Sports Grumblings contributor Greg Pyron offers some pre-spring training insight on the top fantasy second basemen in the National League. As any veteran fantasy manager will tell you, it is never too early to start preparing for draft day.

1. Chase Utley  Philadelphia Phillies

Utley is in a great situation both in terms of a surrounding cast and ballpark. The Phillies are potent offensively and Utley will receive half of his at bats in hitter friendly CNB Park. He is clearly the top fantasy player at his position now that Alfonso Soriano has moved to the outfield. Utley led all second basemen in HR (32), RBI (102), and Runs (131) while batting .309 with 15 stolen bases. There is no reason to believe he can not only match last season’s numbers, but potentially exceed them.

2. Rickie Weeks  Milwaukee Brewers

The asterisk for the Brewers' talented 24-year-old has been the question mark surrounding his durability. Weeks has the talent to be part of the 30/30 club though those kind of power numbers are still a year or two away. In 2005 he hit 25 homers and stole 25 bases in 151 games between Triple-A Nashville and Milwaukee. Those indicators will eventually translate at the major league level, health permitting.  Weeks underwent wrist surgery on August 15 last year, but he’s expected to be 100 percent entering spring training.

Uggla set a major league record for most home runs (27) by a rookie second baseman en route to a third place finish in the NL Rookie of the Year balloting. He was also the first Rule 5 selection ever to make the All-Star Game in the same season he was drafted. While Uggla’s overall numbers were quite impressive for a second baseman (.282-27-90-105-6), his second half struggles present a puzzle for owners attempting to validate the young Marlins metric trends. Uggla was only a .276 career minor league hitter and his lowly second half numbers of a year ago (.256-14-39 with 72K/24BB) along with his .232 average over the teams’ final 29 games with 29K/7BB is cause for concern.

4. Freddy Sanchez  Pittsburgh Pirates

Sanchez has always shown strong plate discipline dating back to his days in the Red Sox minor league system.That was again the case last season (52K/31BB in 157 games) when Sanchez had a career year.  His knowledge of the strike zone helped him post a .344 batting average which was good enough to earn him a Silver Bat. It will be difficult for Sanchez to duplicate the season he had a year ago, but he remains a top fantasy second base option who is also eligible at shortstop and third base.