions will probably get him above a dozen steals again in 2023 with ease, so there's no reason to not expect another great fantasy season from Altuve.

 

Tier 3 - Huge Upside with Risk

Player Team Rank Tier PA R HR RBI SB AVG
Trevor Story BOS 5 3 614 75 23 74 23 .232
Andres Gimenez CLE 6 3 578 66 12 74 28 .279
Brandon Lowe TB 7 3 567 70 27 81 6 .232

You're giving up something at this point. Story had a brutal time with the strikeout and the batting average in his first year away from Coors, but still turned in 16 homers and 13 steals in just a bit more than a half season. With a full season of PAs and a slight improvement in whiffs (this is likely), he's an easy 20-20 player with a .240+ batting average. That would make him a perfectly good pick where he's being drafted, but it's hard not to hesitate a little bit after what we saw last year.

Then you have your young riser in Gimenez, who had a great season in 2022 but still fell a little bit short in homers with 17. The 21 steals were nice, and the .295 batting average was great. The projections have him losing some homers here, which is probably because of the 6% barrel rate we saw last year. Not a ton of swing speed here, but Gimenez could easily turn in a 20-20 season with a .290 batting average, so I'm perfectly happy to draft him where he's at.

The biggest discount of the year might be Brandon Lowe, who lost most of his 2022 season to injury. The Rays say he's healthy now, and I'm prone to believe them - but the fantasy community doesn't seem to fully buy into it as his ADP has fallen a ton. I'm happy to take the discount here since Lowe has proven to be one of the game's most consistent home run hitters since 2018.

 

Tier 4 - Late Talent

Player Team Rank Tier PA R HR RBI SB AVG
Jorge Polanco MIN 8 4 594 77 25 81 10 .246
Max Muncy LAD 9 4 547 75 24 87 2 .235
Tommy Edman STL 10 4 621 92 10 63 37 .263
Gleyber Torres NYY 11 4 593 88 19 61 16 .266
Jonathan India CIN 12 4 656 70 15 60 11 .237
Ketel Marte ARI 13 4 620 82 16 70 5 .267

This is a pretty great tier as well. I think all of these names are starting-caliber second basemen in 2023, although they could certainly all find a way to fail (as they all have in the past). My favorite of the bunch is Polanco, who turned in a bad 2022 but the underlying numbers don't give us much to worry about.

 

Max Muncy could be a big beneficiary of the shift ban, and we still have lots of upside in those talented bats of Torres, Marte, and India. I love taking a player from this tier here - they're all great values at their ADP.

 

Tier 5 - Category Specialists

Player Team Rank Tier PA R HR RBI SB AVG
Jeff McNeil NYM 14 5 622 69 9 77 5 .294
Thairo Estrada SF 15 5 577 72 12 50 20 .258
Luis Arraez MIN 16 5 639 85 9 58 4 .306
Josh Rojas ARI 17 5 519 59 10 66 18 .257
Gavin Lux LAD 18 5 537 65 11 64 8 .266
Vaughn Grissom ATL 19 5 405 58 11 51 14 .275
Nick Gordon MIN 20 5 355 42 13 42 12 .273
Christopher Morel CHC 21 5 477 53 16 52 14 .232
Brendan Rodgers COL 22 5 551 62 14 61 0 .260

We lose most of the power at this point, as none of these guys projects near 20 homers. Despite that, some guys here get it done with steals (Estrada, Rojas, Grissom?), and plenty of them offer a strong batting average (McNeil, Arraez, Lux). The most interesting of the bunch are the two young guys, Nick Gordon and Christopher Morel.

Gordon put up a pretty exciting 2022 season, going for a .271/.312/.426 line with a useful 9.7% barrel rate and a 45% hard-hit rate. Morel posted an elite 13.4% barrel rate but it came with a high strikeout rate of 32%. I really like taking a shot at Gordon this year (the PA projection here is admittedly too low, but I think he'll find his way to near everyday playing time - especially if he comes out of the gate hitting well), and I'm perfectly happy with Morel late in the draft as a guy you can at the very least squeeze some homers out of.

