Kris Bryant in Coors Field was supposed to be a party and instead, the guest of honor got plantar fasciitis and played in only 42 games for the entire year. 6) Do first basemen really ever have to throw hard? In 118 games, he slashed .292/.347/.468, buoying the ratios for fantasy managers in roto leagues. 23. 5) Wait, is Mike Trout actually improving at yet another thing? One of the greatest defensive centerfielders to play the game, Jim Edmonds played with a reckless abandon, often launching his body into the air or wall to make a catch. Take Tommy Edman, who has moved back and forth between both spots. His baseball career almost ended in 1905 when he enrolled at Fort Worth Polytechnic Institute. Those who did generally failed in their attempt to take an extra base, and Puckett finished his career gunning down 142 men on base. Acquired from the Houston Astros as part of the trade that bought Joe Morgan to the Cincinnati Reds, Cesar Geronimo patrolled center field for the Big Red Machine with aplomb, taking home four Gold Glove awards. Known primarily for his throwing arm, Glenn Wilson threw out 38 runners between 1985 and 1986, leading the league in assists each season. The likelihood, in percent, that an outfielder will be Not any more. So the answer here might really be more than one answer, in that infielders who spend times on both sides of second base seem to throw harder from the left side, and Story might best be served as a second baseman going forward. The 28-year-old has recorded no less than 11 assists in each of his seven seasons, and not only is his throwing arm powerful, but it's deadly accurate, as we can see in the video. His 10 hardest non-relay/pivot throws on the right side of the infield average 75.7 mph, maxing out at 78.2 mph. For example, lets take two somewhat similar plays. Andre Dawson epitomized the tern "five tool player" for more than a decade before 12 knee surgeries and age began to take their toll. He played in 84 games last season, slashing .295/.358/.500 with 16 HR, 54 RBI, and 40 runs. One of the greatest players that the game has ever seen, Ty Cobb needs no introduction. Jump is calculated only on plays that are Two Stars or harder, meaning He once again tallied more walks (135) than strikeouts (96). Some of them might just have weak arms, which is why they're at first base in the first place. Heres what his 43rd-hardest throw looks like. The best player at the position was Ronald Acuna (.280 with 127 runs, 41 home runs, 101 RBI, and 37 steals . Cedric Mullins stole 30+ bases for the second consecutive year in 2022, though the power disintegrated, lowering his home total to 16 from 30. Power, speed Turner has it in bunches and has delivered such throughout his career, but he's not alone. Beyond the gaudy numbers, he was the one consistent in a Yankees lineup that dealt with injuries and under performance, and he did it all while also playing a career-high 632.2 innings in center field. A shotgun concealed as his right arm, Parker fired baseballs at a ridiculous velocity, resulting in his leading the league with 26 assists in 1977 and finishing his career with 143 assists. In 1985 alone, Barfield doubled up eight runners, to go with his 133 . Who can?". How high/low, in degrees, a ball was hit by a batter. able to make a catch on an individual batted ball. Statcast refers to the spin that contributes to movement Outfielders can get a running start, preparing for a long throw. The strength of the club lies in its outfield with seniors Ethan Beal and Benjamin Jurenko back. The 31-year-old hits the ball hard, in the 90th percentile in HardHit% and maxEV, and his BB% is a stellar 13.1%. exit velocity of 95 mph or higher. Solid . Top Major-League Arm: Bryce Harper (Washington Nationals) All-Time Tool: Jesse Barfield Theres a lot of lobs and non-competitive throws. Melendez is not a good defensive catcher, but he should play enough to retain eligibility there. The 25-year-old ranks in the 100th percentile in average EV, HardHit%, xwOBA, xBA, xSLG, and Barrel% while coming in the 99th percentile in MaxEV. A range-based metric of skill that shows how many outs a MLB average for right fielders is about 49 percent. xBA measures the likelihood that a batted ball will Are you looking to contact Customer Support about a subscription or account related question? A two-time gold glove winner, Mondesi's career high for assists didn't come until 2001 with the Toronto Blue Jays, when he threw out 18 baserunners from right field. in "feet per second in