Productive shortstops difficult to find on fantasy diamond
Not long ago, fantasy owners were bemoaning the sorry state of the catcher pool. But Evan Gattis finally is hitting home runs in bunches for the Houston Astros, and some reinforcements are on the way in the form of rookie callups Blake Swihart of the Boston Red Sox and Austin Hedges of the San Diego Padres.
Now the most endangered species in fantasy baseball might be a decent shortstop. The ranks took a major hit Monday when the Boston Red Sox’s Hanley Ramirez injured his shoulder running into an outfield wall trying to make a catch.
The Red Sox moved Ramirez to left field after they signed him during the offseason because he had turned into a defensive liability at short. As it turns out, he’s a liability in left field, too, ranking last among left fielders in defensive runs saved, according to Baseball Info Solutions.
But Ramirez has made up for those deficiencies on offense. He ranks second in the majors in home runs with 10 and fifth in RBI with 22.
Ramirez is officially day-today, but he could return to the lineup this week if his shoulder improves.
Allen Craig started in left field Tuesday and could be in line for the biggest boost in playing time while Ramirez is out. Brock Holt and Daniel Nava also can play either corner outfield spot. And if a stint on the disabled list is necessary for Ramirez, it could be the catalyst for bringing Rusney Castillo back from the minors.
No matter how the Red Sox fill the void, they won’t be giving ex- tra at-bats to shortstops, so fantasy owners in traditional leagues will look to their bench or the waiver wire for a replacement.
Are there any decent ones left? Over the last week, the San Francisco Giants’ Brandon Crawford is hitting .316 with two homers and five RBI. And he’s getting on base at a .458 clip. Crawford is known more for his defense, but this season he’s putting up surprisingly good numbers on offense.