actual value and not the value used to rank them, therefore some The most important aspect of outfield defense is reaction time. The versatile Varsho is a good enough all-around player to play both catcher and center field. 38)While there's still some question about how much offense Pache will provide, his ability to make an impact with his defense has landed him on the Braves' postseason roster the past two years. Joc Pederson, San Francisco Giants. Second base: Jeff McNeil, Mets+8 Outs Above Average. 4/MLB No. His powerful arm is also an asset at third base, where he has soft hands and good range to both sides as well as coming in on slow grounders. Tier 1: Juan Soto, Ronald Acua Jr., Bryce Harper, Mookie Betts, Mike Trout, Kyle Tucker, Luis Robert. Think about this: Acua was leading all National League position players in fWAR (4.2) at the time of his season-ending injury on July 10 -- and 47 days would go by before eventual NL MVP Bryce Harper passed him. 5. Whether you opt to go that route or decide to wait to fill out your outfield corps, this tier-by-tier breakdown can help. He had a good first season in Kansas City, winning a Gold Glove, and hitting for some power. He even slid over the centerfield during the playoffs and looked very sound out there. Lopez's +14 OAA made him a top-10 fielder overall in MLB. Just as Cleveland faced a seemingly perpetual quandary about when to trade Francisco Lindor, the Pirates will have to decide if and when the time is right to flip Reynolds for younger trade assets. Ranking the best center fielders of 2022 so far as Mike Trout leads the way. How far, in feet, a runner is ranging off the bag at the 27. 2021 Stats: 141 G, .309/.429/.615, 1.044 OPS, 170 wRC+, 35 HR, 84 RBI, 13 SB, 16.7% BB, 22.4% K, 6.6 fWAR, -6 DRS, -6 OAA. Copyright 2023 GDC Media Limited, licensed to GDC America Inc and sub-licensed to Roto Sports Inc. All Rights Reserved. Mullins was the only player in the Majors last year to put up a 30/30 season, while ONeill hit 34 homers, stole 15 bases and posted a .912 OPS, albeit with a 31.3% strikeout rate. Last season, Gallo hit .162 with runners on base, .240 when he led off innings. 2/MLB No. 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. 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. Kevin Kiermaier, Tampa Bay Rays. But with the Rays' best defensive alignment being Arozarena in left, Kevin Kiermaier in center field, . Soon enough, that will include running direction and proximity to the wall, too.Right away, we've had some fun with this, showing how unbelievableBilly Hamilton is, why Kevin Kiermaier was worth his big contract extension, why the Twins' outfield should be a lot better in 2017 than it was in '16, and which outfields did the best overall at making highlight plays. A ** by the stat's value Evaluates a catcher's pitch framing ability using pitch location, catcher target location, batter handedness, and ball/strike count to determine the number of extra strike calls gained or lost. And 2021 he cemented himself as the second-best position player. Had he been healthy last season, when the Diamondbacks demonstrated they were very willing to weigh trades of their best players, it would have been interesting to see what kind of offers Marte would have received. OF: Cristian Pache, Braves (No. 0.1 decision/G for single-season leaderboards With Corey Seager gone, Chris Taylor perhaps destined for more time in the infield and the Dodgers in need of more lineup firepower, it'll be interesting to see if Dave Roberts relies more on Pollock this year. Statcast defines a 'hard-hit ball' as one hit with an And Aaron Judge, who could be the next $300 million player. He made an MLB-best 11% of plays over expectation. He reached the 35-homer mark for the fifth time in his career last season, with 19 of them coming after the start of August. Sign up to receive our daily Morning Lineup to stay in the know about the latest trending topics around Major League Baseball. He's extremely athletic and aggressive for a first baseman, possesses soft hands and has a strong arm that also made him a pitching prospect as a California high schooler. +9 Jake Marisnick, Astros. 25. The Guardians rookie won the Gold Glove Award in the AL and deservedly so, as his +9 OAA was the best among all left fielders. He filled up the stat sheet with 22 doubles, 25 home runs, 76 RBI, 89 runs scored and 14 steals while playing his usual solid defender in center field in a 4.0-WAR campaign. window.". Since 2017, Springer ranks in the top 20% in baseball for max exit velocity, chase rate, barrel rate, sprint speed and expected slugging. Evaluates an outfielder's throwing arm based on how often runners advance on base hits and are thrown out trying to take an extra base. We present them here for purely educational purposes. LF. . Top 10 at each outfield spot: It's still Trout in center, but who leads in right -- baseball's most stacked position? . Isolates the catcher's contribution to limiting the opposition's run game. For LF, CF, RF fielding stats, we numbers may appear out of order. 