Jhonny Peralta is the best shortstop in baseball

When I think about the best shortstops in baseball, Troy Tulowitzki is the first player that comes to mind. He is incredibly talented on both offense and defense, and despite his injuries still manages to put up great numbers. When I think of defense, Andrelton Simmons is naturally the first player I think about. He might be the best defensive shortstop since Ozzie Smith. When I think of other good shortstops over the last decade, Jimmy Rollins and Jose Reyes come up, and Ian Desmond has been a solid player for a few years now. Heading into the season, ESPN's poll of experts ranked Peralta sixth among shortstops behind Tulowitzki, Desmond, Simmons, Reyes, and Starlin Castro.

Jhonny Peralta does not feel like one of the best shortstops in baseball without gaudy offensive numbers, amazing defensive highlights, or a year with an MVP candidacy, but those feelings fail to appreciate Peralta's consistent above-average offense and his incredibly steady play at one of the most difficult defensive positions. As Tulowtizki and Reyes have struggled to stay healthy, Rollins has declined and Hanley Ramirez has been removed from the position, Jhonny Peralta has been one of the very best shortstops over the last half-decade. Joe took a look at the combined production of Peralta and Kolten Wong a few weeks ago, and the two players have continued to form an excellent combination. While Wong is still coming into his own, Peralta has been producing for years.

From 2010 through the present, here are the fWAR leaders, from the FanGraphs Leaderboards, at shortstop:

Name	PA	HR	AVG	OBP	SLG	wRC+	WAR
Troy Tulowitzki	2378	113	0.309	0.381	0.543	137	22.6
Jhonny Peralta	3040	88	0.271	0.332	0.434	110	18.6
Jose Reyes	3049	48	0.296	0.344	0.432	112	18.0
Jimmy Rollins	3181	75	0.249	0.320	0.388	95	16.2
Alexei Ramirez	3425	65	0.273	0.308	0.394	88	15.8
J.J. Hardy	2929	94	0.258	0.301	0.414	93	15.7
Ian Desmond	3256	91	0.268	0.316	0.425	102	15.5
Hanley Ramirez	2689	98	0.281	0.355	0.467	126	15.4
Erick Aybar	3163	37	0.274	0.315	0.382	96	14.9
Elvis Andrus	3635	16	0.271	0.334	0.339	83	13.5

Peralta has certainly received a little more attention of late, but he has put up solid numbers for quite some time. At one time moved from shortstop to third base, since his trade to the Tigers in 2010, Peralta has been a full-time shortstop and he has been one of the very best baseball. Five-plus seasons is a long time to look back when trying to consider the best players in the game right now. Moving forward one year from 2011 to the present, the leaderboard looks like this:

Name	PA	HR	AVG	OBP	SLG	wRC+	WAR
Jhonny Peralta	2425	73	0.276	0.337	0.444	114	17.4
Troy Tulowitzki	1849	86	0.308	0.381	0.536	136	17
Jose Reyes	2446	37	0.299	0.349	0.434	114	15.5
Ian Desmond	2682	81	0.268	0.317	0.432	106	14.7
Jimmy Rollins	2787	67	0.25	0.32	0.389	96	13.8

Peralta is actually on top of this over the last four-plus seasons, edging out Tulowitzki for the top spot. From 2012 on, a younger player unseats both Peralta and Tulowtizki.

Name	PA	HR	AVG	OBP	SLG	wRC+	WAR
Ian Desmond	2043	73	0.272	0.323	0.455	114	13.7
Jhonny Peralta	1849	52	0.269	0.335	0.433	112	12.6
Troy Tulowitzki	1243	56	0.31	0.385	0.533	137	11.6
Hanley Ramirez	1685	67	0.283	0.351	0.484	132	10.2
Jimmy Rollins	2156	51	0.245	0.315	0.387	94	10.2

Ian Desmond, 29 years old and a free agent at the end of this season, has put up very good numbers over the past few seasons, including more than 20 home runs in each of the last three years. Moving forward one more year, Tulowitzki moves back in front.

Name	PA	HR	AVG	OBP	SLG	wRC+	WAR
Troy Tulowitzki	1040	48	0.315	0.39	0.542	142	10.4
Jhonny Peralta	1264	39	0.283	0.348	0.456	124	10.3
Ian Desmond	1496	48	0.265	0.319	0.435	109	9.0
Hanley Ramirez	1018	43	0.300	0.370	0.516	150	7.7
Andrelton Simmons	1417	27	0.246	0.293	0.369	83	7.3

Despite averaging around 110 games per season over the past six years, Tulowitzki has managed to have five five-win seasons during that time. When completely healthy, he is an MVP candidate, although he has gotten off to a slow start this season. Since Peralta joined the Cardinals, here are the fWAR numbers for shortstops:

Name	PA	HR	AVG	OBP	SLG	wRC+	WAR
Jhonny Peralta	816	28	0.272	0.343	0.456	125	6.5
Troy Tulowitzki	528	23	0.318	0.39	0.543	142	5.1
Brandon Crawford	734	16	0.259	0.336	0.416	112	5.0
Erick Aybar	826	8	0.277	0.320	0.367	98	4.8
Ian Desmond	841	28	0.253	0.310	0.420	104	4.2

Peralta is on top, and it is not really close. His combination of offense and defense has made him the best shortstop in baseball over the last 14 months. His ZiPS projection for the rest of the season has him slightly behind Tulowitzki, but given the lead Peralta has, he will be tough to catch, although for 2015 only, Brandon Crawford is the current projected leader for the end of the season.

Moving away from shortstops, here are the most valuable players i the National League by fWAR since Peralta joined the Cardinals:

Name	PA	AVG	OBP	SLG	wRC+	WAR
Andrew McCutchen	833	0.301	0.397	0.522	158	7.9
Anthony Rizzo	813	0.293	0.399	0.537	158	7.7
Giancarlo Stanton	836	0.275	0.378	0.544	150	7.6
Buster Posey	783	0.311	0.368	0.485	143	7.3
Todd Frazier	847	0.270	0.339	0.479	127	7.0
Paul Goldschmidt	669	0.311	0.409	0.567	164	6.6
Jhonny Peralta	816	0.272	0.343	0.456	125	6.5
Anthony Rendon	683	0.287	0.351	0.473	130	6.5
Matt Carpenter	893	0.284	0.378	0.421	127	6.3
Carlos Gomez	763	0.281	0.349	0.477	129	6.3

Jhonny Peralta did not come through the Cardinals' minor league system, they did not make a major trade for him, and although he was signed to a decent-sized deal as a free agent, he is not even in the top-3 in terms of Cardinals' salaries. Shortstop is a difficult position to fill, and based on his production and projections, he just might be the best shortstop in baseball. If you had to choose a player with the most talent and highest ceiling for the year, you might still take Tulowitzki. If you were looking at future production based on age, you might take Simmons, but for right now, you might want the guy who just did this: