With the dog days of summer now in the rearview mirror, pennant chases are heating up right along with expectations from some of MLBs hottest young talent. In this post we’ll be looking at three fan favorite shortstops who will be heavily relied upon by their teams down the stretch. They all sit in the top 10 of the WAR Leaderboards and we see the effects of that first hand here at Mill Creek Sports. Their autographed items have been flying off the shelves!

We’ll start by heading east to Baltimore where Gunnar Henderson has been on fire this year. In his third season with the team, the physical challenge of a 162 game season is now familiar and not only is Henderson keeping up, he’s excelling.

He posted a more than respectable .252 batting average in 2022, but 116 at bats didn’t hit the 130 AB threshold for rookie status. This potentially worked in his favor as 2023 saw him continue to improve, elevating his batting average to .255 where he was ultimately rewarded with AL Rookie of the Year honors. Fast forward to 2024 where he’s notched a .287 average so far in 492 at bats. This further improvement earned him his first All-Star appearance earlier this season, but how is he doing lately?

Typically batting in the three hole, Henderson has just six hits in the last seven games, which saw the Orioles at home against Washington (2) and Boston (4), then on the road last night against the Mets. Could that .222 average be an indicator of some slowing? Chances are it’s more of a blip on the radar given his .300 clip over the last 15 games, .283 over the last 30, and did I mention that four of those six hits were home runs?

The Orioles currently sit in the top spot of the Wild Card race with a 2.5 game lead, but their eyes are on an AL East division title. With the Orioles sitting just a half game back of the Yankees, they’ll need to rely on Henderson to solidify the top of the lineup if they want to capture the title. 

Shop autographed Gunnar Henderson sports memorabilia.

Our next two players hail from the Midwest starting with Elly De La Cruz in Cincinnati. Unlike Henderson, De La Cruz didn’t have a “practice” rookie season. The Reds called him up on June 6th last year and he immediately went to work making a name for himself as the self-proclaimed “Fastest Man Alive.” His 35 stolen bases in 98 games last year was admirable, but batting just .235 may have limited his chances. In 2024 he has improved to .257 at the plate and already has 59 stolen bases in slightly more games (123).

De La Cruz currently has 21 home runs which puts him on pace for 28 home runs and 79 stolen bases - a record held by only one other, Ricky Henderson in 1986 (28 HR, 87 SB).

With just four hits in the last seven games (three each at home vs St. Louis and Kansas City and yesterday at Toronto), De La Cruz has hit a bit of a speed bump considering that .148 average plays a role in his last 30 day average which sits way up at .279.

The Reds will need De La Cruz to return to form and fast for them to have any chance of tasting postseason play. They currently sit 5.5 games back in both the Wild Card race and the NL Central where the Brewers lead the way. There’s definitely room for improvement after scoring just three runs in a three-game series last weekend against Kansas City.

Shop autographed Elly De La Cruz sports memorabilia.

Speaking of Kansas City, our last player, Bobby Witt Jr., has been absolutely tearing up the diamond this year. He currently leads all of MLB with a .349 batting average and brings power to the shortstop position as well with 25 home runs to date.

Witt Jr. exploded on the scene in 2022 earning AL Rookie of the Year consideration with a .254 average along with 20 home runs. Julio Rodriguez ultimately took home the hardware, which Witt Jr. surely used as motivation. He improved to .276 and 30 last year and has continued his meteoric rise in 2024 currently sitting atop the WAR Leaderboard at 8.8.

Over the last seven games, three each at home versus Minnesota and Cincinnati and yesterday at Anaheim, Witt Jr. is batting just .385. “Just!?! Did he say, ‘Just?’” Well, he has a .420 average over his last 30 games so, you know, just sayin’...

Witt Jr. is playing like a man possessed right now and his teammates have to be feeling the pressure to keep up. The Royals currently sit 2.5 games back of the Guardians in the AL Central. They do have a bit of postseason breathing room however, as they are 4.5 games up on Boston in the Wild Card race.

Shop autographed Bobby Witt Jr. sports memorabilia.

For those with competitive MLB teams, games get more and more exciting this time of year. Don’t have a dog in the hunt? Therein lies one of the beauties of collecting sports memorabilia. It provides collectors with a vested interest to continue following the action. We all have our favorite players to keep an eye on and these three will no doubt be fun to watch!