If Leonardo DiCaprio played baseball: shortstop, rated 81

Leonardo DiCaprio as a baseball player: scouting report

Leonardo DiCaprio plays shortstop, and the case starts with patience. He earned his first Oscar nomination as a teenager for What's Eating Gilbert Grape and kept turning in serious work for more than two decades before he finally won Best Actor for The Revenant. A shortstop needs that temperament: hundreds of routine grounders handled cleanly while waiting for the one play that decides a game.

His speed is the top mark on his card and his fielding is level with it, so he ranges deep into the hole and far behind second base. He has made film after film with Martin Scorsese, from Gangs of New York to The Departed to Killers of the Flower Moon, and a long partnership with one director is a lot like a long one with a double play partner: timing, trust and knowing where the other one will be. At the plate his contact and eye are both strong, so he hits near the top of the order and runs once he gets on.

The arm is the honest weakness, and it is the one thing that can make shortstop uncomfortable; a deep throw from the hole will sometimes arrive a step late. Positioning and a quick release cover a lot of that, and a first baseman who picks throws out of the dirt covers the rest. If you would rather protect him, second base costs only a little and plays perfectly to his feet. Power is light, so bat him first or second and let the gap hitters drive him in. He is a smart middle round shortstop with genuine range.

Plays like A rangy shortstop who waits out every pitcher

Put Leonardo DiCaprio in your lineup

12 rolls, nine hitters and a rotation, 162 games. Can you win 117? Free, no account.