The 33-year-old hit .307 with runners in scoring position, and he had a .937 OPS in 205 plate appearances after the All-Star break. Mays had 195 career outfield assists and he won 12 consecutive Gold Gloves. Managers who don't grab an outfielder in the first two rounds will still have an ample supply of impact players All told, he hit .333 with 17 homers and a 1.158 OPS over 43 games in 2020. Walker won seven Gold Gloves and ended his career with 154 outfield assists. The 27-year-old batted .308 last season, with a .534 slugging percentage. He also had the two fastest-tracked infield assists to first base -- reaching 94 mph -- and was responsible for about half of the 92-plus mph assists from all infielders. His production bottomed out during the abridged 2020 campaign, but he bounced back in a big way this year. He was snubbed as a Gold Glove finalist despite tallying 11 DRS with a 5.4 UZR/150 in right field while also holding his own when he shifted to center field down the stretch. Its certainly not about skill, and combined with Simmons fundamentals and defensive savvy, look out. As a 28-year-old rookie, Garcia posted a 101 OPS+ with 31 home runs, 90 RBI and 16 steals, and he was a surprise All-Star for the rebuilding Rangers. Let's keep our 2021 MLB Player Rankings series rolling with a look at the top 25 outfielders. Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Toronto Blue Jays. It's possible Ozuna will sign with an NL team and play left field most of the time. He could seemingly throw out any runner trying to pick up an extra base. In 2021, he was the No. But his range of skills at this stage of his baseball life is so extraordinary -- the defense, the baserunning -- that Bellinger is still a great player even when he's not swinging great. The best arms tend to have lower rates because they get run on less, though Clemente is barely in the top 70 all time and IIRC Vlad doesn't even crack the top 200 Though I guess my point agrees with you, he wasn't great but he wasn't awful 2 Buzzed27 San Francisco Giants 5 yr. ago Not sure what you're talking about exactly. He's a career .225/.337/.409 hitter in the minors, and his strikeout rate has risen at every level, topping out at 27% in Triple-A last year and 28.2% in his 238-plate appearance MLB debut . His career OPS is 1.000, exactly. Honorable Mention: Chicago White Sox, Cleveland, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, New York Yankees, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants. Joey Votto travels with Ted Williams' book "The Science of Hitting" and has built a Hall of Fame rsum based on a lot of the principles that Williams espoused -- like not doing the pitcher a favor by chasing pitches out of the strike zone. The well-rounded Betts is our second-ranked outfielder and No. Each player was included in the rankings at the position where he played the most innings. His OPS+ is 176 -- a standard surpassed by only four players: Babe Ruth (206), Ted Williams (191), Barry Bonds (182) and Lou Gehrig (179). Rob Neyer ranked him as our best right fielder in his Big Book of Baseball Lineups (pre-Bautista). Thursday, it's outfielders -- the top 10 left fielders, center fielders and right fielders. February 26, 2023. Even in his time in the minors, his swing-and-miss rate jumped up a few percentage points. 2y Buster Olney. In addition to his impressive offensive numbers, Cobb also thrilled fans with his arm. 15 throws) with an average arm strength of 88.4 mph on max-effort throws -- a.k.a. That success has come despite myriad injuries and significant roster turnover. Kimbrel still has explosive stuff with a fastball that sits comfortably in the high-90s and a wipeout curveball that generated a staggering 59.3 percent whiff rate in 2021. When he's locked in and at his best, they reported, he's consistently pulling the ball, driving it, and this is not what Betts was doing. Between a breakout 2021 campaign and 2022, the journeyman reliever dropped his strong 9.6% walk rate to a miniscule 2.5%, good for best in the league. Bobby Abreu has had one of the strongest and most accurate arms in baseball in recent years. You can make a case for a number of players to go first overall in 2021 drafts, but were giving Acua a slight edge over Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. Heres the 23-year-olds per-162-game averages over the past two seasons: 45 homers, 37 steals, 105 RBIs and 139 runs with a .274/.374/.531 slash line. Ian Happ, Chicago Cubs, Brandon Nimmo, New York Mets; Kyle Lewis, Seattle Mariners; Aaron Hicks, New York Yankees; Victor Robles, Washington Nationals; Byron Buxton, Minnesota Twins. But Verdugo ingratiated himself with teammates and staff with his passion and play, and he seemed to earn the early respect of socially distant Red Sox fans. Honorable Mentions: Chicago White Sox, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers, Oakland Athletics, San Francisco Giants. Mondesi has a tattoo of a cannon shooting out a baseball on his right arm. As we wait, Buster Olney continues his annual ranking of the 10 best players at each position heading into the coming season, based on input from industry evaluators. I think we'll see him hunt early in counts against next season.". All three of those guys could finish in the top 10 in NL Cy Young voting, but the staff goes deeper than that trio. He hit the walk-off home run in the NL Wild Card Game and had a three-homer game in Game 5 of the NLCS. Pitchers are on the other end of Soto's will, as well. This prevented the Orioles from scoring that inning and the Pirates would go on to win the World Series. Santander is locked into an everyday role with the Orioles, and he has produced 31 homers with 91 RBIs and an .807 OPS in 130 games over the past two years. His defensive metrics in center field (14 DRS, 12.1 UZR) helped him post a career-best 4.9 WAR season. This year, he barely edges out Pittsburgh's Neil Walker, who checks in at minus-12-2, for the . While the debate has raged on for years regarding if Jackson actually participated in fixing the World Series, there is little debate that he is one of the greatest players of all-time. Kaline was known for his perfect throwing from and his ability to catch and throw. To qualify for inclusion, a player had to have at least 200 plate appearances. What follows is a ranking of the Top 10 left fielders in baseball. The 33-year-old figures to be a hot commodity on the free-agent market this winter. The Los Angeles Dodgers lead the majors with a 2.90 starters' ERA, but injuries and off-the-field issues have thinned their rotation considerably. Brewers: The Crew has the Central's best outfield, led by Christian Yelich in right field and Lorenzo Cain in center. Along with a .199 average and 213 strikeouts, he led the AL with 111 walks and had a solid .351 on-base percentage. While Bo Jackson's greatest accomplishment might be the fact that he is the greatest video game character ever, it is not the only thing that Bo is known for. These guys. Barfield would consistently throw strikes from right field to home plate. Ken Griffey Jr. may have been the greatest player in baseball history had injuries not plagued him during his career. Aside from having a ton of playable depth, the Giants have also slugged an MLB-leading 14 pinch-hit home runs. Castellanos and Blackmon, meanwhile, faded dramatically after blazing starts. He hit .264/.367/.487 with 29 doubles, 23 home runs and 10 steals, which, coupled with his usual standout defense in right field, was enough for him to finish fourth in WAR on a stacked Dodgers roster. On the other hand, the league still hasn't had a chance to develop a counterattack against the right-handed-hitting masher. His contract and track record mean more is expected of him, but he was still a top-15 outfielder. That notably excluded Mike Trout (146 PA). Few players have joined an organization under more challenging circumstances than Verdugo faced when he went to the Red Sox. At 321 feet, it was the longest on-the-fly throw for an outfield assist tracked by Statcast (since 2015). There is no shortage of articles ranking MLB players by position, league, age, production or something else entirely. Vote for who you think are the best MLB outfielders currently playing in the league today . He hit .328/.376/.624 with 31 doubles, 11 triples, 32 homers, 92 RBI, 108 runs and 36 steals across three . "I'll take a guess that there hasn't been enough impetus for young players to be patient only until recently. Mays is in the discussion for the greatest player of all-time. The damage he did in the playoffs and World Series, against some of the best pitchers in the world, was absolutely staggering. In the 60-game season, Bellinger hit .239 and was moved down in the lineup to the No. Now the #20 prospect in the Yankees' organization, Hardman posted a 109 wRC+ across High-A and Double-A last season with 22 HRs in 111 games, but his over 30% K% is alarming for his projectability long-term. Managers who dont grab an outfielder in the first two rounds will still have an ample supply of impact players to choose from after that. It's not all about arm strength, of course. He homered 12 times in a 10-game stretch at the end of June, but he missed most of July with a hamstring strain. The 26-year-old finished the season as a 6.0 WAR player, earning a spot among the Gold Glove finalists in center field on top of his excellent offensive numbers. 