Nick Ahmed

Nick Ahmed

33-Year-Old ShortstopSS
Arizona Diamondbacks
2023 Fantasy Outlook
Lingering shoulder discomfort delayed Ahmed's 2022 debut for a couple of weeks. While on the COVID-19 list in late May, Ahmed experienced more shoulder soreness and was ultimately shut down followed by season-ending surgery. Ahmed was more productive than the prior year in the 17 games he played, but it's a small sample. Geraldo Perdomo took over at shortstop for Ahmed, but he finished with a .547 OPS so the two should battle for the job in the spring. Even if he prevails, Ahmed's production doesn't move the mixed league needle. He's best suited for NL-only formats. Read Past Outlooks
RANKS
#591
ADP
$Signed a four-year, $32.5 million contract extension with the Diamondbacks in February of 2020.
Makes spring debut
SSArizona Diamondbacks
March 7, 2023
Ahmed went 1-for-3 in Monday's spring game against the Royals.
ANALYSIS
Ahmed made his Cactus League debut after missing a week due to forearm tightness. He struck out in his first two plate appearances before singling his third time through. His return to game action kicks off shortstop watch in camp. Ahmed, who turns 33 next week, and the 23-year-old Geraldo Perdomo will share the position, though it's unclear how the playing time will be divided.
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Batting Stats
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2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2022 MLB Game Log
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2021 MLB Game Log
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2020 MLB Game Log
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2019 MLB Game Log
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2018 MLB Game Log
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Batting Order Slot Breakdown
vs Right-Handed Pitchers
vs RHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
1
8
vs Left-Handed Pitchers
vs LHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
3
3
Left/Right Batting Splits
Since 2020
 
 
+21%
OPS vs LHP
2022
 
 
+178%
OPS vs RHP
2021
 
 
+44%
OPS vs LHP
2020
 
 
+7%
OPS vs LHP
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2020vs Left .742 241 34 6 24 6 .244 .303 .439
Since 2020vs Right .614 488 45 7 48 5 .231 .286 .328
2022vs Left .313 16 1 1 1 0 .063 .063 .250
2022vs Right .870 38 6 2 6 0 .306 .342 .528
2021vs Left .778 158 24 3 14 4 .252 .316 .462
2021vs Right .540 315 22 2 24 3 .206 .262 .278
2020vs Left .764 67 9 2 9 2 .274 .328 .435
2020vs Right .713 135 17 3 18 2 .266 .326 .387
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Home/Away Batting Splits
Since 2020
 
 
+14%
OPS at Home
2022
 
 
+52%
OPS on Road
2021
 
 
+27%
OPS at Home
2020
 
 
+8%
OPS at Home
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2020Home .700 379 47 7 44 4 .252 .303 .397
Since 2020Away .612 365 35 6 30 7 .217 .281 .331
2022Home .590 35 4 1 5 0 .212 .257 .333
2022Away .895 19 3 2 2 0 .263 .263 .632
2021Home .690 238 30 4 23 3 .248 .298 .392
2021Away .545 235 16 1 15 4 .193 .262 .283
2020Home .759 106 13 2 16 1 .276 .330 .429
2020Away .701 111 16 3 13 3 .257 .324 .376
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Stat Review
How does Nick Ahmed compare to other hitters?
This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
  • BB/K
    Walk to strikeout ratio
  • BB Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk.
  • K Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.
  • BABIP
    Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits.
  • ISO
    Isolated Power. Slugging percentage minus batting average. A computation used to measure a batter's raw power.
  • AVG
    Batting average. Hits divided by at bats.
  • OBP
    On Base Percentage. A measure of how often a batters reaches base. Roughly equal to number of times on base divided by plate appearances.
  • SLG
    Slugging Percentage. A measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
  • OPS
    On base plus slugging. THe sum of a batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
  • wOBA
    Weighted on-base average. Measures a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. wOBA combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value.
  • Exit Velocity
    The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
  • Hard Hit Rate
    A measure of contact quality from Sports Info Solutions. This stat explains what percentage of batted balls were hit hard vs. medium or soft.
  • Barrels/PA
    The percentage of plate appearances where a batter had a batted ball classified as a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
  • Expected BA
    Expected Batting Average.
  • Expected SLG
    Expected Slugging Percentage.
  • Sprint Speed
    The speed of a runner from home to first, in feet per second.
  • Ground Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are on the ground.
  • Line Drive %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are line drives.
  • Fly Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are fly balls.
BB/K
0.13
 