a player's fastest one-second Judge has shown off his rocket arm many times in the past. Playing for the Cleveland Indians minor league team in the Pacific Coast League in 1956, Colavito threw a ball from home plate 436 feet, watching it land well beyond the centerfield wall. player has saved over his peers. He was big guy, very strong, very muscular. But at the end of the day, fantasy managers are drafting him for his elite speed and ability to steal bases, a skill that may get even better depending on how the new baserunning rules play out. The 27-year-old struck out 156 times in 586 at-bats while drawing only 46 free passes; if you believe it, these were improved numbers from 2021. Here are the players who just missed the cut, listed alphabetically: Ronald Acua Jr., ATLMark Canha, NYMDylan Carlson, STLOscar Gonzalez, CLENick Gordon, MINTrent Grisham, SDLourdes Gurriel Jr., TORAustin Hays, BALTeoscar Hernndez, TORJake McCarthy, ARIChas McCormick, HOUChristopher Morel, CHCLars Nootbaar, STLJurickson Profar, SDLuis Robert, CWSAnthony Santander, BALMyles Straw, CLESeiya Suzuki, CHCMichael A. Taylor, KCTyrone Taylor, MILLane Thomas, WASTrayce Thompson, SD/LADAlex Verdugo, BOSMike Yastrzemski, SFChristian Yelich, MIL. How much time, in seconds, it takes a runner to get from Remembered more for his involvement in the Black Sox Scandal and alleged throwing of the 1919 World Series, Jackson routinely picked off baserunners from the outfield, racking up 183 career assists, including 90 in a three-year span from 1911 through 1913. Outs Above Average Leaderboard Current: Outs Above Average Outs Above Average (OAA) is the cumulative effect of all individual plays a fielder has been credited or debited with, making it a range-based metric of fielding skill that accounts for the number of plays made and the difficulty of them. Ari Bethea, Collierville (TN), 2025 Positional Profile: RHP/OF Body: 6-1, 192-pounds. window") of the runner is at least 30 ft/sec. A 12-time Gold Glove winner, 10-time All-Star and the 1966 National League MVP, Roberto Clemente was the prototype for a five-tool player. 3) Players throw differently at different positions, right? The reigning AL Rookie of the Year heading into the 2022 season, Arozarena enjoyed his second straight 20/20 season, hitting .263/.327/.445 for a 124 OPS+ with 41 doubles, 20 home runs, 89 RBI and 32 steals. ", In discussing the effects of PED's on players with Morris Dalla Costa of the London Free Press, Barfield noted the biggest problem that taking PED's has on an outfielder: "They can't get the arm up over the top because of how the muscles are built up. But what goes unappreciated is the arm strength of baseball's workhorsesthe infielders. Expect him to be one of the faces of baseball for the next decade-plus and a strong contender for the No. MLB Power Rankings: Vladimir Guerrero and the 12 Deadliest Outfield Arms Josh Benjamin January 30, 2011 If there's one weapon every baseball team has, it's an outfielder with a cannon for. From 1998 through 2002, Bobby Abreu racked up 59 assists patrolling right field for the Philadelphia Phillies. The respect that his arm commands explains why he has only 97 career assists, a relatively low number for a man with such a powerful weapon at his disposal. Sure but mostly on relays home from the outfield, or sometimes on double play attempts. "[Those throws are] something that I do all natural," Acua said at the time. Buxton has essentially played one full season's worth of games over the past two years, posting a 150 OPS+ with 47 home runs and 8.5 WAR in 153 games since the start of 2021. In order to account for that, outfielders receive the average of their top 10% hardest throws as a seasonal average. This will probably be the 26-year-old's last season with catcher eligibility, but in non-keeper leagues, he is a good asset. That "throwing hard" is rarely a demand of the position is somewhat reflected in the leaderboards, which has many first basemen near the bottom. In 2020, his average on competitive throws was 86.6 mph, an almost exactly-average number. Outfielder Jump. A batted ball with the perfect combination of exit In regards to the two plays in the video, former St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Troy Glaus had this to say about the second one: "I didn't think there was a play, to be perfectly honest. Laureano is looking to bounce back after a rough 2020 season in which he hit just .213 with a .704 OPS. In early September, he tried to throw out Jose Altuve, who