14. Lagares easily has the most rARM per 1,000 innings over the last three seasons. Dylan Carlson, Cardinals (TOP 250 Rank: 11) Key Fantasy Skill (s): Power, OBP Roadblock: Tyler O'Neill, Lane Thomas (Threat Level: MEDIUM) ETA: 2021 Need to Know: Carlson had a rough MLB. Julio Rodriguez was the team's best player while former top prospect arms Logan Gilbert and George Kirby shined in Seattle's rotation. NHL trade deadline: Winners and losers, including the Bruins, Devils and Bruce Boudreau? Guerrero has the second best arm of any player in baseball today. Even though Meusel played just 11 seasons, he still recorded 157 outfield assists. fourth round of the 2021 MLB Draft in right-handed . Tier 4: Jeff McNeil, Byron Buxton, Wil Myers, Alex Verdugo, Joey Gallo, Jorge Soler, Tommy Pham, Kyle Lewis, Ramn Laureano, Mike Yastrzemski, Michael Brantley, Ian Happ, Dylan Moore, Eddie Rosario, Ryan Mountcastle, Dylan Carlson. The wild card in this tier is Kelenic, MLB Pipelines No. Let's get right into it. He was ranked the 40th-best free agent this offseason, per Giants Baseball Insider's rankings. MLB Tonight: Outfield Arm. He had such a good showing last year that as some rival executives kick around the idea of a possible Toronto match in a Francisco Lindor trade, they think Gurriel could anchor the package of players going from the Jays to Cleveland. He also once again took home Gold Glove honors in a 6.3 WAR season. 9. Whether it's unleashing the ball from deep in the outfield, across the infield or behind the plate, it can make the seemingly impossible happen. Kelenic had a rough rookie year for. Despite missing almost all of September with a hairline fracture in his left thumb, Bez tied for third in Defensive Runs Saved (26) and placed second among all players in Outs Above Average (+19). Which outfielder has the strongest arm 2021? Cobb is also remembered for his feisty attitude and his aggressive playing style. 1. Previous picks: Mookie Betts (hit), Joey Gallo (power), Christian Yelich (run), Harrison Bader (defense), Cody Bellinger, CF, DodgersKey stat: 101.1 mph max arm strength. Infielder Tyler Hardman also finds himself in the top 30, but unlike Fitts, he wasn't even ranked ahead of the 2022 season. Speaker was mentioned in Bill James' Baseball Abstract of having the best arm of anyone who played between 1910-1919. The 29-year-old hit .309/.429/.615 to lead the majors in OPS+ (179). Hernandez was signed as a super-utility . In per-game DRS among all MLB. He hit .281 with an .800 OPS after the All-Star break, and he capped off the season by winning his first Gold Glove. A former Gold Glove winner in left field, he is a roughly average defender in center field. Kris Bryant, Chicago Cubs/San Francisco Giants. Runners were hesitant to try to take an extra base when the ball was hit to right in Coors Field between 1995 and 2003. The Giants acquired him at the trade deadline, and he is poised to cash in as a free agent this offseason. 20. For reference, Bradley Zimmer has one of the best throwing arms on the big league roster and has always had a strong arm, considered to be plus (60) and maybe even double-plus (70). That Betts is the best right fielder in the game is assumed. Bez was responsible for five of the 31 tracked assists of at least 90 mph by infielders last season, the second most in MLB, and his average arm strength on max-effort throws (88.3 mph) was the third best among infielders. Stars and depth help the Dodgers dominate both NL competition and Best Tools voting. Since there are three times as many outfielders as there are other positions on the diamond, it made sense to tack an honorable mention list of 25 guys onto our top 25 list. Three-time AL MVP Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels definitely ranks in the top 10 outfielders, along with Mookie Betts and Charlie Blackmon. Carlos Correa (Twins): 95.0 mph 5. Larry Walker is considered one of the best Rockies ever in the team's short existence. He is, by any measure, the best outfielder and player of his generation. Red Sox. Harper wraps up the first tier. Hernndez (.919 OPS) and Gurriel (.882 OPS) are looking to validate their breakouts, and Conforto is, too, to an extent. Will draft 15-20 pick. Trout is about halfway through his career, maybe even further along than that. Honorable Mention: Arizona Diamondbacks, Cincinnati Reds, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, Oakland Athletics, San Francisco Giants. 8 prospect in the game. In 2015, Marte had a 16-1 number (A-DP) as part of perhaps baseball's best fielding outfield. There has been industry speculation that he was still dealing with the aftereffect of the fractured right kneecap he suffered at the end of the 2019 season. He also played a solid defensive center field in a 5.7 WAR season. In 2019, it was all about arm strength for Laureano. Cobb is widely regarded as one of the best baseball players in the history of the game. Look no further than Realmuto, the class of defenders behind home plate and the quickest gun in the Major Leagues. Ichiro has the strongest and most powerful arm of any outfielder in the major leagues today. There's no doubting that the Chicago Cubs farm system is vastly improved from where it was in 2021. He was hitting .283/.394/.596 with 19 doubles, 24 home runs and 17 steals through 82 games at the time of the injury, good for a 3.6 WAR season. The longtime utility man split his time between center field (93 games) and second base (47 games), and he posted a 107 OPS+ with 58 extra-base hits in a career-high 585 plate appearances. Starling Marte, Miami Marlins 6 spot. Yes, Gallo hit .160 with a 38.6 percent