He leads all active outfielders in career assists with 134. xwOBA is formulated using exit velocity, launch angle No player had a stronger arm in the 1990's than Vladimir Guerrero. Ugly defensive metrics (-15 DRS, -17.7 UZR/150) and the fact that he was essentially a platoon player (57 PA vs. LHP) kept Pederson from ranking any higher, but he was a terrific bargain on a one-year, $6 million deal. A six-time Gold Glove winner and the 1997 National League MVP, Larry Walker was yet another smooth fielding right fielder with a cannon for an arm who has played the game. It gets you from Point A to Point B more quickly. It's the first time he's hit the cutoff man. The best hitter on the Pittsburgh roster by a landslide in 2022, Reynolds led the team in OPS+ (126), hits (142), extra-base hits (50), home runs (27), RBI (62), runs scored (74) and total bases (250). Statcast refers to the spin that contributes to movement He played in 32 games, hitting four homers and stealing two bases while slashing .260/.330/.500 in the small sample size. Escape Velocity takes the average of a player's batted ball velocities subtracted from 88. A Batted Ball Event represents any batted ball that That was by far the best throw I've ever seen in 10 or 11 seasons. He logged a 104 OPS+ with 52 extra-base hits, 34 steals and 3.8 WAR in 156 games, and he still has three seasons of club control remaining for an Orioles team on the rise. With many new faces around him, there is a chance he could drop down, which would harm his value. Not any more. Yes. A full season alongside Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. in the San Diego Padres lineup would provide him with the best protection he's had at any point in his career, and with free agency fast approaching after the 2024 season he's playing for a huge payday. If you have the IL spots, his current ADP of around 130 makes sense. How high/low, in degrees, a ball was hit by a batter. He was named the MVP of the 1964 All-Star Game, best remembered for his three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth off Dick Radatz that gave the National League a 7-4 victory. He was very muscular for an outfielder Plus he also had one of the best outfield arms of anybody. Home Run record with 62, scoring 133 runs, driving in 131, and stealing 16 bases to boot. He contributed across all batting categories, slugging 28 HR with 75 RBI, 84 runs, and 25 stolen bases. In 2022, thats down again, to 76 mph. ", 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. Outfielders get the average of the top 10% of their throws. When you call Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth your teammates, you tend to get overlooked. The No. All rights reserved. For as powerful as his arm was, it was also prone to be erratic, and Parker committed his fair share of throwing errors, which is why he doesn't rank higher on our list. Baseball Savant. The bad news for Nick Castellanos was a 46-point drop in his batting average in 2022. Oscar Gonzalez does not take walks. His arm strength is middling, but he makes good throws nonetheless. 45-Foot Phase Activity Number ofThrows. Byron Buxton staying healthy is the carrot dangling in front of fantasy managers every offseason. 3) Players throw differently at different positions, right? as Active Spin. In that case, he is a perfect complement to whatever three true outcome player you draft for power. His 10 hardest non-relay/pivot throws on the right side of the infield average 75.7 mph, maxing out at 78.2 mph. the fastest reactions and most direct routes in the How much time, in seconds, it takes a runner to get from Aaron Judge put together one of the greatest offensive seasons in MLB history in 2022, setting the AL record with 62 home runs while making a legitimate run at the Triple Crown by hitting .311/.425/.686 with 131 RBI and 133 runs scored. Mike Trout is finally a 5-tool player. 6 yr. ago. For a pitcher it is the average of his softest 50% of batted balls allowed. Still, his elite on-base skills continue to increase his value in fantasy leagues, especially considering that he bats leadoff in one of the most explosive lineups in baseball. become a hit. The talent is enormous but now, at age 33, the injury concerns continue to grow as well. It's time to put a bow on the 2022 MLB season with Bleacher Report's final positional rankings. Baseball may never see another player as smooth at the "catch-and-throw" than Al Kaline. Van Slyke unleashed a throw to Pirates catcher Mike LaValliere that arrived in time to nail Oquendo, who was blocked from the plate by LaValliere's left leg long enough for the catcher to apply the tag. 5 TanteUschi How far, in feet, a runner is ranging off the bag at the He is exactly the type of guy you wait for once you've built up your other categories. Partly because of time missed due to injury, largely because of his reputation, people generally don't try to run when Ankiel has the ball in his hand, which would help to explain how someone with that strong of an arm has never reached double-digit assists in any season as an outfielder. He will . Back in 2017, a then-19-year-old Ronald Acua Jr. appeared in Miami at the Futures Game. In order to qualify for the Not only is his arm incredibly strong, it's also accurate. 