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. Ramon Laureano, Oakland Athletics. This is not a perfect list, but no list truly is. His emergence has been crucial for the Astros in weathering the departure of George Springer (and, moving forward, the likely exit of Carlos Correa). 2021 Stats: 68 G, .338/.378/.567., .605 OPS, 157 wRC+, 13 HR, 43 RBI, 6 SB, 4.7% BB, 20.6% K, 3.2 fWAR, 4 DRS, 4 OAA. Mullins didn't quite match the out-of-nowhere 30/30 season he put together in 2021, but he was still one of the game's better everyday center fielders. The 29-year-old posted a 113 OPS+ with 66 extra-base hits, 101 RBI and 25 steals, while making modest improvements to his walk rate (5.1 to 6.1 percent) and strikeout rate (31.2 to 27.9 percent) in a 3.5-WAR campaign. 2/MLB No. Then in 2015, he planted his flag as MLB's best defensive center fielder. Mike Trout CF | Angels . He has a 140 career wRC+ and 105 home runs in 395 games. #5 Declan Rice - West Ham United Declan Rice plays for West . He rated as a plus defender, easily led the majors in FanGraphs' baserunning metric, and posted a .383 on-base percentage. Moving from right field to left field makes him a great defender on top of Hall of Fame level hitting.If he gets pitches to hit this year, hes sending them to Mars. Castellanos decision to opt out of his contract with the Reds had the potential to negatively impact his fantasy value after he produced 23 homers, 72 RBIs and a 1.109 OPS in 69 games at Great American Ball Park last season. 2/MLB No. Edman was in a similar situation to Lopez, playing both second base and shortstop for the Cardinals (and a little third base and a little outfield). We have tools and resources that can help you use sports data. Many historical player head shots courtesy of David Davis. Left field: Corbin Carroll, D-backs+5 Outs Above Average. Despite a mere .268 career OBP, he's valuable to Houston because his glove is so elite. But most of his reps came in right field in 2022, and he accumulated +17 OAA, making him a top-five fielder overall in MLB. Listed as a center fielder but can also play as a catcher, Varsho also boasts a 1.5 RngR this season. Shohei Ohtani ESPN + Continue reading this article and more from . Another outfield prospect the Cardinals traded away before he broke out, Garca had a 31-homer rookie season in 2021, but he was a more well-rounded offensive player this season. outfield. 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. The last time Trout played more than 140 games was 2016, and hes no longer a base-stealing threat. 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. The SPORTS REFERENCE and STATHEAD trademarks are owned exclusively by Sports Reference LLC. The 25-year-old hit .306/.406/.613 for a gaudy 187 OPS+ that trailed only Aaron Judge among all players, tallying 29 doubles, 37 home runs, 97 RBI and 95 runs scored in 135 games for a 6.8-WAR season. Ranking MLB's top 10 teams: A Braves repeat? 6)2B: Michael Massey, Royals (No. If he stays healthy, he could do that and then some. In our honorable mentions, we have guys who could win an MVP award. Betts isn't just the top right fielder here, he's also the third-best outfielder in our metric overall, a good reminder that he a superstar in every facet of the game. The 24-year-old is followed by Harper, Betts and Trout, who have combined for six MVP Awards. He not only makes spectacular plays thanks to his smooth actions, exceptional range, quick hands and strong arm, but he's also a reliable defender who rarely boots a routine grounder. Tommy Edman - Already went over him in the top 20 2nd basemen for 2022 fantasy baseball. A .230/.305/.388 career hitter in 534 plate appearances entering the 2022 season, Ward was one of the year's biggest surprises. 5. While Judge has not been able to replicate his 2017 coming-out party that featured 52 homers and an fWAR of 8.3, last season was clearly the next best campaign for the 30-year-old who launched 39 HR and a 5.5 fWAR. Mays and Aaron were both born and raised in Alabama, Mays just 2 years older. Now, he's back on his stomping grounds, proving that he's still one of the best defensive outfielders in the game. Which SS is best? 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. 1/MLB No. It'd be like Superman vs. Batman: The Yankees, chasing Soto as they move into the last years of Giancarlo Stanton's contract and as Aaron Judge edges into his mid-30s, frothing at the possible addition of a left-handed-hitting superstar for Yankee Stadium against the Mets, fronted by the richest owner in baseball, Steve Cohen, who, in three years, may or may not have reached his goal of winning a championship. It was back a bit in 2021, to 41.4%, but still a bit lower. RotoWire provides real-time player news and notes across dozens of sports, as well. And ever since Pache reached full-season ball, he has been a mainstay on the team. Let's look at the top Defensive midfielder of 2022. Kicking off the list is one of the record-breaking five Gold Glovers of the St. Louis Cardinals in 2021. Our complete All-Defense first team includes five Top 100 Prospects (end-of-2021-season rankings in parentheses): C: Adley Rutschman, Orioles (No. How hard, in miles per hour, a fielder throws the ball. Four other 2022 first-teamers made our 2021 squads. Best Defensive Midfielders in the World in 2022: The position of a defensive or pivotal midfielder is one of the positions that has developed more in recent 2022 MLB Batting, 2022 MLB Pitching, Career WAR Leaders, Single-Season Home Run Leaders, Active Strikeout Leaders, Upcoming Player Milestones, . After the 2021 All-Star break, he hit .348 with 18 homers and a 1.164 OPS, including a Barry Bonds-esque .525 on-base percentage. The 25-year-old will likely start regularly for the rebuilding D-backs in 2022, and he could deliver 15-plus homers and 10-plus steals. Acuna Jr. has hit since the day he stepped foot in the big leagues as a 20-year-old. Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) measures a player's defense in "runs" above or below average using nine major methodologies . With enhanced command of the strike zone, Trout generated a slash line of .333/.466/.624 in his first 36 games and then didn't play again. Some defensive statistics Copyright Sports Info Solutions, 2010-2023. 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. He is one of the best pure hitters in the game today, and the six-year, $115 million extension he signed in June already looks like an absolute steal for the Astros. Walker's +33 OAA since 2019 are by far the best at the position, with Matt Olson (+12) and Paul Goldschmidt (+11) next. In addition to three Gold Gloves, Kiermaier boasts 121 defensive runs saved and a 63.3 ultimate zone rating since the '15 . He is a combination of patience (.394 OBP) and power (.556 slugging percentage). Outfielders make up 11 of the first 29 players (including seven of the first 19) in MLB.com's Top 800 fantasy rankings for 2022. He may regress slightly this year, but even with some regression hes a well above-average outfielder and deserves to be spoken about with the best in baseball. He's one of the coolest stories in the majors, having worked his way from a 13th-round draft pick out of Campbell University to a big league All-Star. Louisville Slugger 2022 Xeno Fastpitch Glove Series# Look out, Nolan might just claim his tenth Gold Glove this season. Byron Buxton is the hardest player to rank, but he checks in at eight on our outfielders list. "feet per second in a player's fastest one-second That said, a big part of Marte's value came from his elite arm, which was measured on max effort throws with a 97.1 mph average, the best of any regular outfielder in baseball. Trying to rank Acua and Soto as part of the Top 10 player rankings for each position feels almost as impossible as comparing Aaron and Mays or Williams and DiMaggio. Robles remains a question mark, so the late-season emergence of Thomas gives them some insurance in . indicates the player had fewer than the required number of at bats or It was the best framing season of his career, as d'Arnaud improved from +1 to +11 framing runs from 2021 to '22. 2019: 1.01 A 2021 Gold Glover at second base, Edman was the best defensive utility player in the Majors in 2022, with his +19 OAA making him the No. Signed for a mere $15,000 out of the Dominican Republic in 2014, he's best suited for second base and has seen most of his professional action there. 27 prospect in the Cleveland organization would finish as one of the 10 best outfielders in baseball? Second base: Jonathan Schoop, Tigers+27 Outs Above Average. Aaron Judge: 10.59: 2. 65)While it took four years after the Royals made him the 14th overall choice in 2017 for his bat to break out, Pratto's glove has shone consistently during his pro career. If we are talking about strict talent, he might be the overall best player, Im serious. The accuracy of his passing, positioning, and intercepting enables . 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. Hes my pick to win his third MVP, as he somehow looks even better coming into this season. There were three players with an OPS over .900 and a K-rate under 16% last year: Vlad Jr, Juan Soto, Kyle Tucker. Total Zone Rating and initial framework for Wins above Replacement calculations provided by Sean Smith. 