 

Tier 6

Player Team Rank Tier PA R HR RBI SB AVG
Jake Cronenworth SD 23 6 629 70 15 78 3 .228
Luis Garcia WSH 24 6 484 52 15 51 3 .253
Whit Merrifield TOR 25 6 522 65 8 61 27 .244

We are approaching the point where players maybe shouldn't be drafted in standard leagues. Cronenwoth really doesn't contribute well in any category, and he will certainly not be a top-of-the-order bat in 2023, which makes him very interesting. Whit Merrifield's steal rate is slowing and the playing time is uncertain.

Luis Garcia is the most interesting of the trio, as a young hitter that puts a lot of balls in play and can hit the ball pretty hard. The 15-homer projection here is pretty strong for just 484 PAs, he could feasibly end up being a 20-homer guy if he can lift the ball a bit more, and his batting average should stay at least decent since had doesn't strike out a ton and hits the ball with good velocity.

 

Tier 7

Player Team Rank Tier PA R HR RBI SB AVG
Kolten Wong SEA 26 7 521 59 14 58 18 .241
Jon Berti MIA 27 7 382 43 7 42 34 .227
Chris Taylor LAD 28 7 569 69 16 67 15 .223
Luis Urias MIL 29 7 557 62 19 62 3 .235
DJ LeMahieu NYY 30 7 493 64 7 63 5 .249

Not a lot here. You could see Chris Taylor and DJ LeMahieu having a useful season, but there are playing time and health concerns (major health concerns with LeMahieu right now). Wong and Urias just don't seem to be fantasy-relevant at this point, and with the increase in steals likely coming this year, Berti's one-category production seems like a bad idea for a fantasy pick.

And there you have it, 30 second basemen ranked and tiered. Let me know what you think!



Download Our Free News & Alerts Mobile App

Like what you see? Download our updated fantasy baseball app for iPhone and Android with 24x7 player news, injury alerts, sleepers, prospects & more. All free!



More Fantasy Baseball Advice




POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Daily Stats & Leaders
All Pitcher Matchups
Compare Any Players
Compare Any Players
Rookies & Call-Ups
24x7 News and Alerts

REAL-TIME FANTASY NEWS

Trey Yesavage

Sets Franchise Strikeout Record On Monday
Yordan Alvarez

To Receive MRI For Sprained Left Ankle On Tuesday
Willson Contreras

Exits Early Monday With Right-Biceps Tightness
Yordan Alvarez

Exits With Ankle Sprain
Brock Bowers

Officially Active on Monday Night
Jauan Jennings

Day-to-Day With Ankle Injury
Logan O'Hoppe

Activated Off Seven-Day Injured List
CBJ

Denton Mateychuk Dealing With Groin Issue
Bo Horvat

Fine for Training Camp
Kirby Dach

on Track to Be Ready for Opening Night
Jose Altuve

Returns Against Rangers
J.J. McCarthy

Expected to Miss 2-4 Weeks With High-Ankle Sprain
J.J. McCarthy

Likely Out for Week 3 With High-Ankle Sprain
Jean Silva

Gets Finished For The First Time In His Career
Aaron Jones Sr.

Unlikely to Play in Week 3 Due to Hamstring Injury
Diego Lopes

Returns To The Win Column
Jayden Daniels

' Week 3 Status in Doubt
Rob Font

Outclassed In The Noche UFC 3 Co-Main Event
David Martinez

Wins His Second UFC Fight
Jared Gordon

Suffers Brutal TKO Loss At Noche UFC 3
Rafa Garcia

Wins Back-To-Back Fights
Brian Thomas Jr.

Dealing with Wrist Injury
Dustin Stoltzfus

Drops A Decision At Noche UFC 3
Kelvin Gastelum

Gets Back In The Win Column
Diego Ferreira

Suffers Second-Round TKO
Alexander Hernandez

Extends His Win Streak With A Brutal TKO
Quang Le

Suffers First-Round Knockout
Santiago Luna

Shines In His UFC Debut
Christopher Bell

Earns his First Bristol Cup Series Victory
Alex Bowman

Falls Short of Advancing Through Cup Series Playoffs
Chase Briscoe

Collects his Third Top-10 Finish at Bristol
Ryan Blaney

Strong Top-Five Bristol Performance Advances him to the Playoffs
Corey Heim

Earns his First Career Cup Series Top-10 Finish at Bristol
Giannis Antetokounmpo

Leads Greece to Bronze Medal
Alperen Sengün

Alperen Sengun Drops 28 Points in EuroBasket Finals
CFB

Indiana's Lee Beebe Jr. Out for Season with Knee Injury
Dennis Schröder

Dennis Schroder Named EuroBasket MVP
Bryce Eldridge

Giants to Promote Bryce Eldridge
Jaren Jackson Jr.

