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Way Too Early Rankings – Second Base

Fantasy Baseball
Dave Funnell
Author: Dave Funnell
9 min.read
Ketel Marte Tiered Second Base Rankings

Welcome to the Way Too Early Rankings – Second Base Edition for November 2025. Here, I will go over my Top 10 at the first base position, reviewing what we’ve seen this past season, what we’re looking for this offseason, and what we can expect in 2026. I will be doing this for every position, so get ready for the ride.

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Past rankings:

Catcher  |  First Base  |  Second Base  |  Third Base  |  Shortstop  |  Outfield Part 1  |  Outfield Part 2  |  Utility  |  Starting Pitcher Part 1  |  Starting Pitcher Part 2  |  Closers  |

Way Too Early Second Base Rankings

1. Ketel Marte – Arizona Diamondbacks

Putting Ketel Marte first overall was a toss-up, as there is no guarantee that he will be the best second baseman in baseball ever again. First, the good: he finished the season with 28 home runs. While this was a step backward from his 2024 breakout, the total is still the third-highest of his career. He also lowered his strikeout rate by a significant margin and has the underlying hard hit stats to back up his .283 batting average.

However, some red flags go beyond his age-32 profile. He ran less this year, which, unfortunately, could be a prelude to a future with a handful of steals yet again. Secondly, the injuries are starting to pile up, as he has missed 72 games over the last two years due to ailments all over his body. Finally, behind the scenes, there were some murmurs about his ability to be a good teammate, suggesting that his mental state may not be fully there as a leader and a warrior. All of this is to say that buyer beware of drafting Ketel Marte, as there is a chance for a fallout here, though he is talented enough to be as good as he was in 2025.

2. Jazz Chisholm Jr. – New York Yankees

Call me jaded, call me biased. However, when there is a tie in how to evaluate two players, I usually defer to the injury history. And while Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s injuries have tapered down a bit, I just didn’t feel comfortable enough to put him first overall. The stolen base upside here is elite, as he will likely record 30+ steals again next season, but the strikeout rate is too high for me to believe that a batting average boost is happening anytime soon. That said, Chisholm is worth drafting to ensure that you have one of the best at his position, as later in the rankings, reliability becomes a liability.

3. Brice Turang – Milwaukee Brewers

I’m not sure if this is a compliment to Turang or an insult to all second basemen, but here goes: Brice Turang might finish the 2026 season as baseball’s best second baseman. His offseason work last year to change his swing and presence at the plate was noticeable right from the get-go. He added bat speed, pulled the ball more, and the results were brilliant, finishing the season with 18 home runs and 24 stolen bases.

As he enters his prime, he has a chance to build on this past season’s success and become a 20/20 hitter with 25/35 upside. That alone could make him the best second baseman in baseball.

4. Nico Hoerner – Chicago Cubs

This is where the list starts to drop off despite how good Nico Hoerner was in 2025. Sure, he didn’t wow you with his power, as his seven home runs hit do very little in the long run for why he is drafted.

What he does do well is get on base and run, providing fantasy rosters with a very solid batting average and an abundance of steals. It’s unclear how many more seasons he has to run wild on the basepaths, but while he does, he is someone to roster, especially in leagues where you’ve drafted power at the beginning of your drafts.

5. Jose Altuve – Houston Astros

It’s hard to imagine Jose Altuve providing the same solid production at the plate for many more years, as he will be 36 years old in May. Perhaps we saw a glimpse of what is to come, as his 62.5% stolen base success rate was his lowest in years. If he is not going to steal more than 10 bases, then his at-bats will need to provide more power, and that’s not something that he is known for doing. It feels like when Father Time comes calling, his output will be a dramatic drop off. His 2026 season may be the last where he’s able to be a valuable second baseman.

6. Ozzie Albies – Atlanta Braves

It’s hard to recommend someone whose 2025 first half was about as disastrous as one could imagine for a player. In fact, by the middle of August, the 28-year-old was batting .221 with nine home runs, and looked droppable in most redraft leagues.

He wound up hitting .291 over his final 41 games, looking every bit the part of his prior self, and hitting seven more home runs along the way. While some may attribute this to unfortunate timing and a possible decline, it was revealed after the season that Albies was playing through the pain of a fractured wrist that he suffered the year prior. He wound up not getting offseason surgery then, and one has to wonder if both he and the team made the right choice. He did suffer from a broken hamate bone to end the season, but the Braves picked up his $7 million option, indicating some faith in him for 2026.

