Turner, Rendon rate high on MLB Network "Top 10 Right Now!"

MLB Network trotted out the first two episodes of its annual "Top 10 Right Now!" series last night, revealing its picks for the best shortstops and third basemen in baseball entering the 2018 season.

And it shouldn't surprise you that the Nationals starter at each position wound up high on each list.

Trea Turner rated as the fourth-best shortstop in the game, according to the all-encompassing computer formula known as "The Shredder" used for these shows. Only the Astros' Carlos Correra, the Dodgers' Corey Seager and the Indians' Francisco Lindor rated better than Turner, who beat out the Angels' Andrelton Simmons and others on the list.

Turner may not have had a brilliant 2017 season; he got off to a sluggish start, then just as he was getting hot he fractured his right wrist and missed two months. But "The Shredder" computes these ratings not on past performance but on expected performance for the coming season.

Based on that method, expectations are high for Turner entering 2018. The 24-year-old has now played in 198 big league games over parts of the last three seasons, during which he owns a .304 batting average, .348 on-base percentage, .840 OPS, 25 homers, 86 RBIs and 81 stolen bases.

FanGraphs' Steamer projection system has Turner hitting .298 with 17 homers, 68 RBIs, an .816 OPS and 50 stolen bases in 2018.

Anthony Rendon, meanwhile, is coming off a standout season, having finished sixth in National League MVP voting. The 27-year-old does have the misfortune, though, of playing perhaps the deepest position in baseball right now, which explains why he rated only fifth among all third basemen.

"The Shredder" declared the Cubs' Kris Bryant the best third baseman in the game right now, with the Rockies' Nolan Arenado, the Blue Jays' Josh Donaldson and the Dodgers' Justin Turner next on the list ahead of Rendon.

Even in fifth place, Rendon still outranked several big-name third basemen. The Rangers' Adrian Beltre rated sixth, with the Indians' Joseé Ramírez seventh and the Orioles' Manny Machado eighth, underscoring just how much talent there is at the hot corner these days.

Rendon hit .301 with 25 homers, 100 RBIs, a .403 on-base percentage and .937 OPS last season, establishing career highs in each department. Steamer calculations project him to hit .283 with 21 homers, 79 RBIs and an .855 OPS in 2018.