It's not an exaggeration to suggest we are in a golden era of shortstops. This past season, 12 shortstops reached at least 4.0 WAR via the Baseball-Reference measurement of the metric, one more than in 2021 and matching 2019 for the most ever. Before 2018, there had never been even 10 shortstops to reach 4.0 WAR in a single season. With more offensive depth at the position than ever, shortstops collectively posted a .692 OPS in 2022, not much below the major league average of .707 -- a remarkable output from a position where defense remains as vital as ever.
Winners and losers of MLB free agency's shortstop carousel