was tagging up on a sacrifice fly. as Active Spin. Jump is a Statcast metric that shows which players have Only a starter in four of the 11 seasons he played, Whiten ended his career with 77 assists, an impressive number when you figure that he was often a pinch-hitter or late-inning replacement. In 2020, Story averaged 82.3 mph as a Rockies shortstop -- a good-not-great number, slightly below average for shortstops. If you want to get to the fun stuff -- the leaderboards, and fun questions about them -- feel free to skip to the part about Oneil Cruz. Corbin Carroll mashed his way through the minor league system and arrived in Arizona for his debut in 2022. pitch. The four-category stud is worth a first-round pick. At his current ADP of 129, he is an absolute steal, even taking into account that he won't play 150 games. He'll lope after a ball to see if he can get you to run, picks it up . Just beware that his numbers might look much closer to 2021 than 2022. Michael Harris II played 43 games in Double-A last year before getting called up to the majors and proceeded to hit 19 HR, steal 20 bases, and slash .297/.339/.514 on his way to winning the NL Rookie of the Year award. The Diamondbacks traded Varsho to the Blue Jays in the offseason; Rogers Centre should support another 25-HR, 15-SB season and he could see a bump in runs and RBI with the better lineup around him. A 10-time Gold Glove winner, opponents learned very quickly that the explosive throws he had a reputation for making in Japan were very much a reality, and they generally wouldn't even think about running when Ichiro had the ball in his hand. Or is it because players with weaker arms are less likely to be allowed to play the left side in the first place? How high/low, in degrees, a ball was hit by a batter. . Anything below 88mph is considered 0. Current: . Rojas is the club's fourth-ranked prospect, and with a bit of fine-tuning. A 10-time Gold Glove winner, Kaline finished his career with 170 career assists. 27 prospect in the Cleveland organization would finish as one of the 10 best outfielders in baseball? To further test our theory, we took three players from the '60s and '70s who were known to have great arms and looked at their A-DP numbers. Tyler O'Neill experienced a litany of injuries in 2022 that inhibited the power he demonstrated in 2021. Up to you. Yordan lvarez actually played more games at designated hitter (77) than he did in the outfield (56), but since there are not enough everyday DHs for us to do a top 25 list for that position, he's being included here alongside the rest of the league's best outfielders. With everyday playing time, 2023 could be a big year of growth for the 24-year-old. . of his glove and to the base on a stolen base or pickoff Steven Kwan put together a 5.5-WAR debut season with an old school game built on contact ability, speed and defense. Lin features another true 70-grade arm that plays at that level in games and fits well in right field. Clemente has more outfield assists than anyone who played after 1930 (I believe this was the year where they made the rule that you were allowed to run instead of speed-walk on the basepaths). The Phillies will score in bunches, and Schwarber may have multi-position eligibility, depending on your league, which is not a bad fantasy asset to have at all as long as you can absorb the batting average. On August 4, 1983, while warming up in the outfield with one of the Toronto Blue Jays' ball boys in the middle of the fifth inning, Winfield's throw hit a passing seagull, killing the bird and found Winfield arrested for cruelty to animals. He played in 32 games, hitting four homers and stealing two bases while slashing .260/.330/.500 in the small sample size. BY Justin Leger -. USA TODAY Sports photo. Traded outfielder Michael A. Taylor to the Twins for pitchers Steven Cruz and Evan Zisk. In 2022, thats down again, to 76 mph. 2 prospect in baseball when the season began, he lived up to the hype and then some by hitting .284/.345/.509 with 25 doubles, 28 home runs, 75 RBI, 84 runs scored and 25 steals in 132 games. Its not that his arm suddenly got weaker on the right side of the infield, of course. On the other hand, those 40 HR and .347 ISO probably won some leagues last year for patient managers who could ride out the injuries. become a hit. Its an important one, too. Potentially ever, though we certainly cant go back through history here to see how hard Shawon Dunston or whatever shortstop of your choice might have thrown. He hits