raw numbers and as a measurement against average. 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. Non-first base infielders get the average of the top 5% of their throws. Cobb's 392 outfield assists rank second all-time behind Speaker. play. "He has gained a lot of strength since his sophomore year. Upon his arrival in Detroit, Colavito's arm was so good that it pushed another member of this list, Al Kaline, to center field for the 1960 season. His slash line declined to .263/.327/.445, though that average is misleading as his expected was .234. Guys who could throw, suddenly can't throw.". On Sept. 27, 1988, in front of less than 9,000 fans at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, the Pirates had a 3-2 lead over the Cardinals heading into the ninth inning. One answer to that is in the context of his new position; 76 mph is one of the weakest marks of any regular second baseman. attempt. lob after catching the third out of an inning). Evans had six seasons of at least 10 assists, and the 157 he has for his career leaves him tied with Andre Dawson. In 1985 alone, Barfield doubled up eight runners, to go with his 133 . The Cubs surprisingly held onto him at the trade deadline despite significant interest, and he now enters a contract year looking to build off his breakout performance. How much time, in seconds, it takes a runner to get from Meanwhile, Boston's Bobby Dalbec currently shows up with a 74.8 average as a first baseman, but he's got plenty of throws north of 80 mph as a third baseman (and, once, a shortstop). It is difficult to predict what effect the new running rules will have on his SB total, but fantasy managers can safely count on 10-15 in this area. 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. The first of which registered. The "Free Kyle Tucker" movement didn't garner the momentum fantasy managers were hoping for as he continued to bat in the sixth spot way too often. 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. 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. window.". able to make a catch on an individual batted ball. Each player was only included at the position where he played the most innings. OF-95 mph. Solid . outfield. Throughout the year, we released monthly updates to our position-by-position power rankings, selecting the top 10 players at each spot. 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. Let them. In order to account for that, outfielders receive the average of their top 10% hardest throws as a seasonal average. Meet Pete Crow-Armstrong, whom the Mets selected with their first pick. Its an important one, too. At. Longoria, who at nearly 37 years old has the weakest qualified third base arm (75 mph), got his off at 76.6 mph and it took his throw 0.97 of a second to get to first. 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. Once he had the ball in his hand, anyone who was still running on the bases was a candidate to be thrown out. Statcast refers to the spin that contributes to movement If strikeouts count against you in your league, then you might want to stay clear of Adolis Garcia. Known primarily as a right fielder, a position he played for 1,283 games, Dawson patrolled center for the Montreal Expos in more than 1,000 games as well. Not only was it probably the better part of 300 feet, it was dead on line and in the air the whole way.". Judge is the guy if fantasy managers want to shore up their slugging early. Traded outfielder Michael A. Taylor to the Twins for pitchers Steven Cruz and Evan Zisk. Fantasy managers can expect a course correction in 2023, somewhere in the vicinity of 30+ HR, 110+ RBI, and an elite .400+ OBP. Showcasing the Arm Younger players rarely have the opportunity to play in stadiums where statcast tracks their every move. Hard to believe he was that agile. Taylor Ward's breakout in his fifth MLB season was interrupted by a nagging hamstring injury that cut into his ability to be a consistent fantasy asset. 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. He finished his career with 89 assists in 877 games played, which means that, on average, Snyder threw out a runner every 10 games. How quickly a player can get the ball from glove to hand and on its way can sometimes make up for a deficiency in arm strength. However, his .336 BABIP is unsustainable and will take a bite out of his batting average when it corrects. time of a pitcher's first movement or pitch release. window.". 1 prospect in baseball with the Red Sox in 2017, Benintendi never quite lived up to expectations in Boston, but he has set himself up for a nice free agency payday after a strong 2022 season. Its the chicken-and-the-egg question of our times. 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. He's barely a half-season into his career. M.J. Melendez debuted and appeared in 129 games in 2022, showing off his patience and power to the tune of 18 HR and a 12.4% BB rate. 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. Proving ineffective, the Blue Jays featured one of the worst defensive outfields in the majors last season, ranking 18th in Outs Above Average (-3) and 21st in Defensive Runs Saved (-6),. He once again tallied more walks (135) than strikeouts (96). exit velocity of 95 mph or higher. Signed pitcher Zack Greinke to a one-year, $8.5 million contract. 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. At the time his throw slapped into first baseman Ryan Mountcastle's glove, Longoria's throw was still 15 feet away from his own first baseman, Wilmer Flores. 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. Escape Velocity takes the average of a player's batted ball velocities subtracted from 88. Who would have guessed an under-the-radar rookie who didn't crack Baseball America's Top 100 prospect list and ranked as the No. At the end of the day, he is still Mike Trout, for better or worse. The 31-year-old hit .283/.369/.630 for a 178 OPS+ while slugging 40 home runs in just 499 plate appearances, and his 6.3 WAR still ranked sixth among all American League players. xBA measures the likelihood that a batted ball will Advanced arm strength, over-the-top arm action. His slash line was an other-worldly .311/.425/.686 with an xwOBA of .463 and wRC+ of 207. A Batted Ball Event represents any batted ball that Key West (2-0): The Conchs ended 2022 with a 22-7 record and were able to play with many of the . The volume just hasn't been there to truly be a fantasy stud. Heres third basemen for 2021. For example, lets take two somewhat similar plays. 1 among shortstops over the last three years, ahead of Fernando Tatis Jr. Cruz has five of the six hardest shortstop throws this year, and eight of the top 13. 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 hits the ball with great power, ranking in the 92nd percentile in maxEV. How far, in feet, a runner is ranging off the bag at the 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. Statcast refers to the spin that contributes to movement pitch. The 2015 first-round pick hit .281/.360/.473 for a 135 OPS+ with 22 doubles, 23 home runs, 65 RBI and 3.7 WAR in 135 games, and he now looks like a core piece of the lineup alongside Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. 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. Its that the demands of different positions are, well, different. How far, in feet, a runner is ranging off the bag at the The 29-year-old hit .274/.367/.433 with 30 doubles, seven triples, 16 home runs, 64 RBI and 102 runs scored as the table-setter atop the Mets' lineup, and he once again played a roughly league-average center field. Top Major-League Arm: Bryce Harper (Washington Nationals) All-Time Tool: Jesse Barfield 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. 1 spot in 2023? 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. Cedric Mullins stole 30+ bases for the second consecutive year in 2022, though the power disintegrated, lowering his home total to 16 from 30. as Active Spin. thrown with. the fastest reactions and most direct routes in the xERA is a simple 1:1 translation of xwOBA, converted to Heading into the season, Juan Soto is the leading candidate for Comeback Player of the Year, which feels ridiculous to say about a guy who still ended with a WAR of 5.2. How quickly, in seconds, a catcher can get the ball out That's the case with Bob Meusel, who was actually a slightly below-average fielder for his time. 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.