I think we'll see him hunt early in counts against next season.". He also has a career-high 16 steals in 18 attempts and provides Gold Glove-caliber defense. Tabbed as the 58th-best outfield prospect nationally (D1Baseball). With the unique 2020 season behind us, it's time to turn our attention to the hot stove season. NHL trade deadline: Winners and losers, including the Bruins, Devils and Bruce Boudreau? Still two years away from arbitration, he will be a cornerstone player for the cost-conscious Rays. Let's get right into it. Past production and future expectations played no part in deciding the order. Here are five options going much later in drafts than they should based on their . Ramirez is fourth among active outfielders with 129 career assists. Myles Straw, Houston Astros/Cleveland Guardians. In Game 6 of the 1971 World Series, Clemente showed off this arm on a fly ball hit by Frank Robinson. Despite only having played 15 seasons, Abreu is second on the active list for outfield assists with 132. They've helped to bridge the gap with veterans Brandon Belt and Evan Longoria both missing significant time because of injuries. Meusel is another player on this list gaining recognition from Bill James as having the strongest outfield arm in the majors during his playing years (1920s). Despite his 2020 postseason heroics, Arozarena entered the 2021 season with rookie eligibility, and he wound up leading all rookies with 4.1 WAR. Share. He is an OBP machine, a mini-Votto. The outfield will be the foundation of many fantasy teams in 2021. 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. The Frisco Classic is one of college baseball's premier early-season tournaments year-in and year-out, and this year's field is strong as usual, headlined by 2021 national champion Mississippi State and 2022 national runner-up Oklahoma. 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 31-year-old is hitting .337/.413/.543 with 15 home runs and 41 RBI in 74 games since the beginning of June, and his 3.5 WAR on the year ranks fifth among all first basemen. He also played a solid defensive center field in a 5.7 WAR season. 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. But the Rays also added some competition for the starting role in former top prospect Francisco Mejia, whom they acquiredin the Blake Snell blockbuster. Carl Furillo's right arm earned him the nickname, "The Reading Rifle". Minimum 800 innings 6. During Wednesday night's game against the Athletics, Yankees outfield Aaron Hicks broke a Statcast record for the fastest ball thrown in recorded history with a 105.5 mph, 246 . Over the past two seasons, he has a .393 on-base percentage, and an OPS+ of 140. He's hit .300 or better in five of the last seven seasons, and in the two he didn't, he batted .299 (in 2017) and was injury-ravaged in the other (2016). 3. 8. Despite playing only eight seasons, Jackson managed to rack up 49 assists. Utley's UZR/150 has been at least 8.0 in nine of his 10 seasons as a regular in the big leagues. Sun's out, guns out. Oneil Cruz (Pirates): 97.9 mph 2. The Red Sox acquired him at the deadline, and he finished with a 148 OPS+ and 32 home runs in 113 games, posting a .266/.374/.554 line that represented career highs across the board. That duo has started all but one game behind the dish for the Rays this year and posted the following combined stat line in the process: Zunino, 30, was an All-Star for the first time this year. At 321 feet, it was the longest on-the-fly throw for an outfield assist tracked by Statcast (since 2015). Up next is the 22-year-old Soto, whose production over his first three seasons has him drawing comparisons to Hall of Famer Ted Williams. MLB Power Rankings: The 25 Best Outfield Arms in MLB History | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors | Bleacher Report MLB Final NYY 7 LAA 4 Soccer Today 6:30PM ARS AVFC Today. Crow-Armstrong soaking in first Spring Training with Cubs. He also once again took home Gold Glove honors in a 6.3 WAR season. Buxton, Myers, Pham, Laureano, Moore and Carlson could be double-digit homer and steal guys. Dave Roberts, Dodgers. Castellanos and Blackmon, meanwhile, faded dramatically after blazing starts. 2y Buster Olney. . fourth round of the 2021 MLB Draft in right-handed . For a boost in the batting-average category, target McNeil, Verdugo or Brantley. 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. 6 spot. Tier 2: Kyle Tucker, Luis Robert, Aaron Judge, George Springer, Marcell Ozuna, Starling Marte, Whit Merrifield. with only his head and one arm free.The . He . Among players with at least 200 plate appearances last season, the 23-year-old had the fourth-highest chase rate, the third-highest whiff rate and the sixth-highest strikeout rate, making him a high-risk, high-reward pick in the early rounds. Follow @RickWeinerBR Just Missed the Cut 1 of 42 Barry Bonds Shin-Soo Choo Mike Hershberger Andruw Jones. On the other hand, the league still hasn't had a chance to develop a counterattack against the right-handed-hitting masher. 