Top Spring Training Performers & Standouts 2025: Fantasy Baseball Shortstops
The Spring Training performances for many shortstops could mean a lot for 2025 fantasy baseball, or they could mean nothing.
That’s the conundrum with Spring Training statistics. They could show signs of strong performance ahead or they could be red herrings that are due to a small sample.
Top Fantasy Baseball Spring Training Performances: Shortstop
As we consider the 2025 fantasy baseball ADP of shortstops during upcoming drafts, these three players have had very strong spring performances that could carry over to the regular season.
All ADP information is taken from the FantasyAlarm consensus fantasy baseball ADP.
Ezequiel Tovar, Colorado Rockies
In Spring Training, we are often looking for signs that a player has made changes to plate approach or plate discipline, or changes to a swing that can lead to bigger things. In Ezequiel Tovar’s case, we can find a lot of positive changes worth pointing out that could portend a big year in Colorado in 2025.
Overall, Tovar is hitting .325/.413/.600 in 45 plate appearances this spring. His 13 hits this spring are only one shy of leading the position (Elly De La Cruz, 14). He has popped a couple of home runs, but the real difference between 2024 and his performance in spring 2025 is in his patience and approach.
Last season, Tovar struck out 29% of the time and walked just 3.3%. So far in spring, he is striking out 24% of the time and walking in 11% of his plate appearances. In addition, his contact rate is up from 69% to 73%. Playing half of your games in Coors Field, this is exactly what you want. Put the ball in play and let the thin air do the work for you.
Tovar’s slugging percentage has increased each of the three years he has been in the majors (.333, .408/.469), and with the continued patience at the plate, 2025 could be the year he breaks a .500 slugging percentage. Tovar is locked into the third spot in the Rockies’ batting order, and this could be a huge breakout season for him. His ADP of 152 looks too low at the moment.
Jeremy Pena, Houston Astros
Among shortstops with at least 25 plate appearances this spring, only Elly De La Cruz (1.325) has a higher OPS than Jeremy Pena’s 1.259. Pena has 12 hits including three homers in 27 plate appearances and looks locked in at the plate. The reason why he is so productive looks to be a fix to his biggest flaw in 2024.
Last season, Jeremy Pena, despite being 6’4” with massive strength, hit 49.4% of his balls in play on the ground. It was impossible for him to generate extra-base hits that way and he had just 28 doubles and 15 home runs. This spring, he has fixed that issue and added extra launch to his balls in play.
So far, Pena has just a 20.8% ground ball rate and a 50% fly ball rate (31% in 2024). If Pena keeps getting the ball in the air, his 39% hard-hit rate will take care of the rest. Pens is likely to hit sixth in the Houston order this year, right behind the five power/on-base guys for the Astros, so this could be a very productive run production season coming for Pena.
He has become a favorite Middle Infielder target of mine and still remains too cheap at an ADP of 190.7 in consensus drafts.
David Hamilton, Boston Red Sox
While David Hamilton is not slated to start at shortstop for the Boston Red Sox, there are a number of factors working in his favor that could give him a role similar to 2024. In that season he played more than 35 games as a second baseman and more than 55 games as a shortstop. He could be in line to play a lot of games at both of those positions again.
Trevor Story (the Boston starting shortstop) is not exactly the paragon of good health, and that opened the door to Hamilton playing there in a third of the Red Sox’s games last season. In addition, the move of Rafael Devers to DH allows Alex Bregman to stay at third base and for Hamilton, uber-prospect Kristian Campbell, and Vaugn Grissom to battle for the second base job. Campbell has struggled this spring (.152/.263/.182 with 13 strikeouts), but Hamilton has not.
This spring, Hamilton is hitting .250/.362/.475 with two home runs, five stolen bases, and seven walks in 47 plate appearances. That combination of speed, power, and on-base ability would be ideal for the bottom third of this Boston lineup, and Hamilton may just win the second base job outright so Campbell can get a little more seasoning in AAA.
Last year, Hamilton stole 33 bases in just 98 games. He also hit eight home runs. Give him a full season, and this could easily be a 15 HR/45 SB player with enough plate appearances. Hamilton’s five extra-base hits and seven walks to just eight strikeouts show an improved approach at the plate and one that should be easy to help pay off around pick 342 in drafts. Hamilton is free in most leagues and will shoot up the ADP board if he wins the second base job.
Player News
Evan Carter went 2-for-4 with a triple for Triple-A Round Rock on Tuesday.
Carter has reached base safely in all 17 games at Triple-A this season to go along with five stolen bases. He’s also swatted two home runs and has a 1.027 OPS over his last 10 games. The batting average leaves a little to be desired, and it’s possible he’s chasing too much out of the zone, but there’s a lot to like about what he’s doing at Triple-A right now.
Alec Burleson is starting at first base and batting sixth for the Cardinals in Game 1 of a doubleheader against the Reds on Wednesday.
Burleson has only 83 plate appearances on the season but a decent .286/.337/.325 slash line. The power has not been there for him this season, and he doesn’t have a single barrel on the year, but the rest of his profile looks similar to last year. He may be being too passive in the strike zone, but the bigger issue is that the Cardinals don’t feel comfortable with him in the field. He’s playing first base today with Willson Contreras at DH since Brendan Donovan is shifting to the outfield and Nolan Gorman is at second base with Jordan Walker on the bench. This could become more of a regular occurrence if Walker continues to struggle, but, for now, it’s hard to see regular playing time for Burleson.
Spencer Torkelson is on the bench for Wednesday’s game against the Astros.
This seems like just a routine day off for Torkelson. Colt Keith will start at first base and bat fifth, with Kerry Carpenter sliding into the DH spot.
Zach Dezenzo is starting in left field and batting eighth for the Astros on Wednesday against the Tigers.
This is Dezenzo’s fifth start in the team’s last six games. Chas McCormick and Jake Meyers don’t have the team’s confidence right now, so the Astros are turning to Dezenzo to see if he can get this offense going. The 24-year-old is hitting .270/.308/.324 on the season, but he does have an elevated 36 percent strikeout rate. Still, if he can provide an offensive spark, the Astros will continue to get him in the lineup, especially with Cam Smith starting to get reps in center field.
Royals optioned RHP Jonathan Bowlan to Triple-A Omaha.
The Royals needed a place on the active roster for spot starter Noah Cameron, so Bowlan will head back to the minors. He threw two scoreless innings on Sunday, striking out one and not allowing a single baserunner. He should be back in the big leagues at some point.
Royals optioned 2B Nick Loftin to Triple-A Omaha
Loftin was called up with Tyler Tolbert landing on the bereavement list, but with Tolbert back, Loftin will return to Triple-A.