Fantasy Surprises, SS

The top 12 shortstops have all been very productive so far in the fantasy season. With the exception of Yunel Escobar and Jimmy Rollins (both have spent time or are currently spending time on the DL), the top rated shortstops have produced how they should have. With this in mind, here's three of the top shortstop surprises of the early season.

Alex Gonzalez (Blue Jays - SS) - .259, 29 R, 10 HR, 30 RBI. Gonzalez spent his first eight years with the Marlins and proved to be a productive everyday player. Over the last few years he's bounced from Boston to Cincinnati, back to Boston and then back to Cincinnati. He's found a home in Toronto as an everyday SS. Gonzalez has a .248 career batting average, so expect his average to stay low, especially considering he has struck out in 21% of his at-bats this season. Gonzalez has been enjoying batting 6th in the surprisingly productive Blue Jays lineup. He currently leads all SS's in home runs. Expect him to hit somewhere between 20 and 25 home runs and 75 to 80 RBIs.

Juan Uribe (Giants - 2B, 3B, SS) - .286, 22 R, 7 HR, 29 RBI. Uribe is continuing the hot streak he ended last year on. Perhaps Uribe's season shouldn't come as a surprise. During a four year stretch with the White Sox, he hit 80 HR and 284 RBI. Uribe has batted in spots 5-8 in the order, spending most of his time in the 6th spot. With the call up of Buster Posey he could move down to the 7 hole, where he will still have plenty of RBI opportunities.

Ian Desmond (Nationals - 2B, SS) - .270, 18 R, 4 HR, 25 RBI, 3 SB. Desmond is playing in his first full major league season so it's hard to predict how he will fare down the stretch. He's already appeared in twice as many games as he did all of last year. The Nationals are starting Desmond out slow. He's batted in mostly the 7th and 8ths spots. He has however, gotten 30 ABs in the 2 hole. So if he improves, there is a possiblity of him moving up in the order and scoring more runs. Desmond currently has a .311 OPS, a number he needs to improve if he hopes to find himself at the top of the order permanently.