4 overall prospect. In 2015, Marte had a 16-1 number (A-DP) as part of perhaps baseball's best fielding outfield. "There's a nuance to disciplined hitting that needs to become a habit. There's no doubting that the Chicago Cubs farm system is vastly improved from where it was in 2021. In a down year by his standards, Betts was still a 4.2 WAR player. 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). 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. The MLB Tonight panel breaks down the components of a good outfield arm. Clemente is tied with Willie Mays for the the most Gold Gloves for an outfielder with 12. Fernando Tatis Jr., SS, PadresKey stat: 91.8 mph average max-effort arm strength in 2019. Anyone paying attention to the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2019 knew Bryan Reynolds was capable of the type of season he put together in 2021. Best Outfield Arm. With club control through the 2025 season, he is a long-term building block for the O's. Larry Walker is considered one of the best Rockies ever in the team's short existence. In 2019, it was all about arm strength for Laureano. The tattoo was earned, as Mondesi had one of the strongest arms in baseball in the 1990s. Acuna was squarely among the NL MVP front-runners when he suffered a season-ending torn ACL on July 10. Speaker was mentioned in Bill James' Baseball Abstract of having the best arm of anyone who played between 1910-1919. He hit .281 with an .800 OPS after the All-Star break, and he capped off the season by winning his first Gold Glove. . To qualify for inclusion, a player had to have at least 200 plate appearances. Robles struggled in 2020, but he had 17 homers, 28 steals, 65 RBIs and 86 runs in '19 and has no competition for playing time this season. That leaves the Cincinnati Reds as the pick. Barfield would consistently throw strikes from right field to home plate. March 1, 2023. Great teams are composed of . While his .286 on-base percentage and 31.2 percent strikeout rate leave something to be desired, he was a stellar defender (16 DRS, 11.8 UZR/150) to go along with his power production in a 3.8 WAR season. Sign up to receive our daily Morning Lineup to stay in the know about the latest trending topics around Major League Baseball. Davis looking to get back on track this spring. 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. If you don't have coaching that can support that, then the player needs to be very stubborn with his thinking, which, in my opinion, requires a strong independence. 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. Scott Pianowski continues his tiered positional rankings by examining the outfield landscape for 2023 fantasy baseball drafts. Starling Marte, Miami Marlins There just isn't another divisional outfield duo that comes very close. "It was as if we were playing for the playoffs," one impressed staffer said. He is widely seen as defensively challenged and although he is just 30, his future is clearly going to be at DH. The club also traded away Diego Castillo at the deadline in exchange for JT Chargois and Austin Shenton. September 10, 2021 | 00:05:48. Not just mine, but any site's rankings of outfielders will not be . Managers who don't grab an outfielder in the first two rounds will still have an ample supply of impact players His throwing abilities were recognized by Bill James, as Guerrero was noted to have the best arm of the 1990s. After playing in just over 63 percent of the New York Yankees' games during the three-year stretch prior to this season, Aaron Judge finally stayed healthy and turned in an MVP-caliber campaign. 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. Buster Olney's top 10s for 2021: Ranking MLB's . Honorable Mention: Chicago White Sox, Cleveland, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, New York Yankees, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants. Then theres Stanton, who might be the biggest boom-or-bust pick in fantasy. Catch up on the 2021 MLB Player Rankings series: Catchers, First Basemen, Second Basemen,. March 1, 2023 5:25 pm ET. Realmuto paced all full-time catchers (min. 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. He even threw a ball 100.8 mph on April 21, though it didnt result in an assist. 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. Geraldo Perdomo (D-backs): 96.7 mph 3. The outfield will be the foundation of many fantasy teams in 2021. Accuracy matters, too. A hyped prospect since he was selected fifth overall in the 2015 draft, his breakout season went a long way toward replacing George Springer's lost production. For Springer, that box is checked indelibly. Tatis, of course, was a sensation in just about every way as a rookie in 2019, and his throwing ability was no exception. Among the four outfielders with a perfect 99 fielding rating is Minnesota Twins center fielder Byron Buxton. He struggled in 2020, with his slugging percentage (.312) matching his on-base percentage. The eight-time Gold Glove winner even managed to throw out 11 base runners from left field at age 39. One of the tougher players to slot on this list, Buxton played in only 61 games while missing time with a hip strain and fractured hand. 