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. Owner of 10 consecutive Gold Glove awards, Griffey made impossible plays not only possible, but look nowhere near as difficult as they actually were. A lifelong Dodger, Carl Furillo was a master at playing the tricky right field corner of Ebbets Field, becoming adept at fielding balls off of the 40-foot-high wall that loomed over him. An All-Star for just the second time in his career, he slotted perfectly in the No. 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. If strikeouts count against you in your league, then you might want to stay clear of Adolis Garcia. raw numbers and as a measurement against average. A Bolt is any run where the Sprint Speed (defined as He played one year of baseball for the school, but it was during a football game that his left arm was injured to the point that doctors gave serious consideration to amputating it. In traditional 5x5 leagues, he can anchor any fantasy outfield you put him in. He hits in the middle of the order behind Marcus Semien, Corey Seager, and Nathaniel Lowe, all of whom like to get on base. In total, he made 10 throws of 95-plus mph last season and had three throws of 300 feet or more. Let's dive into the top 25 outfielders of the 2022 season. So, here are the leaders in ARM over the past three years: Alfonso Soriano - +25.6 runs Jeff Francoeur - +23.4 runs Ichiro Suzuki - +12.5 runs Nick Markakis - +10.8 runs Michael Cuddyer - +10.4. 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. If there is a player in this system who can make a Bryan Ramos-like jump in 2023, my money is on Mieses. Or he could clog your IL for two-thirds of the season. While "The Catch" is unquestionably one of the great plays in the history of the game, the part of the play that is often overlooked is the throw that Willie Mays made immediately following it. Defense: Moves through the ball well, gets to the ball quick. With 305 total bases he was one of just 12 players to break the 300 mark during the 2022 season, joining Aaron Judge (391) as the only outfielders on that exclusive list. Tris Speaker recorded no less than 12 assists from the outfield in 20 of the 22 years that he played, including three seasons with 30 or more and 12 seasons with at least 20, giving him a record that will likely never be broken449 career assists for an outfielder. Over a 17-year career that was spent primarily with the Montreal Expos and Colorado Rockies, Walker picked up 154 assists, including eight seasons with 10 or more. From his Rookie of the Year season in 1977 through 1983, Dawson averaged nearly 10 assists a season, racking up 69 over those seven years, including a career high 17 in 1978. The 28-year-old is capable of making a greater impact in half a season than most players can in a full 162 games, and he racked up 4.0 WAR and 44 extra-base hits in 92 games this year while earning his first All-Star selection. Expect him to be one of the faces of baseball for the next decade-plus and a strong contender for the No. His 149 OPS+ ranked eighth among all qualified hitters and trailed only Aaron Judge (211) and Yordan lvarez (187) among outfielders. It will be very important to keep track of where Happ is batting in the revamped Cubs lineup. The former top prospect posted a 109 OPS+ with 23 doubles, 27 home runs, 74 RBI, 79 runs scored and 16 steals, and he was a Gold Glove finalist in right field in a 4.9-WAR season. Traded shortstop Adalberto Mondesi to the Red Sox for pitcher Josh Taylor. This Eaton is a speedy infielder who seems more useful in the outfield, where he can leverage his range and strong arm into GIF-worthy plays. How fast, in miles per hour, a ball was hit by a batter. When he was 13 years old, Shoeless Joe Jackson began pitching on the baseball team of the textile mill in which he worked. Cedric Mullins stole 30+ bases for the second consecutive year in 2022, though the