Who's No. 1? Ranking the best at RP, SS

January 13, 2018

MLB Network's countdown of baseball's best players at each position came to a conclusion on Saturday night, with the final installment of the "Top 10 Right Now!" series featuring the game's top relief pitchers and shortstops.
The five-week program hosted by Brian Kenny used rankings based on player performance over the last two seasons, a number of offensive and defensive metrics, both advanced data and traditional numbers and analysis by the MLB Network research team.
The series featured appearances from MLB Network on-air personalities and former Major Leaguers Eric Byrnes, Cliff Floyd, Mike Lowell, Dan Plesac, Harold Reynolds, Ron Darling, Jim Thome and Joe Girardi, as well as roundtable discussions with Kenny, president of SABR Vince Gennaro, the Ringer's Ben Lindbergh and MLB.com analyst Mike Petriello. Each episode also featured a fan-generated Top 10 Right Now list compiled via voting on MLB Network's Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages using #Top10RightNow.
• A look back: MLB Network's Top 10 at every position for 2018
Below is a breakdown of this year's rankings results:
Top 10 relief pitchers right now
Craig Kimbrel doesn't currently have a team, but that doesn't matter for the purposes of these rankings given his dominant performance over the last two years. But if Josh Hader, Edwin Díaz and Blake Treinen can replicate their 2018 performances, they will challenge for the top spot a year from now.

Craig Kimbrel
Sean Doolittle
Josh Hader
Edwin Díaz
Blake Treinen
Felipe Vázquez
Chad Green
Aroldis Chapman
José Leclerc
Brandon Morrow
Video: Craig Kimbrel is the No. 1 relief pitcher right now
Top 10 shortstops right now
He might miss Opening Day, but Francisco Lindor's remarkable consistency keeps him at the top of this list, with NL MVP runner-up Javier Báez closing fast.
1. Francisco Lindor
Javier Báez
Trevor Story
Manny Machado
Andrelton Simmons
Carlos Correa
Corey Seager
Paul DeJong
Jean Segura
Didi Gregorius

Top 10 first basemen right now
Paul Goldschmidt is a human metronome: Over the last four seasons he has played in at least 155 games while batting a combined .310/.410/.538 with an average of 32 homers and finishing in the top 11 in NL MVP voting each year. He'll get a chance to build on a potential Hall of Fame resume in St. Louis this year.
1. Paul Goldschmidt

Freddie Freeman
Joey Votto
Max Muncy
Anthony Rizzo
Matt Olson
Justin Smoak
Jesús Aguilar
Rhys Hoskins
José Abreu

Top 10 starting pitchers right now
While Jacob deGrom had the best season of any pitcher in 2018 en route to winning the National League Cy Young Award, Max Scherzer and Chris Sale still stand out in terms of consistent dominance year after year.
1. Max Scherzer

Chris Sale
Jacob deGrom
Corey Kluber
Justin Verlander
Aaron Nola
Clayton Kershaw
Luis Severino
Carlos Carrasco
Blake Snell

Top 10 left fielders right now
Some might argue that J.D. Martinez is more of a designated hitter, but he did play 57 games in the outfield last year, and more than half of them came in left. And over the last two years he has hit an insane .319/.391/.655, with an average of 44 homers per year.
1. J.D. Martinez

Giancarlo Stanton
Ronald Acuña Jr.
Tommy Pham
Justin Upton
Juan Soto
Marcell Ozuna
Michael Conforto
Khris Davis
David Peralta

Top 10 center fielders right now
There is obviously no doubt about No. 1, but Cody Bellinger over Lorenzo Cain could spark some debate. But remember, the rankings are based on the last two seasons, and Bellinger's 2017 campaign (39 homers, .933 OPS, NL Rookie of the Year) was pretty special.

Mike Trout
Cody Bellinger
Lorenzo Cain
Aaron Hicks
George Springer
Charlie Blackmon
A.J. Pollock
Starling Marte
Harrison Bader
Kevin Kiermaier

Top 10 right fielders right now
We know what you are thinking, Aaron Judge over Mookie Betts, after the season Betts just had?
But consider this: These lists are dictated by The Shredder, MLB Network's player rating formula, which looks back at the last two seasons and weights them evenly. Over the past two years ….
Judge: .282/.409/.584, 79 homers, 15 steals, 162 wRC+
Betts: .301/.388/.541, 56 homers, 56 steals, 143 wRC+
And while Betts is a stud on defense, Judge also rates highly in the outfield, with the third-most Defensive Runs Saved among right fielders in the last two years, which allowed him to hold Betts off for the top spot.

Aaron Judge
Mookie Betts
Christian Yelich
Mitch Haniger
Bryce Harper
Brandon Nimmo
Yasiel Puig
Andrew McCutchen
Nicholas Castellanos
Stephen Piscotty

Top 10 catchers right now
There is a strong argument that J.T. Realmuto is the best catcher in the game right now, but Buster Posey still gets the edge, buoyed by a strong 2017 campaign that is still weighted heavily. Given recent trends, there is a very good chance that this is Posey's last year at the top.

Buster Posey
J.T. Realmuto
Yasmani Grandal
Gary Sánchez
Willson Contreras
Yadier Molina
Kurt Suzuki
Wilson Ramos
Mike Zunino
Salvador Perez

Top 10 second basemen right now
This position is going through a bit of a transition, with a bunch of youngsters entering the mix, though veterans such as José Altuve, Jed Lowrie and Robinson Canó are still holding strong.
Video: Analytics panel on Top 10 second basemen right now
1. José Altuve

Jed Lowrie
Whit Merrifield
Robinson Canó
Chris Taylor
Scooter Gennett
Joey Wendle
Gleyber Torres
Ben Zobrist
DJ LeMahieu

Top 10 third basemen right now
This might be the most stacked position in baseball right now, and you can argue for about six different guys at No. 1.
1. Jose Ramirez

Justin Turner
Nolan Arenado
Anthony Rendon
Alex Bregman
Matt Carpenter
Matt Chapman
Kris Bryant
Josh Donaldson
Eugenio Suárez

Petriello's list of third basemen is different at the top

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Who's No. 1? Ranking the best at RP, SS