Fantasy Baseball Shortstops Preview: 2025 rankings, player profiles, stats, projections, outlooks - chof 360 news

1. Bobby Witt Jr.

KC - SS

Bats: R

Age: 24

Mixed 5x5: $55, AL 5x5: $50

2024: SS:160

Mixed 2026: $53, 2027: $50

Outlook: There really isn’t much that needs to be said about Witt. Aside from the obvious, that is. He’s already a five-category superstar and in the conversation with Shohei Ohtani for the top-overall pick in fantasy drafts. He has gone 30/30 in each of the last two seasons and did so this time while hitting a blistering .332 and eclipsing 100 in both runs and RBI. He also cut his strikeout rate and improved his walk rate while hitting the ball harder and farther on a consistent basis. There’s really no good reason to expect anything different in 2025 and it’s also possible that we haven’t seen his ceiling yet, which is crazy given how good his 2024 season was. If you’re lucky enough to land one of the top two picks in your draft, don’t overthink it.

2. Elly De La Cruz

CIN - SS

Bats: B

Age: 23

Mixed 5x5: $44, NL 5x5: $40

2024: SS:160

Mixed 2026: $43, 2027: $41

Outlook: De La Cruz had a fantastic fantasy season in 2024, driven by 67 stolen bases and 25 home runs. He posted elite quality of contact with a 12.5% barrel rate and 91 mph average exit velocity, so there is no denying his raw skills. However, the early gains we saw in plate discipline didn’t hold up throughout the season. While Elly swung less overall and chased less outside of the zone, his whiff rate went up in 2024 and his contact rates worsened. His .220 xBA did not support his .261 average, and there is some concern that he struggles when hitting right-handed. Against lefties in 2024, Elly hit just .224 with a .661 OPS, compared to .275 with a .876 OPS against right-handed pitchers. The Reds aren’t going to platoon him, but his split issues and poor contact rates make him a little bit of a risk considering how early you need to draft him.

3. Gunnar Henderson

BAL - SS

Bats: L

Age: 23

Mixed 5x5: $39, AL 5x5: $38

2024: SS:157

Mixed 2026: $39, 2027: $38

Outlook: Henderson hit his stride in the second half of the 2023 season and carried that into 2024. He seemed to take a more selective approach last season which led to increases in contact rate, hard contact rate, barrel rate, and average exit velocity. He’s one of the few players who contributes meaningfully in all five categories and with Baltimore planning to move the left field fences back in a little bit in 2025, Henderson’s power production should remain. He heads into 2025 as one of the safer picks in fantasy baseball and a clear top-five selection.

4. Francisco Lindor

NYM - SS

Bats: B

Age: 31

Mixed 5x5: $30, NL 5x5: $29

2024: SS:151

Mixed 2026: $26, 2027: $21

Outlook: Lindor washed away a .195/.268/.362 slash line through May 17 last year – the day before he was installed as the Mets’ leadoff hitter – to finish the season second in National League MVP voting behind Shohei Ohtani. It’s a marvel he was still able to turn in the same gaudy stat line we’ve grown used to despite that awful start. He would’ve had his second straight 30-30 season too if not for a late season back injury that knocked him out of play for two weeks. Most impressively, his 137 wRC+ was the highest mark of his entire career. Maybe that will finally end the rallying cry of his few detractors that he “had his best years with Cleveland.” Simply put, Lindor is one of the most stable players in real-life baseball and fantasy alike. He strives to play 162 games every year, will hit atop one of baseball’s best lineups (likely directly ahead of Juan Soto), and should wind up right around both 30 home runs and stolen bases. His ceiling and the floor are remarkably close together for a player that’s a borderline first-round pick.

5. Mookie Betts

LAD - SS

Bats: R

Age: 32

Mixed 5x5: $26, NL 5x5: $26

2024: SS:65 RF:43 2B:18

Mixed 2026: $23, 2027: $19

Outlook: Betts had another productive season at the plate last year despite missing eight weeks due to a fractured left hand in June, batting .289 while slugging 19 homers with 16 steals, 75 runs scored, and 75 RBI across 516 plate appearances. Perhaps influenced by the injury, Betts produced his lowest hard-hit and barrel rates since 2017 at 39.3 percent and six percent, respectively. But the numbers were already seeing a dip from previous seasons before landing on the injured list. While the career-high 39 home runs he hit in 2023 may not be repeatable, the 32-year-old star has one of the safest floors in fantasy hitting behind Shohei Ohtani in one of the best lineups in baseball. Betts makes for an excellent building block of five-category production in the first round, regardless of format, and now comes with shortstop eligibility.

6. Oneil Cruz

PIT - SS

Bats: L

Age: 26

Mixed 5x5: $25, NL 5x5: $26

2024: SS:112 CF:23

Mixed 2026: $28, 2027: $30

Outlook: We finally got a healthy season from Cruz last year, and it was great. Yes, there are some swing-and-miss concerns with Cruz posting a 15.7 percent swinging strike rate and 66 percent contact rate overall. However, he also crushes the ball with a 99th-percentile average exit velocity and a 15.2 percent barrel rate. That should always lead to better power numbers and batting average than his contact profile would suggest. It’s also interesting that Cruz lowered his fly ball rate from 37 percent in the first half to 30 percent in the second half and saw his batting average rise from .246 to .277. Given his speed and hard-hit rates, perhaps lowering the fly ball rate will help prop his average up while keeping his power ceiling to around 20 homers. Regardless, Cruz contributes in all five categories and has dual position eligibility, so he’s a great pick going around the fourth round in fantasy leagues.