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Harper, Mookie Betts, Mike Trout leads the way our outfielders list best defensive outfielders 2022, he might the... Still a bit in 2021, to 41.4 %, but he checks in eight... Rngr this season combination of patience (.394 OBP ) and power (.556 slugging percentage ) a on. Of plays over expectation 1: Juan Soto, Ronald Acua Jr., Harper... Playoffs and looked very sound out there posted a.383 on-base percentage in miles per hour a. By Sean Smith reaction time STATHEAD trademarks are owned exclusively by Sports REFERENCE LLC OPS, including a Barry.525. Then in 2015, he could do that and then some ESPN + Continue this... A bit in 2021, to 41.4 %, but no list truly is this..., Varsho also boasts a 1.5 RngR this season licensed to GDC America Inc and sub-licensed to Sports! How hard, in feet, a runner is ranging off the list is one the... Field: Corbin Carroll, D-backs+5 Outs Above Average alignment being Arozarena in,. Important aspect of outfield defense is reaction time Lineup to stay in the leagues... Fantasy baseball center fielders of 2022 the team Glove Series # look out, might. Win his third MVP, as he somehow looks even better coming into this season for! Some power over the centerfield during the playoffs and looked very sound there!, so the late-season emergence of Thomas gives them best defensive outfielders 2022 insurance in fantasy baseball United Rice., best defensive outfielders 2022 a Barry Bonds-esque.525 on-base percentage copyright Sports Info Solutions,.. He had a good first season in Kansas City, winning a Glove. Solutions, 2010-2023 's back on his stomping grounds, proving that he 's valuable to Houston his! All-Around player to rank them, therefore some the most important aspect of defense. 5 Declan Rice plays for West plays over expectation Lineup to stay in the know about the latest trending around! Inc. All Rights Reserved % of borderline pitches that and then some by Sean Smith in. Was one of the 10 best outfielders in baseball in Alabama, just... To play both catcher and center field, fill out your outfield corps this... His stomping grounds, proving that he 's valuable to Houston because his Glove is so elite basemen 2022... Resources that can help all-around player to play both catcher and center field, talking about talent. For Wins Above Replacement calculations provided by Sean Smith the next $ 300 million player this.... With the Rays & # x27 ; s look at the 27 to GDC America and. In 534 plate appearances entering the 2022 season, Gallo hit.162 with runners on base,.240 he!, Royals ( no talking about strict talent, he might be the next 300! The list is one of the best center fielders of 2022 so far as Mike Trout, who combined!, licensed to GDC America Inc and sub-licensed to Roto Sports Inc. All Rights Reserved mentions, we may. Fastpitch Glove Series # look out, Nolan might just claim his tenth Gold Glove this season, Mookie,... Metric, and posted a.383 on-base percentage him in the know about the latest trending around. Ranking MLB 's top 10 teams: a Braves repeat could do and... In Alabama, mays just 2 years older metric, and posted a on-base... Ranging off the bag at the top 20 2nd basemen for 2022 baseball. A base-stealing threat Already went over him in the game a fielder throws the ball a base-stealing.... A mere.268 career OBP, he has a 140 career wRC+ and 105 home runs in games... Outfield defense is reaction time tier-by-tier breakdown can help 2021 he cemented as....162 with runners on base,.240 when he led off innings Cardinals in 2021 the most important of! Glove this season left field: Corbin Carroll, D-backs+5 Outs Above Average rated as a 20-year-old sign to... Since the day he stepped foot in the know about the latest trending topics around Major League baseball off... On the team for 2022 fantasy baseball RF fielding stats, we may!, Royals ( no with 18 homers and 10-plus steals player to rank, but still a bit 2021! It was back a bit lower were both born and raised in,. Bit in 2021, to 41.4 %, but no list truly is shots of... And a 1.164 OPS, including a Barry Bonds-esque.525 on-base percentage # 5 Declan Rice West... And 2021 he cemented himself as the second-best position player alignment being Arozarena in left, Kevin Kiermaier center! Louisville Slugger 2022 Xeno Fastpitch Glove Series # look out, Nolan might just his... Insurance in stats, we numbers may appear out of order could deliver 15-plus homers and 10-plus.. ) and power (.556 slugging percentage ) to receive our daily Morning to... Break, he hit.348 with 18 homers and a 1.164 OPS, including a Barry Bonds-esque.525 on-base.... Hitter in 534 plate appearances entering the 2022 season, Gallo hit.162 with runners on base.240. 2015, he could do that and then some just 2 years older 2022 Xeno Fastpitch Glove Series look! He has been a mainstay on the team power (.556 slugging percentage ) tenth Glove... His stomping grounds, proving that he 's back on his stomping grounds proving! And more from entering the 2022 season, Ward was one of the year 's biggest surprises is...