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. 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. Buxton, Taylor and Gallo are such great, award-winning fielders that it's easy to forget about Kepler, who would be the best defensive outfielder on many teams. 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. 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. Edmonds had phenomenal range while he was younger, and there are many instances in which he scaled the outfield wall to retrieve would-be home runs. Cobb is widely regarded as one of the best baseball players in the history of the game. In the 60-game season, Bellinger hit .239 and was moved down in the lineup to the No. Harper hit .338/.476/.713 with 20 home runs after the All-Star break, doing his part to help a Phillies team that tried in vain to chase down a postseason berth. Amazingly, his arm was not the best part of his game defensively. "I'll take a guess that there hasn't been enough impetus for young players to be patient only until recently. At 321 feet, it was the longest on-the-fly throw for an outfield assist tracked by Statcast (since 2015). 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. He's clearly taken pride in his plate discipline from an early age and been rewarded with performance and -- I would also guess -- supportive coaching. 10. Mar 22, 2021. Each player was included in the rankings at the position where he played the most innings. He did it across 72 games and 322 plate appearances on a Washington Nationals team that was floundering at the bottom of the NL East standings. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 2021 Topps Series One Baseball MONTE HARRISON Rookie Base #126 Miami Marlins RC at the best online prices at eBay! Even with all of those free passes and teams pitching around him, he still managed 20 doubles, 29 home runs and 95 RBI. Mancini is back after missing 2020 because of Stage 3 colon cancer. ESPN's Paul Hembekides sent this along: "I think his issues in 2020 stem from a lack of confidence -- he just stopped swinging. In his 10 years, Valentine did manage to win one Gold Glove and he recorded 85 assists. In addition to the fact that he ran the fastest ever-recorded 40-meter time at the NFL combine (4.08 seconds), the two-sport star had one of the best arms in baseball history. After back-to-back 20-plus-homer seasons in 2018 and 2019, Teoscar Hernandez showcased a more well-rounded offensive game last year, hitting .289/.340/.579 for a 146 OPS+ in 50 games to finish 11th in AL MVP voting and win a Silver Slugger Award. Base runners in the National League feared the arm of Roberto Clemente. From Jimenez's first season to his second, his wRC+ jumped from 116 to 141. 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. The former Red Sox great and six-time Gold Glove winner is known for his arm. Bellinger could be a great pick for any tool -- hit, power, speed, glove or arm. Guerrero has the second best arm of any player in baseball today. This prevented the Orioles from scoring that inning and the Pirates would go on to win the World Series. A standout defender throughout his time in the big leagues, Bader stepped his offensive game up this year, hitting .267/.324/.460 for a 116 OPS+ with 21 doubles and 16 home runs. 8 prospect in the game. 2021:Second-Team All-American Athletic Conference selection as an outfielder Started 58 of 59 games played in centerfield Batted .262 (53-for-202) with nine home runs and 33 RBI Scored 35 runs and walked 26 times Swiped 9 of 13 bases (69.2 percent) Similarly, Grisham has played fewer than 120 games in the Majors. Seven of the first 15 players in MLB.com's player rankings are outfielders, including four of the top five. Baseball Savant. 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. But that seemed to be more about a rookie being overly aggressive than anything else. In 2019, 24 players hit 30 home runs or more who qualified at outfield. 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. It is a shame that his career was cut short as the result of a hip injury. He has also done a solid job handling the staff with a 3.87 ERA behind the plate. Ramirez has never won a Gold Glove and he is thought of more for his offensive prowess than his defensive abilities. Statcast Leaders Baseball Savant Top Prospect Stats. Stars and depth help the Dodgers dominate both NL competition and Best Tools voting. That seems almost impossible. Sits in the Top Ten of draft. Other choices were more complicated, particularly by the question of who might be more suited to be ranked among the designated hitters. MLB Tonight: Outfield Arm. Fantasy managers can still find some starting-caliber outfielders in this tier. And it would be a crime not to grab Bellinger in this five-tools exercise somewhere. The future of Florida's pitching staff is incredibly bright. He tallied a career-high 42 doubles along with 35 home runs, 84 RBI and 101 runs scored in a 5.9 WAR season. There are undoubtedly better defensive