power disintegrated, lowering his home total to 16 from 30. Yet every year on draft day, there he sits in the ninth or tenth round, and every year we all imagine what an absolute steal that would be if he were to play 140+ games. Some players have power, whereas Yordan Alvarez has POWER. To qualify for inclusion, a player simply had to have at least 200 plate appearances. He missed time in the middle of the season with a finger injury he incurred while stealing a base, or he would have probably joined the 30/30 Club. Soto is worth every penny of a top draft pick. Its hard to think its entirely about Storys move to the right side. Showcasing the Arm Younger players rarely have the opportunity to play in stadiums where statcast tracks their every move. Julks was solid in 2021 but had a breakout season in 2022. player has saved over his peers. Judge is the guy if fantasy managers want to shore up their slugging early. Strength is only one aspect of what makes a great throwing arm. 12 finisher hit .297. 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. Few rookies in recent memory have had a greater impact on the culture of their team than Julio Rodrguez, who played a pivotal role in helping the Seattle Mariners reach the postseason for the first time since Ichiro Suzuki's rookie season in 2001. The stolen bases are most likely gone forever, but he could pair nicely with a speed guy from Round 1. Watch more top videos, highlights, and B/R original content, Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images, Brandon Sloter/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Fantasy managers dream each spring of a full season of this production, and if he manages to get to 500 plate appearances, he could be a steal at his current ADP of 78. In 118 games, he slashed .292/.347/.468, buoying the ratios for fantasy managers in roto leagues. 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. Brandon Nimmo was a 5-WAR player for the first time in his career in 2022, just in time to test the free agency waters. When he makes contact, Arozarena's elite maxEV will allow good things to happen. 1 spot on this list for years to come. Another year, another pile of accolades for Mookie Betts who won his fifth Silver Slugger, sixth Gold Glove and made his sixth trip to the All-Star Game in the third season of a 12-year, $365 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Junior had 154 assists for his career, a number that would have been significantly higher were it not for the rash of injuries that he dealt with. time of a pitcher's first movement or pitch release. USA TODAY Sports photo. The Arkansas commit is an explosive athlete that burned a 6.62 in the 60-yard dash, then showcased a sizzler of an arm, 90 mph across the infield and 95 . Judge has shown off his rocket arm many times in the past. What is not of concern are the 81 games he gets to play at Yankee Stadium this year and each one after until 2031, thanks to his 9-year, $360 million free-agent contract. Laureano is looking to bounce back after a rough 2020 season in which he hit just .213 with a .704 OPS. It can be used to evaluate outfielders on attempted assists, catchers on stolen base and pickoff throws, and infielders on throws across the diamond. In order to account for that, outfielders receive the average of their top 10% hardest throws as a seasonal average. A lot of things went wrong for Giancarlo Stanton in 2022. He batted leadoff 64 times, indicating the Royals are dedicated to getting him plate appearances in front of Bobby Witt Jr. and Salvador Perez. The movement of a pitch is defined in inches, both in . With that, he became just the second player in Astros history with a 30-homer, 25-steal season, joining Hall of Famer first baseman Jeff Bagwell who did it twice. Warm-up throws at 20-45feet Throws at 45 feet 2 sets / Rest 10 min between sets Warm-down throws Throw on . From 1998 through 2002, Bobby Abreu racked up 59 assists patrolling right field for the Philadelphia Phillies. (He has 14 harder throws from the right side, though obviously in far more opportunities. As for Vlad, well he only had 13,000 innings. able to make a catch on an individual batted ball. Along with his stellar offensive numbers, Tucker also won his first career Gold Glove while posting stellar defensive metrics (13 DRS, 4.6 UZR/150) in right field. A lot of his fantasy worth is tied up in whether or not he continues to bat at the top of the lineup. Ted Kluszewski, who was the Reds' hitting coach when Geronimo arrived and helped Geronimo enjoy a moderate level of success at the plate, explained how impressive his throwing arm was: "(Geronimo) is like a center in basketballhe intimidates you. Not only is he still a very good hitter at the age of 38, but when Ichiro throws the ball from right field it still comes out of his hand like a laser beam. Meusel threw strikes to any base from the outfield. 