Top 10 Second Basemen RIGHT NOW

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By popular demand, we’re taking on MLB Network and its infamous “Shredder” and matching up JoeBlogs Top 10 at every position RIGHT NOW against theirs.

So far, we have matched up:

• Top 10 Shortstops

• Top 10 Third Basemen

Today, we’re at second base. The position has always had special meaning for me because, in my brief career as a ballplayer, I was indeed a second baseman. I have often talked about my hero being Duane Kuiper — this is not only because he played second base in Cleveland when that was my grandest dream (it still is!) but because my game was undeniably the South Euclid Little League equivalent of Kuip’s. Like Duane, I didn’t hit homers, and I wasn’t especially fast, but I tended to put bat to ball, and I dived for every grounder in my zip code. My uniform, like Duane’s, was always dirty.

The best kinds of heroes, I think, are the ones who help you see the best version of yourself.

Player I wish I had room for on my list

• Luis García Jr., Washington Nationals

There are too many Luis Garcias in baseball right now. There is the 37-year-old reliever Luis Garcia who ended last year with the Red Sox, and then there’s the Astros starter Luis Garcia, and there’s Detroit minor-leaguer Luis Garcia, who was once a Top 100 prospect, and Texas has a minor-league reliever named Luis Garcia, so does Cleveland, and Milwaukee has a catcher named Luis Garcia in their system, and then there’s our guy in Washington, Luis García Jr..

García Jr. was a highly touted prospect from the start because of his hitting talents; as an 18-year-old, there were at least some people quietly comparing him to another Nationals prospect named Juan Soto. He was called to the big leagues at 19 and barely treaded water for his first four seasons — in 1,245 plate appearances, he posted just 1 win above replacement.

But last year, he began to show something — he doubled his career high in home runs (with 18), more than doubled his career high in stolen bases (with 22), played pretty good defense (according to Statcast), and posted a solid 3 fWAR season. He doesn’t turn 25 until May; I think there’s real promise here.

No. 10

• MLB Network: Gleyber Torres, Detroit Tigers

• Me: Tyler Fitzgerald, San Francisco Giants

Wow, I thought I was pretty high on Gleyber’s chances of having a bounce-back season now that he’s left the Yankees and is playing for Detroit … but Top 10? Really? I’m not quite ready to go there yet. He’s a defensive wreck at second and last year was barely a league-average hitter. I like the idea of Torres having a comeback year and making the Yankees regret letting him go, but Top 10 doesn’t feel right to me

Instead, I went with Tyler Fitzgerald, who as a 26-year-old rookie last year, hit .280 with speed and power in 96 games. He even slugged .500 in the hitter’s dungeon that is Oracle Park. There are two things about Fitzgerald I especially like.

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