BB Rate
3.7%
 
K Rate
27.8%
 
BABIP
.265
 
ISO
.212
 
AVG
.231
 
OBP
.259
 
SLG
.442
 
OPS
.702
 
wOBA
.305
 
Exit Velocity
86.9 mph
 
Hard Hit Rate
29.7%
 
Barrels/PA
3.7%
 
Expected BA
.191
 
Expected SLG
.292
 
Sprint Speed
25.4 ft/sec
 
Ground Ball %
58.3%
 
Line Drive %
11.1%
 
Fly Ball %
30.6%
 
Advanced Batting Stats
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Additional Stats
Games By Position
Defensive Stats
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Batted Ball Stats
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Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers
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Past Fantasy Outlooks
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
Ahmed possessed a smattering of fantasy value in 2018 and 2019 when he had some surprising power with a handful of steals. Arizona since added a humidor and Ahmed's offensive production has evaporated like a puddle on the Phoenix sidewalk in the summer. His above-average defensive abilities keep him in the lineup, albeit at the bottom of it, on a regular basis. He is truly only rosterable in the deepest of leagues such as 50 round draft and holds where you need to have depth at every position. Even then, he is a fourth option at shortstop. Rey Ordonez and Alcides Escobar applaud the profile, but no one else does.
Ahmed continued his modest improvement at the plate, registering an increasing wRC+ for the fourth straight season. Ahmed is still a slightly-below-average batter, but he chips in with a few steals and is durable, missing only six games since 2018. Ahmed's glove remains solid as he finished sixth among qualified shortstops with four defensive runs saved. Ahmed's Statcast percentile rankings are mostly below average, but an above-average contact rate and 81st percentile sprint speed offer a bankable BA floor. Not only is shortstop loaded at the top, it's become deep with reliable, high-floor options like Ahmed lengthening the pool. He's not sexy, but Ahmed adds a sense of stability to a fantasy roster, compiling a little of everything.
Defense may not "count" in fantasy baseball, but it is tied closely to playing time, and in Ahmed's case, his stellar defense afforded his bat a lot of time to come along. Ahmed's bat will never be as good as his glove, but he has made significant strides over the last two years after at one point looking like a lost cause at the plate, with wRC+ marks ranging from 34-76 over his first four MLB seasons (100 is average). Ahmed has trimmed his chase rate by a whopping 10 percentage points since 2017 while still swinging at roughly half of the pitches he sees and swinging at even more pitches in the zone. He's lifted his walk rate from 5.6% to 8.3% since 2017 while nearly tripling his barrel rate (to 6.6% in 2019). The steals aren't really bankable as he enters his 30s and it's not a star profile, but his offensive improvements are real and his defense should assure the volume is there again in 2020.
Ahmed was finally able to stay healthy in 2018, playing in a career-high 153 games after making just 143 appearances from 2016-17. The 28-year-old enjoyed a career year after breaking camp as Arizona's starting shortstop. He lived up to his billing as an elite defender, tying Andrelton Simmons for the most defensive runs saved (21) at the position en route to winning his first Gold Glove. Ahmed wasn’t as successful on offense, however, finishing 16% worse than league average at the dish. His .234/.290/.411 line was a step down across the board from his 2017 triple-slash, though he did manage to set new personal bests with 16 homers, 54 extra-base hits, 70 RBI and 61 runs. Ahmed’s glove should keep him from falling into a platoon despite his career .596 OPS against same-handed pitching, and his improved power production, which he credits to a change in approach, should keep him relevant as a middle-infield option in deeper leagues.