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. Warm-up throws at 20-45feet Throws at 45 feet Warm-down throws 1 set only / Rest the next day. Click a bubble to see all the player's throws. Statcast refers to the spin that contributes to movement Indeed, the 25-year-old came back in late April, immediately began stealing bases, and rewarded fantasy managers who used a high draft pick on him. How far, in feet, a fielder or runner has traveled on a Melendez is not a good defensive catcher, but he should play enough to retain eligibility there. Three times he registered 20 or more assists in a season. The 21-year-old earned an All-Star selection, won Silver Slugger honors, finished seventh in AL MVP voting, and easily took home the AL Rookie of the Year Award. He hit 31 HR in 451 plate appearances with 78 RBI. Buhner merely went on to hit more than 300 home runs and become one of the most beloved Mariners of all-time. The strength of the club lies in its outfield with seniors Ethan Beal and Benjamin Jurenko back. Each player was only included at the position where he played the most innings. And I'm talking about strong arms, not merely accurate ones. His 6.4 WAR marked the sixth time in nine MLB seasons that he's been a 6-WAR player, and he finished fifth in NL MVP voting, one spot behind teammate Freddie Freeman. and 32 degrees. Making a case for him to go 1.1 in 2023 drafts isn't difficult. Baseball is largely played in terms of feet and seconds, and they all add up quickly. It's baffling why baserunners still try and advance on Jeff Francoeur. Going back to 2015, he has two of the three hardest throws ever tracked by an infielder. Top Major-League Arm: Bryce Harper (Washington Nationals) All-Time Tool: Jesse Barfield It's been said that the Indians have been cursed ever since they traded Colavito to the Detroit Tigers in 1960, getting Harvey Kuenn in return. A Batted Ball Event represents any batted ball that No, I'm a California resident looking for the California Consumer Privacy Act form. What a strong throwing arm does, mostly, is make things happen faster. It's a risky proposition, but the payoff could be incredible. His average arm strength on max-effort throws was 97.9 mph, making him the top right fielder -- the position with the strongest arms, with a league average of 90.5 mph. In 2021, still at shortstop, that was down to 79.1 mph, largely believed to be related to a midseason elbow injury. 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. The Major League average Pop Time on steal attempts of second base is 2.0 seconds . xERA is a simple 1:1 translation of xwOBA, converted to produces a result. In his age-29 season, he played 155 games, led the NL in home runs with 46, scored 100 runs, drove in 94, and stole 10 bases. Van Slyke would finish his career with five Gold Gloves and 107 assists. As Reynolds was rounding third, Jackson unleashed a throw that not only reached Royals catcher Bob Boone on the fly, but in plenty of time to stop Reynolds from scoring the winning run. Expected Weighted On-base Average (xwOBA), 1B -- average of top 1% of throws -- minimum 100 throws to qualify, 2B/SS/3B -- average of top 5% of throws -- minimum 75 throws to qualify, OF -- average of top 10% of throws -- minimum 50 throws to qualify. With runners on the corners and one out, Cardinals shortstop Luis Alicea hit a shot hurtling towards Van Slyke in center fieldone that was certainly deep enough to allow Jose Oquendo to tag up from third base. BY Justin Leger -. We can't blame the Pirates for Reynolds's increased K% (23.0) and decreased BB% (9.1%), but we certainly can put the onus on them for his putrid runs and RBI numbers. "[Those throws are] something that I do all natural," Acua said at the time. 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. Julio Rodriguez led the 2022 youth movement throughout MLB, skipping Triple-A to win Rookie of the Year with 29 of 30 first-place votes and electrifying the crowd at the HR Derby in July. 