Depending on the price, there is room here for growth and for this to be a league-winning pick. When healthy, he has given us four seasons with at least 24 home runs hit.

7. Brandon Lowe – Tampa Bay Rays

The ranking here of Brandon Lowe in seventh seems a bit low (pun somewhat intended), but it comes with what I think is some sound reasoning. First, he strikes out a lot (26.9%) and doesn’t walk a lot (6.9%), but that’s not near the negative buzz here.

He will be 32 next July, and is on the wrong side of 30, all while carrying the baggage of an extremely risky injury profile. He has missed time over the years with injuries to his back, ankle, oblique, and more. As such, he has played in at least 134 games just twice over his eight-year career. The final piece is that he will be returning to Tropicana Field, which, for all intents and purposes, is a pitcher’s ballpark.

He’s succeeded before, but the weather and dimensions of George M. Steibrenner Field helped turn what would be doubles most years into home runs. Over his career, he’s a .244 hitter with 57 home runs in 310 games played in Tropicana Field. There’s a chance he takes a massive step backward next year, hence my hesitation to rank him higher here.

8. Gleyber Torres – Detroit Tigers

Gleyber Torres bet on himself last offseason when he signed a one-year deal with the Tigers. For the first half of the season, he was worth every penny, slashing .281/.387/.425, with nine home runs over 84 games played. Then, at some point in July, he injured himself and played through the pain, hitting just .223/.320/.339, with seven home runs over his final 61 games.

He had offseason sports hernia surgery and is expected to be ready for Spring Training, but this helps explain the massive shift in production. What makes this even more impressive is his success at home at Comerica Park, making his breakout more believable. He is a nice buy-low option here, and age 29 next year, could be in line for his best season in years….if healthy.

9. Jackson Holliday – Baltimore Orioles

The overall stat line for Jackson Holliday is a bit disappointing, but that could be due to the high expectations we as a fantasy community have for one of the game’s best prospects. Still, when you consider what he has done and in what timeframe, it feels like he is on an upward trajectory here.

As of August 1, he was on a 22/18 pace for the year, and, for whatever reason, just stopped playing at that level. Perhaps it was fatigue, or something undisclosed, but he was not the same hitter over the final two months. However, if it was the fatigue of playing through an entire 162-game season, then that’s fixable as he becomes accustomed to the gruelling schedule. It’s important to note that he will be 22 years old next year and has quite a minor league career on his resume. He is talented enough to take a step forward, and a 20/20 is possible.

10. Luke Keaschall – Minnesota Twins

Watching Luke Keaschall last season was an absolute joy. Everything that he did at the plate worked, and in his limited time, he managed 14 home runs and four steals over 182 at-bats. His minor league career suggests that this wasn’t a fluke, and that he’s bound for more success in the future. The problem here is that his team, the Twins, is in the midst of a massive rebuild, so he will have minimal support in the lineup. However, he will get a chance to play, and as long as he can stay healthy, he should be someone to target in drafts. Second base is one of the weakest positions for meaningful depth, but Keaschall seems like someone worth gambling on.

Quick Hits

As of this writing, Jorge Polanco is a free agent, and his 2026 destination is unclear. Still, he turned things around in 2025, and where he plays next will help determine his value… Marcus Semien suffered his first major injury in almost 10 years, eliminating his “Iron-Man” status. It was also an incredibly down year for the usually reliable second baseman, and at age 35, his best days might be behind him after a lackluster season. As long as he can stay on the field, he has some value for those who didn’t draft a second baseman earlier in drafts… I personally love Xavier Edwards, but his appeal is mainly for points leagues. His 60-steal projection was nowhere near completed, and his batting average dipped by 40 points. There’s still a chance for a revival here, as he is still a very good hitter at the plate, but his overall numbers lack oomph… Another Marlin in Otto Lopez had a mini-breakout season, and his expected stats suggest that there’s more to come in 2026… Ceddanne Rafaela saw the writing on the wall of being expendable and painted over it with his own color. He finished with career highs all across the board and a level of versatility that will make him hard to replace. That said, a look under the hood makes it improbable for him to replicate last year’s feats.

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Dave Funnell
Dave Funnell
Dave has been playing fantasy baseball for many years and plans on doing so for many more.

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