Progressing in Recovery
Jonathan Kuminga

Receives New Offer From Warriors
Kenneth Walker III

Bounces Back with Big Week 2 Performance
Bijan Robinson

Rushes for 143 Yards in Week 2
Justin Fields

Currently in Concussion Protocol
Cincinnati Bengals

Bengals Calling Around to Available Free-Agent Quarterbacks
Joe Burrow

to Undergo Surgery, Out at Least Three Months
Emil Heineman

Aiming to Take the "Next Step" This Season
Braeden Cootes

Good to Go for Camp
Ivan Fedotov

Blue Jackets Acquire Ivan Fedotov From Flyers
Aaron Jones Sr.

Injures Hamstring During Sunday Night Football
Darren Waller

Not Expected to Play in Week 3
Garrett Crochet

Punches Out 12 in Win
Cole Ragans

to Return on Wednesday
Jameson Williams

Records Long Touchdown in Week 2, Still Limited to Downfield Role?
George Kirby

Strikes Out 14 in Win
Jayden Daniels

Considered "Day-to-Day" with Knee Injury
Carlos Estévez

Carlos Estevez Exits with Back Tightness
Jonathan Taylor

Tops 200 Yards From Scrimmage in Week 2 Win
Joe Burrow

Could Miss Three Months if he Requires Toe Surgery
Davante Adams

Headlines Rams Receiving Corps Sunday
Wan'Dale Robinson

Explodes for 142 Yards, Touchdown in Overtime Thriller
Joe Flacco

Browns Not Considering Benching Joe Flacco After Week 2
Quentin Grimes

Still Not Close to a New Contract Agreement
Joel Embiid

"Looking Slender, Spry and in Positive Spirits"
Ty Gibbs

Has Arguably his Best Career Drive, but Only Finishes 10th
Chase Elliott

Despite Crashing Out at Bristol, Chase Elliott Advances to Round of 12
Austin Dillon

Misses Round of 12 After Extremely Mediocre Bristol Run
Shane Van Gisbergen

Shane van Gisbergen Fails to Advance to Round of 12
Josh Berry

Finishes Last in All Three Round of 16 Races to Fail to Advance
Luis Arraez

Takes a Seat on Sunday With Head Injury
Adolis García

Adolis Garcia Activated, Starting on Sunday
CFB

Ryan Williams Explodes In Return To Field
CFB

Drew Allar Plays Mediocre Game In Blowout Win
CFB

LaNorris Sellers Exits Game In Blowout Loss
CFB

DJ Lagway Tosses Five Interceptions In Loss
CFB

Garrett Nussmeier Plays Game Manager in Saturday's Win
CFB

CJ Carr Remains Poised In Narrow Loss
CFB

John Mateer Leads Oklahoma In Rout
CFB

Arch Manning Struggles Against UTEP
CFB

Jeremiah Smith Impresses In Win
Bryan Woo

Records Career-High 13 Strikeouts
Max Muncy

Exits Early on Saturday
CFB

Sam Leavitt Shines As Arizona State Rebounds From Week 2 Loss
Salvador Perez

Reaches 300 Home Runs, 1,000 RBI
Jose Altuve

Exits Early With Foot Discomfort
Trey Yesavage

Heading to Big Leagues
Will Smith

Placed on 10-Day Injured List
Ivan Demidov

Turning Heads in Rookie Camp
NHL

Calvin de Haan Signs With Swedish Team
Samuel Girard

Skates With Non-Contact Jersey
Mackenzie Blackwood

Dealing With Injury Ahead of Training Camp
Spencer Knight

Signs Three-Year Extension With Blackhawks
Chris Buescher

May have Another Solid Run at Bristol
Corey Perry

Out 6-8 Weeks Following Surgery
Kyle Busch

Should DFS Managers Roster Kyle Busch at Bristol?
Ricky Stenhouse Jr

Is Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Too Risky to Consider Rostering at Bristol?
Michael McDowell

