Fantasy baseball busts: Players to fade at shortstop for 2023 MLB season

As we get closer to the start of the baseball season, now is the time to start drafting your fantasy baseball teams. In an effort to maximize avoiding players that will bust, here are some shortstops that you should avoid drafting in your 2022 fantasy baseball leagues.

Fantasy baseball busts: SS

Fernando Tatis Jr., Padres

ADP: 20

Tatis is the true definition of a wild card. He could return from his suspension on April 20 and become an immediate impact player who mashes the ball and causes trouble on the base paths, or he could come back and struggle to get acclimated to the game after a year off that comprised two separate injuries. I’d imagine Tatis will look like his old self by the middle of the summer but expect lots of struggles before then. If you do end up taking him early, have a backup plan prepped.

Javier Baez, Tigers

ADP: 185

Baez’s first season in Detroit was a disaster. He struck out 147 times (somehow not a career-high), only hit .238, and was in the bottom fifth percentile in whiff rate and chase rate. While Baez might get the occasional home run, he’ll have even more at-bats that will end with him hopelessly flailing at a breaking ball in the other dugout. Stay away from Baez.

Willy Adames, Brewers

ADP: 90

Adames gives you both the good and the bad. Sure, he hit 31 home runs and drove in 98 runs last year, but he also struck out 166 times and had a batting average of .238, which matches up perfectly with his expected batting average of .236. Adames has the power to give you big games on occasion, but his boom-or-bust potential knocks him down a rung.

Other candidates: Thairo Estrada, San Francisco Giants; Adalberto Mondesi, Boston Red Sox