The infield is arguably the most important set of players on the team. They need to be able to handle practically every ground ball possible and shift when needed to. The best defenders in baseball often are infielders and the most prolific players to ever play this game are also often infielders.? Many teams have stacked infields. Let’s take a quick peek and see just which team has the most impressive infield. ??
Colorado Rockies:
Nolan Arenado has been one of the most electrifying players in baseball for the better chunk of the last decade. This year has been no different. He has a .318 average, 41 homers, 118 RBI and some seriously elite defense at third base. Playing right alongside him is another elite player, shortstop Trevor Story. Story plays some great defense and is also a great hitter with a .296 average and 33 homers, 83 RBI and 21 stolen bases.
You won’t catch a break on the Rockies as they have Daniel Murphy manning first base. Murphy has shown some solid defense for a natural second baseman. He also has put a nice season together despite injuries. He is hitting .277 with 13 homers and 77 RBI. That’s not bad for the 34-year-old. But do you know who the most under-appreciated player in the Rockies’ infield is? Look no further than second baseman Ryan McMahon. He has shown some great defense and is a very clutch hitter. He’s hitting .252 with 23 home runs and 81 RBI. Catcher is the only unimpressive spot for the Rockies. Although sporting good defense, Tony Wolters is only hitting .266 with one homer and 40 runs knocked in.
Overall, however, the Rockies have a star-studded infield and make a compelling case for the top in baseball.
Toronto Blue Jays:
Wait, what? Yes, you read that right. The Toronto Blue Jays have one of the youngest, most talented infields that we have seen in a while. Let’s start with all the hype in third baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. The 20-year-old phenomenon hasn’t lit the world on fire but has made a great adjustment to the big leagues. He has shown much better defense than anyone could’ve predicted and has hit .276 with 15 homers and 68 RBI. That’s pretty good for a 20-year-old if you ask me. Next up is another fellow rookie, shortstop Bo Bichette. Since being promoted in July, the Bo Show has been on almost every night. From taking Kershaw deep twice to showing some absolute stunning defense, Bo has been phenomenal. He’s hitting .311 with 11 homers and 21 RBI. Plus, he is just 21 years of age and is a defender.
Time for another son of a great player: second baseman Cavan Biggio was the most undercover of the infield and has been great, showing versatility and great defense at second. The numbers aren’t as nice as the rest but still great: he has a .236 average with 15 homers and 46 RBI, plus 13 stolen bases. Next up is big man Rowdy Tellez, the first baseman. He has shown decent defense considering the scouting reports and has some great power. In just 347 at-bats, Tellez has hit .219 with 19 homers and 49 RBI. Lastly, the catcher for the Jays has been snarky good on defense but hasn’t been that great at the plate despite second-half success. Danny Jansen has hit .210 with 13 homers and 43 RBI as the main backstop for Toronto.
Overall, the Blue Jays are top-heavy but have a very bright future with that talented trio up top.
Los Angels Dodgers:
Cody Bellinger, Gavin Lux, Justin Turner, Corey Seager, and Will Smith. Do I need to say anything else? This should be an easy and fast case but I’ll give you the rundown.
Cody Bellinger is going to be a top candidate for the National League MVP and his versatility plus his numbers will show that in a big way. He has .302 average with 46 bombs, 114 RBI, and 14 stolen bases. That’s certainly MVP-caliber. Next up is 21-year-old Gavin Lux who only has 55 major leagues at-bats. In that time, he has a .273 average with a couple of homers and seven RBIs but has been very impressive on both sides of the ball. He has quite a bright future. Turner has been injured a lot this year but when manning the hot corner, he has been plenty good and productive at the plate. He has a .290 average with 27 homers and 67 RBI and is 34 already, in case you were wondering. Seager has been impressive at shortstop this year and is getting overshadowed by the other stars. He has a .273 average with 18 homers and 82 RBI. He is still only 25. Lastly, catcher Will Smith burst onto the scene Memorial Day time and hasn’t looked back. A force on defense and a clutch hitter, Smith has compiled a .242 average with 14 homers and 37 RBI.
Overall, the Dodgers have an amazing case for best infield and have many more players worthy of making the cut … but the regulars are regulars.
Houston Astros:
Jose Altuve is not getting talked about enough considering his impact. A gold glove caliber player, Altuve has hit .300 with 30 homers and 70 RBI with a .909 OPS. Why haven’t we heard about him in MVP conversations? Another impressive dude is Yuli Gurriel. He has a .305 average with 30 homers and 102 RBI’s. A great first baseman and a leader in the clubhouse, Gurriel has flown under the radar plenty. Shortstop Carlos Correa has been injured but still has had time to put together some great numbers. He has a .279 average with 21 homers, 59 RBI and some good defense. Correa hasn’t had a chance to show his full potential in a while but still puts together some great numbers.
Now, I get to praise one of my favorite players in baseball, third baseman Alex Bregman. Bregman will be a top candidate for AL MVP and rightfully so. He has been stellar at the hot corner, but when put at shortstop he has been just as good. Oh, and for good measure, he has hit .293 with 39 homers and 108 RBI. Not your typical third baseman.
Last up is catcher Robinson Chirinos, who has been solid. Handling the Astros rotation flawlessly, Robinson has also hit .242 with 17 homers and 58 RBI. Overall, the Astros presented us with one of the most talented infields in the league.
Honorable Mentions: The Athletics, Indians, Red Sox, Yankees, and Twins were also all in consideration here.
You may tell me that the Blue Jays aren’t even going to sniff a list like this, but they have so much untapped talent that they were too tempting to not include. They aren’t going to win this, but they sure have more of a case than some of the rest. The Dodgers have a mighty force in their infield but they just are a tad below the winner to be mentioned soon. The Rockies are so, so talented and impressive but they just missed the top.
That leaves Houston. The Astros won the pitching article and they’ve now won the infield article, too. What an impressive core they have.
Bregman, Altuve, Correa. A core to be mentioned for a long while.
