2025 Fantasy Baseball Second Base Preview: Ranking the top 12, plus sleepers, breakouts, busts, ADP data, more

Ideally, the top players at every position in Fantasy Baseball are going to give you well-rounded production. What separates the deepest positions like outfield and shortstop from the weaker positions like first base and second base is how quickly the four- or five-category production runs out. 

At second base, it runs out extremely quickly. Ketel Marte won’t steal many bases, but he should be a standout in the other four; Jose Altuve won’t drive in many runs, but he’ll be at least a plus in the other four; Ozzie Albies and Marcus Semien probably won’t help you much in batting average, but you should get solid production everywhere else. After that? Well, we’ve run out of our sure bets, haven’t we?

And that’s the key problem at second base. You can find useful players here at pretty much any point in the draft, especially if you’re looking for batting average or steals. But since the juiced ball era came to a semi-official end in 2022, finding power at second base is increasingly difficult to do. And, because power is so tied to other measures of run production, finding runs and RBI at second base is tough, too. 

That’s the real, literal weakness of the position. In 2024, only four players who primarily played second base had even four homers; only three scored 90 runs, and only two drove in even 80 runs. Compare that to steals, where you had five 30-steal 2B and 10 with at least 20. And even at batting average, we had four hit at least .280 (min. 400 PA), seven who hit at least .270, and 12 who hit at least .260. 

Second base is, outside of the top tier especially, a position of specialists. You probably won’t find the centerpiece of your lineup here, but you might find some nice complementary pieces to fill in the gaps in your roster. And it’s a position with surprising depth, too, with plenty of options worth considering (and maybe even getting excited about!) in the 18-24 range of the rankings. 

Who you pick at second base may not determine the fate of your season, but with the right approach, it could help put you over the top.

One thing to note before we get into the meat of this position preview piece, and it could be another reason to be optimistic about the state of second base: We could get a ton of high-end players gaining 2B eligibility early in the season. Jazz Chisholm sounds like he’s going back to second base for the Yankees, for example, and he would be right there with Ketel Marte as the top player at second base … unless Mookie Betts gains eligibility there. The Dodgers have said they plan on having him start at shortstop, but with the signing of Hyeseong Kim, the best alignment might be Kim at short and Betts at second; they could also play Tommy Edman at shortstop if Andy Pages or James Outman takes the center field job in Spring Training. 

Additionally, Matt McLain seems likely to return to second base after missing all of last season for the Reds amid shoulder and rib injuries. There’s also potentially an outside chance Cubs top prospect Matt Shaw could gain 2B eligibility if Nico Hoerner has to miss time to open the season while recovering from elbow surgery, and there’s even some talk of Isaac Paredes moving to second base if Alex Bregman re-signs with the Astros. 

Which is to say, this position could look a whole lot better about five games into the season than it currently does. I’m not sure that should dramatically change your perception of the position, but you could choose to look at it with a rosier tint.  

1. Kristian Campbell, 2B, Red Sox