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. window") of the runner is at least 30 ft/sec. Unless you're in a quirky league where defense counts, Melendez fills a scarce position with decent skills. Top Major League Outfield Arm: Bryce Harper ( Washington Nationals) All-Time Tool: Jesse Barfield How to Identify It: Arm strength is a simple tool to evaluate in comparison to others. You dont want to average all of those together, because so much of it just doesnt matter, and theres not exactly a rulebook definition for was trying. For Rodrguez, for example, he has over 430 tracked throws, but nearly 80% of them are under 80 mph. The 26-year-old and his new found power led the Astros system with 31 HR in 130 games, all coming in Triple-A. and, on certain types of batted balls, Sprint Speed. He played in 84 games last season, slashing .295/.358/.500 with 16 HR, 54 RBI, and 40 runs. A below average fielder who threw out 107 runners over the course of his career, Jose Guillen made what some consider to be the best throw in the history of baseball - click here to check it out. For a batter, Best Speed is an average of 50% of his hardest hit balls. Compare that, for example, to the 211 such throws from shortstops, or the nearly 2,500 from right fielders (which almost certainly underestimates the truth in the early years). 6) Do first basemen really ever have to throw hard? As MLB.com Toms Tango has detailed, when looking at players who have played multiple positions, outfielders consistently throw about 3 mph higher than themselves at shortstop and third, 7 mph higher than at second, and 10 mph than they are at first base. one base to another, like Home To First. play. He should rack up the RBIs batting in the middle of that order, and he may creep back toward the 30-HR mark as well. Run: 7.10 runner in the 60. This year, thats all the way up to 90.7 mph, which is about 75th percentile among outfielders. 22). Ari Bethea, Collierville (TN), 2025 Positional Profile: RHP/OF Body: 6-1, 192-pounds. His homers fell from 31 to 27 as a result, but he increased his runs and RBI by 11 each, and he stole 25 bases to boot. Only in baseball can the son of a potato farmer who born and raised on Long Island become Boston's favorite son. xBA measures the likelihood that a batted ball will There may be many ways to arrive at a logical ranking of outfield throwing arms, but assists minus double plays is telling. Jump is calculated only on plays that are Two Stars or harder, meaning The best player at the position was Ronald Acuna (.280 with 127 runs, 41 home runs, 101 RBI, and 37 steals . Fantasy managers just need to decide if they can ride out the 0-for-4 streaks. The likelihood, in percent, that an outfielder will be 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. Default = Experts with most recent updates. In Game 6 of the 1971 World Series (the throw can be seen in the video around the 1:20 mark), Clemente unleashed a throw from deep in the right field corner towards third base, trying to nail the runner. Being a former pitcher who routinely hit the upper 90's will certainly leave you with a powerful throwing arm, but some of the throws that Rick Ankiel has made from the outfield have been ridiculous. As an outfielder, Sheffield racked up 108 assists for his career, including a career high 17 in 2001 when he patrolled left field for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Even with his torn UCL last season, he still slashed .286/.364/.514 and powered the Phillies to the World Series. Since there are three times as many outfielders as there are other positions on the diamond, it made sense to add an honorable mention list of 25 guys onto our top 25 list. Seven of the first 15 players in MLB.com's player rankings are outfielders, including four of the top five. On the home-to-first leaderboards, the same gap -- between truly elite speed and a catcher with bad knees -- is all of 1.23 seconds. The outfield will be the foundation of many fantasy teams in 2021. Therein lies the problem, of course. 14. Whether or not you draft Luis Robert depends entirely on how risk-averse you are to injuries. His arm recorded 195 assists over the course of his career and only adds to his case to be called the greatest of all time. Steven Kwan was hard for fantasy managers to believe in last season, but he ended up being the 16th-ranked outfielder in 5x5 leagues when it was all said and done. The 25-year-old posted a 128 OPS+ with 28 doubles, 30 home runs, 107 RBI and 25 steals in 29 attempts. With the addition of Xander Bogaerts, the return of Fernando Tatis, Jr., and the presence of Manny Machado, this is a real-life team you want multiple pieces of in fantasy. Just beware you'll probably get closer to 500 plate appearances than the preferred 600 with his injury history.
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