strikeout rate after the Rangers traded him to the Yankees. A big part of any draft kit are the rankings, and we're continuing our staff consensus rankings for 2021 with our fantasy baseball outfield rankings. Previous picks: Michael Brantley (hit), Nelson Cruz (power), Trea Turner (run), Kevin Kiermaier (defense). But at the least, we know the potential is there. They've helped to bridge the gap with veterans Brandon Belt and Evan Longoria both missing significant time because of injuries. The 27-year-old also has a perfect 99 reaction time rating, 86 arm strength, and 81 arm accuracy. Despite his defensive limitations, he should be able to find a more lucrative deal this winter. . The sport needs to have him back on the postseason stage in the next few years. He has won four FSWA Awards including on for his Mining . Mookie Betts, Dodgers. You need to do it all to be an MVP these days. Seven of the first 15 players in MLB.com's player rankings are outfielders, including four of the top five. PART - Positioning, Balls hit in air, Range, and Throwing for Infielders; Range & Positioning on balls hit in air for Outfielders. Ramirez is fourth among active outfielders with 129 career assists. The 26-year-old made notable strides at the plate in 2020, posting the best chase rate (14.1%, second lowest in MLB), walk rate (15.6%), hard-hit rate (43.2%) and barrel rate (12.5%) of his career. Kyle Schwarber, Washington Nationals/Boston Red Sox. The corner outfield duo of Nick Castellanos and Jesse Winker both rank among the MLB leaders in a number of offensive categories: Joining them isTyler Naquin, who earned a spot on the MLB roster on a minor league contract and is earning $1.5 million on a one-year deal. Outfielder Jump Leaderboard Current: Outfielder Jump 2022 Minimum Attempts (Q) Update Download CSV Jump is calculated only on plays that are Two Stars or harder, meaning with a 90% Catch Probability or lower. But given his offensive production and impact at the top of the lineup, that's more than enough to make him an extremely valuable all-around player. He has 19 homers in 63 postseason games, and only three players have more: Manny Ramirez (29), Bernie Williams (22) and Derek Jeter (20). He was also a terrific defender in right field (11 DRS), and he proved capable of handling center field in a pinch. There was a lot of debate during the truncated season why Yelich struggled so much -- and there's no disputing that his troubles were acute, something more than a slump. 3. The biggest surprise has been Austin Riley, who looked like the weak link after posting an 84 OPS+ in 503 plate appearances over his first two seasons. Listen. The 24-year-old has a 131 OPS+ with 23 doubles, 27 home runs and 76 RBI, and he has also made significant strides defensively at the hot corner. Like with many of the other top outfielders on this list, runners knew not to try for extra bases when the ball was anywhere near Barfield's hands. It's possible that Merrifield will move back to the infield if Nicky Lopez struggles in his effort to establish himself as the Royals' second baseman. Each writer provided anywhere from 80-100+ outfielders so we could create our consensus top-80. Previous picks: Anthony Rendon (hit), Mike Trout (power), Byron Buxton (run), Simmons (defense), Ramn Laureano, CF, AsKey stat: 321-foot assist on Aug. 11, 2018. Despite his 2020 postseason heroics, Arozarena entered the 2021 season with rookie eligibility, and he wound up leading all rookies with 4.1 WAR. And yes, by the end of the World Series, he did find his best swing, enough to put a punctuation mark on the Dodgers' championship with an eighth-inning home run in Game 6. Through Soto's age 21 season, he has played 313 regular-season games -- two full seasons, basically -- and has 228 walks, 69 homers among 146 extra-base hits, and an OPS of .972. His 26 home runs trail only Salvador Perez among all backstops. Previous picks: DJ LeMahieu (hit), Aaron Judge (power), Ronald Acua Jr. (run), Matt Chapman (defense). Once regarded as injury-prone, the 28-year-old has missed only 10 games over the past three years combined, averaging 36 homers, 107 RBIs, 105 runs and 16 steals per 162 games in that span. O'Neill won a Gold Glove last season, but he hit only .173 with a 70 OPS+ and 0.9 WAR in 50 games, tallying just 12 extra-base hits in 157 plate appearances. The writers involved are Eric Cross, Chris Clegg, Mick Ciallela, Justin Dunbar, Ryan Kirksey, Nic Civale, Logan Kritzeck, and Matt Heckman. The speedy Straw was an everyday player for the first time in 2021, first replacing George Springer in center field in Houston before the Astros traded him to Cleveland at the deadline. best outfield arms in mlb 2021 This is the best team in baseball. He tallied a career-high 42 doubles along with 35 home runs, 84 RBI and 101 runs scored in a 5.9 WAR season. His .366 career average is a major league record. Backup catcher Curt Casali (180 PA, 97 OPS+, 5 HR, 23 RBI) has also been solid at the plate, and the pitching staff has a fantastic 