The Re-Evaluation: Shortstop
A fresh look at the shortstop position for 2026 fantasy leagues
One of the studliest positions in the fantasy game these days, but there’s not a ton of turnover. We’ll head right back down the ADP board from the pre-season and inject some newcomers and breakouts in the middle somewhere.
ADP 1-100
Bobby Witt Jr.
Elly De La Cruz
Gunnar Henderson
Francisco Lindor
Trea Turner
Zach Neto
Mookie Betts
CJ Abrams
Geraldo Perdomo
Bo Bichette
BOBBY WITT JR.
Doing his thing after a slow starter power-wise. .295/.360/.493 with nine bombs and 16 steals.
Some dudes just earn the #1 spot no matter what they’re doing in the first two months of the season. And Witt is in that category.
ELLY DE LA CRUZ
The Reds have been hot and cold this year. But Elly has a .284/.349/.518 line with 12 homers and nine steals.
We should point out that his K% is back up to 29% this year and his stolen base attempt rate is at a career low 24%. The bigger problem for the stolen base total is the 64% success rate. That’s probably random. But I have to point out the downtrend in his steals.
That’s like a 30-steal pace, which would be the lowest total of his career. If you thought you were getting a perennial 60-steal guy a couple of years ago; that’s just not how these things work. Guys that can do other things besides steal bags tend to really cool down on that front as they age, and that’s what we’re seeing from Elly.
But a career-best 5% HR% and continued growth in the ability to lift the ball help. He’s right up there near the tippy-top of the list.
GUNNAR HENDERSON
He seems to be getting right with three homers lately. He has 13 of those on the year with six steals on a 20% attempt rate.
So he could really start going nuts if the .222 AVG and .274 OBP get back toward his career averages. A .257 BABIP and 27.8% K% aren’t helping matters, but his 85% Zone Contact% makes me think he can continue to pull that K% down. He hits the ball hard, he just hasn’t had the angles going. Too many strikeouts, too many ground balls, but the HR + SB upside is up there with the elite guys in the league if he can figure some of that stuff out.