the ball with great power, ranking in the 92nd percentile in maxEV. But its also clear that it doesn't work for other positions. How far off the mound, in feet, a pitcher releases the The other draws include his 27 homers and 16 stolen bases, something only J.T. Jesse Barfield was considered to have the best outfield arm in the '80s and he wasn't shy about reminding his opponents. Seven times in his 23-year-career Yaz won a Gold Glove, and seven times he led outfielders in assists, including a career-high 19 in 1964. His arm was so impressive that Expos manager Dick Williams is said to have compared it to Roberto Clemente's, a bold statement to say the least. The Venezuela native surged three levels in his age-18 season, showing off plus power and 70-grade speed on his way to becoming the No. He finished his career with 89 assists in 877 games played, which means that, on average, Snyder threw out a runner every 10 games. Ranking third here is not a knock, just shows the depth at third base. With the Montreal Expos, Valentine was part of a young, talented outfield that included Warren Cromartie and Andre Dawson. But all-in-all, the players on this list had an incredible combination of all those skills, making them more likely to throw straight for the base that the play was at rather then hitting the cutoff man. If you can stomach the idea of spending a high-round draft pick on an injury risk with a high ceiling, Robert could be a steal. The definitive power rankings on the strength of the outfield, where we (no, I don't play anymore but old habits die hard) talk to ourselves and it's totally accepted as the norm. It's possible they leave him in the 2-slot, especially until Bryce Harper returns, in which case he will continue to score runs and increase his RBI total. He finished his career with 109 assists, 61 of which came in a four-year period for the Philadelphia Phillies, from 1984 through 1987. Rankings Top 15 MLB Corner Outfielders for 2023. Hard to believe he was that agile. His 10.6 WAR led all of baseball, as did his ridiculous 211 OPS+ meaning he was more than twice as productive as the average hitter. He falls into the "walk year" category, so he might outperform his projections. Escape Velocity takes the average of a player's batted ball velocities subtracted from 88. attempt. Assists, while a somewhat useful statistic in gauging how strong someone's throwing arm is, doesn't tell the whole storyit's hard to throw someone out when they don't even try to run. USA TODAY Sports photo. and 32 degrees. He even threw a ball 100.8 mph on April 21, though it didn't result in an assist. attempt. The 25-year-old set a new career high in 2022 in games played and still didn't crack 100, finishing at 98 with a variety of ailments and injuries derailing any sort of rhythm he could get. How hard, in miles per hour, a pitch is thrown. If anyone needs a change of scenery in order to maximize his talent, Bryan Reynolds is that guy. Traded shortstop Adalberto Mondesi to the Red Sox for pitcher Josh Taylor. Kwan is in the 100th percentile of K% after striking out only 60 times in 638 plate appearances. Hes also, so far as Statcast is concerned, the owner of the strongest throwing arm in baseball this season -- or at least thats what being atop the newly released arm strength leaderboards for position players, available publicly for the first time, would imply. However, the 25-year-old smashed 30 HR with 107 RBI, 71 runs, and 25 stolen bases in 2022 en route to another World Series win for the Astros. Signed pitcher Zack Greinke to a one-year, $8.5 million contract. Buhner merely went on to hit more than 300 home runs and become one of the most beloved Mariners of all-time. a batted-ball event with a launch angle between eight When you measure a pitchers average fastball velocity, its simple. Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if we still had markakis in RF, but this is surprising. An All-Star and Gold Glove winner for the first time, Happ hit .271/.342/.440 for a 119 OPS+ with 42 doubles, 17 home runs, 72 RBI, 72 runs scored and 4.4 WAR in 158 games. It's the first time he's hit the cutoff man. The 25-year-old hit .298/.373/.400 with more walks (62) than strikeouts (60) while adding 89 runs scored and 19 steals. It's worth watching in Spring Training, and if he routinely bats behind Jose Ramirez, drop him in your rankings a bit as the counting stats will be affected. That's an average of like 5000 fewer innings than the people ahead of him on the list. pitch.