Semien and Altuve atop 2B fantasy rankings

It’s that time of year: time to make your fantasy baseball picks for the upcoming season. When it comes to second basemen, which players are your best options as we edge closer to Opening Day and you set up your fantasy roster?

Here’s a breakdown for you to consider as you mull over your selections. And be sure to check out MLB.com's overall fantasy rankings for 2023.

Tier 1: Marcus Semien, Jose Altuve, Ozzie Albies, Jazz Chisholm Jr.

Semien was second in home runs (26), RBIs (83), runs scored (101) and steals (25) among players at the keystone position last year, making him a strong early-round selection. And if you asked the slugging second baseman, who smashed 45 homers in 2021, he’d probably tell you last year’s performance was far from his best.

Altuve produced the most WAR of any second baseman last season, which was his best since his American League MVP performance in 2017. He led all second basemen in homers (28) and runs scored (103), and he also had 39 doubles. There’s no reason to think he won’t have another excellent season in '23, providing fantasy value that meets or exceeds expectations.

Albies entered the 2022 season coming off a year in which he set career highs in homers (30), RBIs (106) and steals (20). But a broken foot and a broken finger sidelined him for most of the ’23 campaign, and when he was on the field, he wasn’t as productive, hitting .247/.294/.409 with eight homers in 64 games. A healthy Albies, who just turned 26, could mean another big year at the plate.

Chisholm, who just turned 25, was also hurt for much of last season, but he remains a rising star for whom the best is likely yet to come. In 60 games last year, he hit .254/.325/.535 with 14 homers and 12 steals. He was off to a great start, but unfortunately, a stress fracture in his back derailed his season. If he picks up where he left off, watch out. The Marlins plan on playing him in center field this season, but he still retains his fantasy eligibility at second base.

Tier 2: Tommy Edman, Andrés Giménez, Gleyber Torres

Edman enjoyed a breakout season in 2022, posting a .725 OPS with 13 home runs and 32 steals. He also had 35 other extra-base hits -- 31 doubles and four triples. Hitting mostly out of the leadoff position for the Cardinals last year, it certainly doesn’t hurt to have the reigning NL MVP Paul Goldschmidt and third-place finisher Nolan Arenado hitting behind him.

Another breakout second baseman, Giménez, put himself on the map and garnered himself a spot in our second tier with a season for which he was selected an All-Star, won a Gold Glove Award and finished sixth in AL MVP Award voting. He had an .837 OPS with 17 homers and 20 steals to help the Guardians win the AL Central, and he’s still only 24 years old -- another candidate for the “best is yet to come” club.

Following a down year at the plate in 2021, Torres bounced back for the Yankees last season, posting a .761 OPS with 24 homers and 76 RBIs. It wasn’t his best offensive campaign -- that came in 2019, when he belted 38 homers for New York -- but there’s power in that bat, and if it’s back with a vengeance in ’23, it’ll mean nice dividends for fantasy owners.

Tier 3: Jorge Polanco, Brandon Lowe, Thairo Estrada, Whit Merrifield, Jonathan India, Ketel Marte, Jeff McNeil, Vaughn Grissom, Jake Cronenworth

Polanco missed the final month of last season with a knee injury, and overall, his offensive production declined over 2021, when he hit a career-high 33 homers for the Twins. But the fact that he’s only a year removed from those 33 homers gives hope that he can return to that type of slugging again in ’23.

Similarly, Lowe was limited to 65 games by injury last year, and he had a down year at the plate when he was in the lineup. But he’s also just a year removed from a 39-homer, 99-RBI campaign for the Rays in 2021.

Last year represented Estrada’s first full big-league season, and he turned in a solid performance offensively, posting a .722 OPS with 14 homers and 21 steals. Merrifield is toward the opposite end of the age curve, entering his age-34 campaign in 2023, but he showed signs after a trade to the Blue Jays in August that he still might have something left in the tank offensively, giving Toronto a .769 OPS with five homers in 44 games.

India will hope 2023 is kinder to him than ’22 was, and more like something resembling his ’21 National League Rookie of the Year campaign. Last year, he was limited to 103 games due to injury and was a below-average hitter. He’ll look to prove that was just a sophomore slump. Marte, meanwhile, would also like to return to his ’21 form, though he’d like to play a full season this year as opposed to his 90 games two years ago. He’s alternated strong offensive performances with mediocre ones the past four seasons.

McNeil didn’t show the power he did from his first All-Star season in 2019, when he hit 23 homers and slugged .535. But he did win the NL (and overall) batting crown by hitting .326 last season, accumulating 174 hits, 39 of which were doubles.

Is Grissom the answer at shortstop for the Braves after the departure of Dansby Swanson? One thing is certain: he showed promise at the plate after making his MLB debut last August and picking up 41 hits in 41 games, including six doubles and five homers.

Cronenworth delivered another solid season at the plate for the Padres in 2022, though it wasn’t as good as his production the prior season, when he had 61 extra-base hits. He’d like to get that batting average back up into the .270s-.280s after hitting .239 last year. He did, however, drive in a career-high 88 runs in ’22.