Could be A Solid Value Option For Bristol DFS Lineups
Chase Elliott

Probably Won't Factor in for Bristol Win
NASCAR

Bubba Wallace Not as Strong at Bristol as Other Short Tracks
Alex Bowman

Needs to Win to Make Round of 12
Ross Chastain

has Never Led at Bristol but Has Been Pretty Consistent
Austin Dillon

Richmond Speed Unlikely to Carry Over to Bristol
Josh Berry

Might Run Well at Bristol, but Almost Certainly Won't Win to Advance
Justin Haley

Bristol One of Justin Haley's Few Recent Bright Spots
Tarik Skubal

Avoids Serious Injury, Expected to Make Next Start
CFB

Austin Simmons Listed As Game-Time Decision Against Arkansas
CFB

Nico Iamaleava Struggles In Fourth Straight Loss
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

Dealing With a "Tweak"
BUF

Alexandar Georgiev Joins Sabres on One-Year Deal
Corey Perry

Injured During Pre-Camp Skate
Tanner Bibee

Fans 10 in Two-Hit Shutout
CFB

Antonio Williams Out Against Georgia Tech
CFB

CJ Bailey Flashes Again in Win Over Wake Forest
CFB

Jaxson Moi a Game-Time Decision for Tennessee on Saturday
Jean Silva

A Favorite At Noche UFC 3
Diego Lopes

Set For Noche UFC 3 Main Event
Rob Font

Looks For His Third Consecutive Win
David Martinez

Set For Noche UFC 3 Co-Main Event
Rafa Garcia

An Underdog At Noche UFC 3
Jared Gordon

Looks To Win Back-To-Back Fights
Dustin Stoltzfus

Looks To Return To The Win Column
Kelvin Gastelum

In Dire Need Of Victory
Diego Ferreira

Looks To Get Back In The Win Column
Malcolm Brogdon

Heading to Knicks on One-Year Deal
CFB

David Sanders Jr. Won't Play Against Georgia
Landry Shamet

Staying with the Knicks
CFB

Dylan Edwards Slated to Return on Friday
Adam Lowry

Aims for Early-Season Return
CFB

Ryan Williams Expected to Play Against Wisconsin
CFB

Billy Edwards Jr. Unlikely to Play on Saturday
P.J. Washington

Officially Signs Contract Extension
CFB

David Sanders Jr. Questionable to Make Debut Against Georgia
Lauri Markkanen

Big at Both Ends as Finland Books Place in EuroBasket Semis
Luka Dončić

Luka Doncic Notches 39 Points in Losing Effort
NBA

Cam Reddish Expected to Move to Europe
NBA

Trey Lyles Joins Real Madrid
Charles Bassey

Signs Exhibit 10 Deal With Hawks
Sacramento Kings

Terence Davis Waived by Kings
Matthew Knies

Ready for Bigger Role With Maple Leafs
Jack Eichel

Unbothered by Lack of Extension
Sidney Crosby

Not Thinking About Leaving Pittsburgh
SJ

Michael Misa Signs Entry-Level Contract With Sharks
Rutger McGroarty

Nursing an Injury
Cameron Champ

the Ultimate Wild Card at Procore
Cameron Young

Looks to Extend Momentum in Napa
Davis Thompson

Searching for a Spark at Procore
Sahith Theegala

Looking to Reignite Form at Procore
Mackenzie Hughes

Aims for Another Strong Showing at Procore
Luke Clanton

Brings Ball-Striking Upside to Napa
Seamus Power

Looking to Overcome Poor Course History at Procore
Joe Highsmith

Hoping to Find Form in Napa
Kristaps Porzingis

Reportedly Still Not Completely Healthy
Kelly Oubre Jr.

Reportedly on the Trade Block
Andre Drummond

Future in Philadelphia in Doubt
Giannis Antetokounmpo

Helps Greece Reach Semis at EuroBasket
Alperen Sengün

Alperen Sengun Posts Historic Triple-Double

RANKINGS

QB
RB
WR
TE
K
DEF
RANKINGS
C
1B
2B
3B
SS
OF
SP
RP