7. Trea Turner

PHI - SS

Bats: R

Age: 31

Mixed 5x5: $25, NL 5x5: $26

2024: SS:118

Mixed 2026: $22, 2027: $18

Outlook: Is Turner beginning to… decline? While still a borderline second round pick, he’s not doing the same damage at the plate he was a few years ago. He hasn’t hit a ball over 112 MPH since 2022 and has a .798 OPS over the past three seasons. That was a .900 OPS in the three seasons prior. Moreover, his defense has graded out as well below-average in back-to-back years, hinting at a decline in his athleticism. Another scary sign, he’s earned a negative run value against fastballs in each of the last two seasons. These could all be telltale indicators that a player is feeling the negative effects of aging. He’s still a good bet for power, speed, and plenty of counting stats in a strong Phillies’ lineup, but likely without the superstar upside we’ve come to know from him.

8. CJ Abrams

WSH - SS

Bats: L

Age: 24

Mixed 5x5: $22, NL 5x5: $21

2024: SS:136

Mixed 2026: $22, 2027: $21

Outlook: It felt like everything had finally clicked for Abrams through the first half of last season. He had 15 homers, 15 stolen bases, an .831 OPS, and was selected to his first All-Star team. Then, he crashed out. First on the field, where he slashed .202/.260/.326 over his final 49 games. Next, off the field, when the Nationals removed him from their roster in September after it was reported he’d stayed out all night at a casino before a game. That’s egregiously irresponsible for a young player who had been slumping for months. It’s worse when the team had called up multiple prized prospects over the course of the season and likely hoped Abrams would begin to grow into a leader. Alas, he’s still just 24 years old and has averaged 17 home runs and 36 stolen bases over his career per 162 games. Few players in the league offer that same upside of power and speed, but he obviously has some work to do.

9. Corey Seager

TEX - SS

Bats: L

Age: 30

Mixed 5x5: $15, AL 5x5: $19

2024: SS:113

Mixed 2026: $13, 2027: $10

Outlook: Here’s an oversimplification: Seager remains a certifiable four-category fantasy stalwart as one of the true 30-homer locks at an absolutely loaded shortstop position group, when fully healthy. He’s becoming a bit more brittle as he enters his early 30s and there are some lingering physical issues to monitor in spring training as he comes back from offseason sports hernia surgery. His batting averages have fluctuated in recent years, mainly due to batted ball luck, but he’s eclipsed 30 homers in three consecutive years since arriving in the Lone Star State. Assuming he can avoid missing extensive time due to some lingering physical issues that have impacted his on-field performance at times, Seager remains one of the most impactful shortstops in the fantasy landscape until further notice.

10. Bo Bichette

TOR - SS

Bats: R

Age: 26

Mixed 5x5: $13, AL 5x5: $18

2024: SS:81

Mixed 2026: $13, 2027: $12

Outlook: Bichette was another Blue Jays hitter who had a poor 2024 season and battled injuries that limited him to 81 games. While some of his regression can be attributed to those injuries, pitchers are also taking advantage of Bichette’s confidence in his contact abilities. In 2024, pitchers attacked Bichette low and away more than before and threw almost 25 percent of all pitches to him in the “chase” zone off the plate. Bichette swung at those pitches far more than the average MLB hitter, which explains why his pull rate remains low and his barrel rate continues to plummet. Until Bichette changes his approach, it’s hard to see him getting back to his 20 home run production, but his average should tick back up if he’s fully healthy in 2025. Given that steals haven’t really been a part of his game since 2021, Bichette may be more of a middle-infield target in 12-team leagues now.

11. Anthony Volpe

NYY - SS

Bats: R

Age: 23

Mixed 5x5: $10, AL 5x5: $16

2024: SS:160

Mixed 2026: $12, 2027: $13

Outlook: Last year was not quite the sophomore season from Volpe that the Yankees were hoping for. The 23-year-old altered his pull-heavy, power approach from 2023 which allowed him to cut his strikeout rate significantly and make more contact overall. However, he also gave up most of his power to do that. His barrel rate fell to 3.1 percent and his average exit velocity was just 87 mph, which is under the 30th percentile in baseball. His all-fields, groundball approach should have led to a batting average boost, but he still hit just .243 and the Yankees moved him out of the leadoff spot. Considering Volpe never hit for high averages in the minors, we may be looking at a .250 hitter with 15+ home run power who will hit at the bottom of the lineup. That makes him more of a middle-infielder option because he will still play every day and offers 30-steal upside.

12. Ezequiel Tovar

COL - SS

Bats: R

Age: 23

Mixed 5x5: $8, NL 5x5: $13

2024: SS:157

Mixed 2026: $10, 2027: $11

Outlook: Tovar enjoyed a breakout in his second full MLB season last year, but he has a complicated profile. He’s an exceptionally aggressive hitter with the highest swing rate in baseball, the second-highest chase rate, and the highest swinging strike rate of any hitter. That led to the ninth-lowest contact rate in all of baseball. None of that is overly appealing. However, some hitters with worse contact rates are Elly De La Cruz, Oneil Cruz, and Adolis García, so it’s not reason enough to avoid Tovar. He hits the ball hard with an all-fields approach that plays well in Coors Field and should prop up his batting average more than the approach suggests. He hit 10 percent more fly balls in 2024 which led to the power increase that feels mostly earned. Tovar will have some cold stretches and the batting average will likely regress, but he can contribute in five categories which makes him useful in all league types.