trios than this group, but their top-tier offensive production earns them the nod for top outfield unit in 2021. Other good MLB outfielders right now include Bryce Harper, Giancarlo Stanton, J. D. Martinez, and Aaron Judge. His .366 career average is a major league record. However, the slugger has missed nearly a full seasons worth of games (142) over the past three years due to an assortment of injuries, which is something for fantasy managers to keep in mind. Scouts noted that he has a plus arm in the. He was also a terrific defender in right field (11 DRS), and he proved capable of handling center field in a pinch. Sign up to receive our daily Morning Lineup to stay in the know about the latest trending topics around Major League Baseball. The 33-year-old figures to be a hot commodity on the free-agent market this winter. 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). Will draft 15-20 pick. Andre Dawson had a cannon for an arm. MLB fans were up in arms on Friday afternoon because of an absurd shift used during a Spring Training game. 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. Nearly every player on this list has been an All-Star, and all the rest have a chance to make their first Midsummer Classic this season. Ozzie Albies, Dansby Swanson and Freddie Freeman, 505 PA, .235/.309/.504, 56 XBH (31 HR), 76 RBI, 75 R, 4.3 WAR. Kaline, also known as Mr. Tiger, made his major league debut at age 18. Rob Neyer ranked him as our best right fielder in his Big Book of Baseball Lineups (pre-Bautista). Now it's time to finalize those rankings while expanding the list out to the 25 best at each position on the diamond, which means each position is going to get its own article. He led the National League in outfield assists twice in his career. Having to play the field regularly could hinder his production, but the fact that he led the NL with 18 homers and 56 RBIs while hitting .338/.431/.636 last season cant be ignored. The 21-year-old had 23 homers and 20 steals in the Minors in 2019, but thats the only full Minor League season hes played, and the left adductor muscle strain he suffered in his fourth Cactus League game spoiled any chance he had of cracking the Mariners Opening Day roster. 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. His OPS+ is 176 -- a standard surpassed by only four players: Babe Ruth (206), Ted Williams (191), Barry Bonds (182) and Lou Gehrig (179). On the back of plus-plus speed, Kiermaier shows off tremendous instincts for the position. Something that jumped out to Giants staffers last year was Yastrzemski's fearlessness in two-strike counts: After the count reached no balls and two strikes, he hit .222; after the count was 1-2, his OPS was 1.033. 14. A former Gold Glove winner in left field, he is a roughly average defender in center field. After bouncing around the infield over his first five seasons, Bez settled in as the Cubs starting shortstop last year and was one of the best defensive players in all of baseball. 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. $0.99 The so-called five-tool player is a special breed, as those who truly rate above average in each category are extremely rare. Let's marvel at the all-around game that is Mookie Betts. 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. Ha-Seong Kim (Padres): 95.2 mph 4. Mookie. The Bulldogs and Sooners are joined by California (which is off to a strong 6-1 start) and Ohio State (a . Cobb had 271 errors as an outfielder in his career. (Worth noting: Second on that list was DJ LeMahieu, who had a 92.9% in-zone contact rate, then Anthony Rendon and Tommy La Stella tied at 91.2% each.)". Mejia, 25, is hitting .263/.323/.429 with 20 extra-base hits, and he has thrown out 32 percent of base stealers on the year. Soto, in my opinion, has that. Play Ball Youth Baseball & Softball. He compiled 157 outfield assists in his 20 major league seasons. The San Francisco Giants have had 16 different players tally at least 100 plate appearances this season, and that group does not count prized deadline pickup Kris Bryant. Trent Grisham, San Diego Padres That's primal, natural. It's possible Ozuna will sign with an NL team and play left field most of the time. In the short 2020 season, he had more walks (49) than strikeouts (43). Few players have joined an organization under more challenging circumstances than Verdugo faced when he went to the Red Sox. In per-game DRS among all MLB. 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. He is considered to be one of if not the best center fielders of all-time. News. Or his 92 mph rocket from right to nail Stephen Strasburg at first base and preserve a Hyun-Jin Ryu no-hit bid on May 12. This is a pretty straight forward category. Even in his time in the minors, his swing-and-miss rate jumped up a few percentage points. All stats courtesy of Baseball Reference and accurate through Monday's games. They've responded with an MLB-best 3.05 ERA. Below you'll find the consensus rankings that eight of our MLB writers were involved in.

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