New York Yankees: How do Yanks stack up against top AL contenders?

Second Basemen

1. Jose Altuve (HOU) – 4 points
2. Eduardo Nunez (BOS) – 3 points
3. Jason Kipnis (CLE) – 2 points
4. Tyler Wade (NYY) – 1 point

More obvious than Gary Sanchez being the best catcher of the group, Jose Altuve is the best second baseman of this group. Altuve is perhaps the best overall players on any of these teams. That’s why earned AL MVP honors in 2017. The little man hit .346 last year! That’s after hitting .338 in 2016, .313 in 2015, and .341 in 2014.

Altuve has no problem with consistency; he’s consistently great. That’s one of the reasons the Houston Astros gave him a five-year, $151 million contract extension this offseason.

With Dustin Pedroia out until around May, the Boston Red Sox still have the second-best second base option among AL contenders. Although Eduardo Nunez struggles a bit defensively, he’s hit over .280 each of the past three seasons, including hitting .313 last year (.321 after joining the Red Sox). Nunez provided a spark to Boston’s lineup and they re-signed him this offseason with hopes of more of the same.

You could argue that Jason Kipnis has had a better overall career than Nunez, but after missing a little less than half of 2017, we don’t know what to expect from the former All-Star. Even when he was on the field, Kipnis hit only .232 last season and had a .291 on-base percentage. He could bounce back, but based on recent play, Nunez ranks ahead of Kipnis.

Last but not least is Tyler Wade. Neil Walker is the Opening Day second baseman for the New York Yankees, but Wade is listed as the starting second baseman on the Yankees depth chart. Wade and Walker will split time at the keystone but Walker’s ability to play first base in Greg Bird’s absence should get Wade an extended look at second. Top prospect Gleyber Torres will also be pushing for the major league sooner rather than later.

Wade is still unproven at the major league level. He hit just .155 in 58 big league at-bats last year but is a career .275 hitter in the minor leagues. Wade had a strong spring fighting off Torres and Ronald Torreyes and will hope to keep that momentum going into the regular season.