2.63 ERA with him in the crouch. MLB By Chris Novak on March 3, 2023. I can promise you with 100 percent certainty that my fantasy baseball outfield rankings for 2021 will not be 100 percent right. The home run he stole from Freddie Freeman in the NLCS, his leap perfectly timed. Utley's UZR/150 has been at least 8.0 in nine of his 10 seasons as a regular in the big leagues. The club also traded away Diego Castillo at the deadline in exchange for JT Chargois and Austin Shenton. Mookie Betts is the sixth-best outfielder in baseball, and it feels wrong to rank him this low, but wait until you see the top five. He also improved dramatically on defense, recording +2 Outs Above Average after finishing at -13 in just 53 games in the field in 2019, so his glove is no longer a reason to keep him out of the lineup. However, he was also a 4.2 WAR player at the time of the trade. 6 player in the Razzball Player Rater, despite playing just 130 games; give him Vladimir Guerrero's 161 games and he would've topped him for the No. One important stipulation: Each player could only be selected for one of the five tools. It's fitting that Smoltz, Maddux, and Tom Glavine came back-to-back-to-back on this list, because for over a decade . That's primal, natural. Tier 2: Kyle Tucker, Luis Robert, Aaron Judge, George Springer, Marcell Ozuna, Starling Marte, Whit Merrifield. Mike Trout was born on Aug. 7, 1991, and every so often, it's worth a few moments to consider the start to his career, to remind yourself that you are watching a historic peer of Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth. but if he regresses to 2017 or 2021 levels no one should complain. with only his head and one arm free.The . An intercostal strain limited Winker to only one game after Aug. 15. That seems almost impossible. On the back of plus-plus speed, Kiermaier shows off tremendous instincts for the position. Tier 3: Randy Arozarena, Trent Grisham, Michael Conforto, Giancarlo Stanton, Nick Castellanos, J.D. Tatis, of course, was a sensation in just about every way as a rookie in 2019, and his throwing ability was no exception. Bill James had him as the 67th best right fielder in major league history and said he had. The towering right fielder posted a 149 OPS+ with 39 home runs and a career-low 25.0 percent strikeout rate. Carl Furillo's right arm earned him the nickname, "The Reading Rifle". Yelich is 29 years old. 8. The ultra-versatile Taylor was an All-Star for the first time in 2021, posting a 110 OPS+ with 25 doubles, 20 home runs, 73 RBI, 92 runs scored and 13 steals in 148 games. Here are the players who just missed the cut, listed alphabetically: 25. Dave Roberts, Dodgers. He also slugged 38 home runs while winning his second straight Gold Glove. The late-bloomer is controllable for two more seasons, and the Blue Jays could explore a long-term extension to make sure he sticks around as part of the offensive core that also includes Guerrero, Bo Bichette and George Springer. 1 guy is pretty obvious, through the compilation of thought from folks around the industry. News. Sometimes he looked like he was guessing wrong over and over and over, with the befuddlement covering his face as he walked away from the plate. One evaluator said that Bellinger's swing is so unusual that he'll probably always struggle for consistency, for finding the feel he needs to be successful, and because of that, he'll probably have a lot of ups and downs. Speaker also holds the unique record for most unassisted double plays by an outfielder with six. The league may have changed the rules on shifting . The 26-year-old got off to a slow start this year, but he caught fire in May and never looked back. He's not just an MVP-caliber hitter; he has one of the strongest outfield arms in the league. They've responded with an MLB-best 3.05 ERA. His shoulder first began giving him problems in . Even at age 36, Ichiro was consistently able to throw out runners trying to take an extra base. The 27-year-old became the first 30/30 player in Orioles history, hitting .291/.360/.518 with 37 doubles, 30 home runs and 30 steals while finishing fourth in the league in hits (175), sixth in total bases (312) and 10th in OPS+ (135). Luis Robert is one of the best prospects in baseball and he's set to take over in center. The 24-year-old led the team in OPS+ (147) while hitting .294/.359/.557 with 37 doubles, 30 home runs, 92 RBI and 14 steals in what was essentially his first full season in the majors, aside from last year's shortened slate. With free agency looming after the 2022 season, another performance like that would set him up for a huge payday next winter. How Does Carlos Correa's Deal Impact Dansby Swanson's Market? The 29-year-old opted out of the final two years of his contract shortly after the World Series concluded. After a terrific finish to the 2019 season with the Chicago Cubs, Nick Castellanos signed a four-year, $64 million contract with the Cincinnati Reds in free agency.

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