Ahmed suffered a hand injury in June that cost him most of the second half, and while playing in rehab games at Triple-A in the final stages of his recovery, he was hit in the wrist by a pitch, which caused a fracture that ended his season. Heralded as a good defender, Ahmed can play anywhere in the infield as needed, which gives him value to the D-backs as a late-inning sub off the bench, and as an occasional spot starters against left-handed pitching. He took a small step forward as a hitter last season, putting together the best slash line of his four seasons in Arizona (.251/.298/.419). Given the uncertainty about his playing time, and the limitations he has shown as a hitter, Ahmed is likely limited to middle-infield filler status in NL-only formats. It's expected that he'll begin spring training completely healthy after undergoing surgery to repair the fractured wrist in early September.
Ahmed has the look of one of those players who is much more valuable in real baseball than fantasy baseball. That's because fantasy baseball generally doesn't evaluate defense, which is where Ahmed really shines. At the plate, he's been nothing special in his three MLB seasons. He's a career .221 hitter who doesn't hit for much power or steal many bases. Working in Ahmed's favor is the fact that the Diamondbacks seem to value his glove enough to keep him in the lineup most days when healthy (he was shut down last August following hip surgery), so the volume should be there. But that's about all that can be said for Ahmed. Until he displays more life at the plate, he's really not someone worth owning. There are better hitting middle-infield options out there.
In his first full season in the majors, Ahmed was great in the field but subpar at the plate. The 25-year-old shortstop batted just .226, with an anemic .275 on-base percentage. Ahmed added nine home runs and four stolen bases, though he was also caught stealing five times. Defense doesn’t matter much in fantasy, so the hope is that Ahmed can progress offensively in 2016. He started slowly in 2015, but showed signs of life toward the end of the season, collecting hits in 15 of his last 50 plate appearances before being shut down due to a back injury. After the Diamondbacks acquired Jean Segura it was thought Ahmed might lose out on most of his playing time, but it sounds like they value his glove enough to move Segura to second base occasionally. Still, even if Segura wasn't in the picture, Ahmed would be unappealing. The onus will be on him to improve at the plate in 2016 before fantasy owners should feel compelled to invest.
Ahmed spent most of 2014 at Triple-A Reno, shuttling between second base and shortstop as part of the Diamondbacks' excess of middle-infield options. Chris Owings' shoulder injury in June cleared the path for Ahmed's big league debut, but he didn't hit enough to remain on the roster for the entire second half. In terms of tools, Ahmed projects as a steady contact hitter with very limited power. Defensively, he has the range and versatility to be an average or better option around the infield. The sum of those parts yields a regular destined to hit in the bottom third of the order failing the development of an elite eye at the plate (8.2% BB% at Triple-A in 2014), but Ahmed may prove capable stealing 15-20 bases annually provided that he doesn't occupy a place hitting directly in front of a pitcher. It would hardly be surprising to see him stick around in a utility role in 2015, as Ahmed has very little to gain by spending additional time in the Pacific Coast League.
More Fantasy News
Ready to go Monday
SSArizona Diamondbacks
March 6, 2023
Ahmed (forearm) is starting at shortstop and batting sixth Monday versus the Royals.
ANALYSIS
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Could start Monday
SSArizona Diamondbacks
Forearm
March 5, 2023
Ahmed (forearm) will most likely start at shortstop Monday, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports.
ANALYSIS
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Experiencing forearm tightness
SSArizona Diamondbacks
Forearm
February 26, 2023
Ahmed (shoulder) will miss the next five days with inflammation in his left forearm, Steve Gilbert of MLB.com reports.
ANALYSIS
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Won't play in spring opener
SSArizona Diamondbacks
Shoulder
February 24, 2023
Ahmed (shoulder) will not play in the Diamondbacks' Cactus League opener Saturday, Theo Mackie of the Arizona Republic reports.
ANALYSIS
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OK for spring training
SSArizona Diamondbacks
Shoulder
January 28, 2023
Ahmed (shoulder) is expected to be ready for the start of spring training, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports.
ANALYSIS
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