Ranking MLB positions: Best, worst spots on diamond for 2026

Share

Copy Link

Email

Print

LikeOpen Extended Reactions

49

Reactions

Like

47

Interesting

Fire

A remarkable thing has happened each of the past two seasons in Major League Baseball: Shortstops have outhit third basemen.

In 2024, shortstops produced a .728 OPS compared to .701 for third basemen. In 2025, shortstops produced a .723 OPS compared to .705 for third basemen.

This may not seem like a big deal, but given the long lens of baseball history, this is a significant change in the game, one of the most under-the-radar developments in recent years. Baseball-Reference has positional hitting data going back to 1912, and only twice before 2024 had shortstops hit for a higher OPS, in 1922 (one point better)…