Top Shortstops in Major League Baseball – Part 1
A quality defence has become a top priority in the game of baseball and hence, the position of shortstop is increasingly getting significant. The shortstop is strategically placed between second and third base for the simple reason that most batters in baseball
are right-handed and have a tendency to pull the ball more than slicing it to the right side.
The shortstop also has the most workload on the field as they have to cover second base whenever a double play situation arises. Usually, fielders with immense arm strength are given priority for the vital shortstop position but as the game has increasingly
gained pace with more hits required from every batter, players with good abilities become a bonus at shortstop.
Ozzie Smith has been the best shortstop in the history of baseball with 13 Gold Glove Awards to his name during his illustrious career followed by Omar Vizquel who bagged 11 Gold Glove Awards in his career. In modern day baseball, Derek Jeter is the most
renowned shortstop and is ranked sixth in the all-time list with five Gold Glove Awards to his credit thus far. Jeter has been phenomenal throughout his career and reminded of his elegance yet again this season when he completed 3000 career-hits becoming the
first New York Yankees’ player to do so.
Jeter joined the list of the 28 elite players to have achieved this feat and became one of the 14 players to have achieved it with one team only. However, his fitness has come into question in recent times as he is now on the disabled list for the second
time this season.
Most shortstops are moved to either second or third base when injury scare increases or when their fielding range diminishes. Alex Rodriguez, the Yankees’ star player, is one example who was moved to third base. He was excellent at shortstop and has been
equally good at third base. Rodriguez, commonly known as A-Rod, is increasingly getting popular as one of the best players ever in baseball and is currently the highest paid player in MLB.
In the current season, Troy Tulowitzki of Colorado Rockies is rated as the best shortstop on the circuit. His fielding percentage of .992 is superior to any other player in MLB and he has committed the least number of errors (4) this season. Troy’s 325 assists
are the second-best this season, eight behind Alex Gonzalez of Atlanta Braves who sits comfortably at 333.
Keeping up with the pace of the game, Tulowitzki has not let his batting form deteriorate. The right-handed batter has scored 55 runs this season and has produced 75 RBIs thus far which is no small achievement. 21 of his 55 runs have come as home-runs and
his 120 hits in the season so far place him in a position to take this tally close to 200.
Troy’s batting average and slugging percentage of .291 and .521 respectively have impressed almost everyone. He is just 26 and with age on his side, the youngster has all the time to do wonders in the game. His career statistics have been impressive as well.
Tulowitzki is just one good season away from 1000 career-hits and 500 career-runs which will be a major accomplishment.
It will be interesting to see how long Tulowitzki stays with the Rockies as major teams would not hesitate in spending a hefty amount for the talented shortstop.
Continued in Part 2
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
Tags: