Major League Baseball: Shortstop Power Rankings for 2011

There have been a lot of surprises so far in the 2011 MLB season.

The position of shortstop has held a few surprises of its own so far this season and along with third base this position gets a lot of action coming their way.

With the season in full swing, let's take a look at who's hitting their stride, and who needs to hit the pine. 

#30 Reid Brignac, Tampa Bay Rays

Reid Brignac may be in his most comfortable position in the picture.

The bench.

He may need to spend some time there or even better in the batting cage because he is hitting just .186 with only six RBI through 42 games. 

#29 Brandon Crawford, San Francisco Giants

Brandon Crawford is listed as the No. 6 prospect for the Giants. This rookie has had to step in because of injuries as so far through 11 games has seven RBI and is hitting .250

#28 Robert Andino, Baltimore Orioles

Robert Andino is hitting .269 with one home run.

He needs to work on getting runners in because he only has three RBI, but I guess that's not too easy when you play for Baltimore. 

#27 Alexi Casilla, Minnesota Twins

Casilla has yet to hit a home run this year, but does have three triples.

He is hitting a .255 but Casilla is the least of the Twins concerns with all their injuries. 

#26 Angel Sanchez, Houston Astros

Angel Sanchez is hitting .263, and has scored 22 runs.

The Astros could use a lot more of him scoring if they are going to be a competitive team. 

#25 Paul Janish, Cincinnati Reds

Paul Janish hasn't been rounding the bases like that too many times this season.

Janish is hitting a horrible .225 so far. He has 20 strikeouts compared to just seven walks, so plate discipline is something he should be working on. 

#24 Ronny Cedeno, Pittsburgh Pirates

Ronny Cedeno may have the best mustache in baseball, but he certainly doesn't have the best average. He is hitting a meager .233 which is actually isn't that far behind than his career average of .244.

He has also stuck out 36 times. 

#23 Alcides Escobar, Kansas City Royals

Alcides Escobar may be practicing fielding in the picture but what need to is swing a bat. Escobar is hitting .203, that is awful.

The only bright spot I can find is that he has six stolen bases. The Royals must have someone in the farm system ready to replace him by midseason. 

#22 Hanley Ramirez, Florida Marlins

This season has been a nightmare for Hanley Ramirez.

Often considered the Marlins best hitter with a career average of .307, Ramirez is hitting .210 this season.

He would be much lower on this list but I have faith he can still salvage this season. 

#21 Ian Desmond, Washington Nationals

Ian Desmond is a machine, a striking out machine.

With 58 strikeouts he leads all shortstops.

His poor average of .229 also doesn't look too pretty. He does have 18 stolen bases. 

#20 Yuniesky Betancourt, Milwaukee Brewers

Betancourt should be in the prime of his career right now, but instead is hitting .232.

He has 25 strikeouts that are starting to pile up, but he has also had 20 RBI. 

#19 Brendan Ryan, Seattle Mariners

Ryan is struggling with his 28 strikeouts, and a .256 average but he is starting to connect and drive runners in with 19 RBI. 

#18 Jason Bartlett, San Diego Padres

Jason Bartlett likes to swing the bat a lot, but lately he has been connecting with air.

He has 35 strikeouts and is batting .260.

#17 Derek Jeter, New York Yankees

Derek Jeter may be one of the best to ever play the game and put on a Yankee uniform.

He is in the twilight of his career though and is being paid a insane amount of money, his numbers are not reflecting his paychecks.

.260 average, 27 strikeouts, two home runs, and only 18 RBI. 

#16 Alex Gonzalez, Atlanta Braves

Alex Gonzalez must have a hole in his bat because he has struck out 46 times already and his .263 average doesn't make up for it. 

#15 Cliff Pennington, Oakland Athletics

Pennington is batting .263 which may sound bad but is actually pretty good for for the offensively challenged Oakland A's.

His 34 strikeouts are also a concern. 

#14 Jimmy Rollins, Philadelphia Phillies

If Jimmy Rollins used the excuse that he can't see the ball as well this season when hitting, I might believe him.

Batting .268 isn't far from his career average of .272. He still is speedy with 14 stolen bases. 

#13 Jed Lowrie, Boston Red Sox

Jed Lowrie is close to having a great batting average with .292.

He has to tone down his 35 strike outs but is getting runners in with 23 RBI. 

#12 Ryan Theriot, St. Louis Cardinals

Ryan Theriot is hitting a crisp .300, has 10 doubles, and has 21 RBI to go along with his 21 strikeouts. 

#11 Erick Aybar, Los Angeles Angels

Erick Aybar has put up solid numbers across the board. Batting .296, knocking in 21 RBIs and stealing 14 bases.

He has put together 31 strikeouts though. 

#10 Stephen Drew, Arizona Diamondbacks

Stephen Drew is having a pretty good year so far, he has drawn 24 walks, is batting .284 and knocked in 33 RBI for the red hot Diamondbacks.

Stephen Drew must like to go down swinging though because he has a pretty high total for strikeouts at 42. 

#9 Troy Tulowitzki, Colorado Rockies

Ok so Troy is only batting .252 but he is second among shortstops with 11 home runs.

He also has good numbers with 33 RBI and 24 walks. He has kept his strikeouts pretty low at 19. 

#8 Jamey Carroll, Los Angeles Dodgers

Jamey Carroll doesn't have any power but he does a good job with contact and getting on base with a OBP of .373.

Hitting .308 also helps make up for power but apparently there aren't runners on when he bats because he only has five RBI. 

#7 Elvis Andrus, Texas Rangers

Elvis Andrus is hitting an average .277 but he sure can run the bases with a shortstop-leading 19 stolen bases already.

He is good at pushing runners across with 26 RBI on the year so far. 

#6 Yunel Escobar, Toronto Blue Jays

Yunel Escobar has great plate patience and he is leading all shortstops with 29 walks. He is hitting .286 and has shown some power with seven home runs and 24 RBI.

Let's give this poor guy some credit he has to play in Canada. 

#5 Starlin Castro, Chicago Cubs

Starlin could be a superstar someday. He is batting .301 with 26 RBI.

He could be the next big thing in a couple of years but for now he isn't even the best shortstop in the city of Chicago.

#4 Alexei Ramirez, Chicago White Sox

Ramirez is solid across the board. 21 walks, a .293 average, six home runs and 31 RBI.

If the White Sox are going to continue to turn in the right direction they will need Ramirez to continue to put up similar numbers. 

#3 Jhonny Peralta, Detroit Tigers

Jhonny Peralta, is having a great year. He is batting .314 with 32 RBI.

He seems to always be on base with an OBP of .374 and he can hit for power with eight home runs.

He has been the only consistent player this year for the streaky Tigers. If they plan on overtaking the Indians, Peralta's help will be needed. 

#2 Jose Reyes, New York Mets

Jose Reyes has already hit 11 triples this year. 11!

He is a thief too with 19 stolen bases and batting a hot .339 and a .389 OBP.

It will be very interesting as the trade deadline nears what the Mets will do with this shortstop stud. 

#1 Asdrubal Cabrera, Cleveland Indians

Asdrubal Cabrera's coming out party has been this season.

He showed flashes of his talent through 2007-2009 but was hurt last year and missed much of the season. He is making up for lost time this year though batting .307 and having a OBP of .356. He leads all shortstops with 12 home runs and 42 RBI.

He also might have the web gem of the year. Cleveland was the best team in baseball for the first three months, now that they have cooled off the only thing still hot is the bat of Cabrera.

If the Indians hope to be playing in October they will need Cabrera's help.