A batted ball with the perfect combination of exit The reason he may fall out of the 1.1 slot on draft day is simply fantasy managers anticipating the regression that is likely to come. A 10-time Gold Glove winner, Kaline finished his career with 170 career assists. The Orioles seem dedicated to giving their prospects every opportunity to succeed, which boosts Mullins's value in the runs category. 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. His 195 career assists leave him tied with another member of our list who you may have heard of, Willie Mays. His slash line was impressive at .284/.345/.509 with a wOBA of .366. 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. 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. Given that there is no rulebook definition of "a throw where the player is trying hard," and many non-competitive lobs are captured, we have elected to take the average of the top portion of a player's throws. He is above the 90th percentile in all of the power categories and sprint speed, and when he is on the field, he is a dynamic player who contributes mightily to fantasy teams. Other concerns include the fact that Judge will be 31 years old for the majority of the season and played in a career-high 157 games last year. 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. Reynolds hit 27 HR and slashed .262/.345/.461 and yet scored 74 runs and knocked in only 62. Early 2023 Fantasy Baseball Outfield Rankings: Top 30 offers an abundance of power-speed bats, but also risk You may think a top 30 only scratches the surface, but outfield thins quickly Kaline was a master of putting himself in perfect position when a ball was hit in his direction where he would make the catch and fire the ball back into the infield in one, fluid motion. . However, he took it to another level Friday night when he unleashed a pair of critical outfield assists. The organization's top four prospects, including all three Top 100 representatives, play the outfield, headlined by 2022 breakout star Jackson Chourio. A Bolt is any run where the Sprint Speed (defined as A range-based metric of skill that shows how many outs a The best outfield arm of the 80's, Barfield led the league in outfield assists five times, including three years straight from 1985 through 1987. It is difficult to project significant development in outfielders' arm strength, but with a player with Buxton's athleticism, anything is possible. Its the chicken-and-the-egg question of our times. While Game 6 of the 1975 World Series is best remembered for Carlton Fisk's dramatic, game-winning and series-extending home run in the bottom of the 12th inning, Evans was responsible for turning a double play in the top of the 11th inning that made Fisk's heroics possible. He led the league with 17 assists in 1982, and has 166 for his career. 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. 25 attempts). His strikeout rate crept above 30% for the first time since his rookie year. A batted ball with the perfect combination of exit 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. He is a top OBP guy and his ratios have one of the highest floors in baseball. Hard to see a difference with the naked eye, right? play. Home Run record with 62, scoring 133 runs, driving in 131, and stealing 16 bases to boot. xBA measures the likelihood that a batted ball will Buhner merely went on to hit more than 300 home runs and become one of the most beloved Mariners of all-time. attempt. -- Sarah Langs Unless you're in a quirky league where defense counts, Melendez fills a scarce position with decent skills. In the bottom of the 10th inning against the Seattle Mariners on June 5, 1989, Jackson's arm made one of the great throws in the history of the game. Phillies 2022 preview: The outfield bomb squad | PhillyVoice The 31-year-old hits the ball hard, in the 90th percentile in HardHit% and maxEV, and his BB% is a stellar 13.1%. Ranking third here is not a knock, just shows the depth at third base. Sure but mostly on relays home from the outfield, or sometimes on double play attempts. At the end of the day, he is still Mike Trout, for better or worse. Road to the Show Q&A - MLB 12 Wiki Guide - IGN If strikeouts count against you in your league, then you might want to stay clear of Adolis Garcia. Prep Baseball Report > Tennessee > News . He struggled with the Padres, slashing .236/.388/.390 with only six homers and 16 RBI in 52 games, but he also took a trip to the NLCS. 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. The 27-year-old is miscast as a center fielder (-14 DRS, -3.2 UZR/150) and that undercut his overall value a bit. 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. 12 finisher at outfield on the strength of a .291 average, 33 homers, 83 runs, 89 RBI, and 12 steals. The No. Whether he was lost in the Aaron Judge hoopla or continues to squander an incredible career on a terrible team (hint: it's the latter), Trout went about his business as he always has. Beyond the gaudy numbers, he was the one consistent in a Yankees lineup that dealt with injuries and under performance, and he did it all while also playing a career-high 632.2 innings in center field. Average times are calculated with the following ranges. There is a lot to love about O'Neill in fantasy formats, but there is a lot to question as well. window.". SBLive Sports Florida Power 25 baseball rankings: Archbishop McCarthy The likelihood, in percent, that an outfielder will be His first two throws fell just short. Key West (2-0): The Conchs ended 2022 with a 22-7 record and were able to play with many of the . He was unsuccessful, but the throw was tracked at 94.8 mph. He is a pure contact hitter who gets on base and isn't afraid to run (19-for-24 in SB attempts). Throughout the year, we released monthly updates to our position-by-position power rankings, selecting the top 10 players at each spot. pitch. Oscar Gonzalez does not take walks. Andrew Benintendi, Kansas City Royals/New York Yankees. It's not natural. One of the most well-rounded players in the sport, Kyle Tucker continued his rise as a bona fide superstar for the Houston Astros in 2022. In order to account for that, outfielders receive the average of their top 10% hardest throws as a seasonal average. In stints with the Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers, Smith threw out 127 runners from the outfield, spending significant time in both center field and right field. Youd think measuring throwing arm strength would be easy. He hit 11 homers, stole 18 bases, and slashed .283/.312/.403 in 153 games. That was by far the best throw I've ever seen in 10 or 11 seasons. Fantasy managers can deal with those considering he is above the 90th percentile in Avg EV, Max EV, HardHit%, barrel%, outs above avg, and sprint speed. I Suzuki 2. 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). His throwing abilities were recognized by Bill James, as Guerrero was noted to have the best arm of the 1990s. Up to you. In his fourth year in the league, Randy Arozarena hit 20 HR, knocking in 89 and scoring 72 while stealing 32 bases. He was one of only two qualified hitters with a strikeout rate below 10 percent, and he also won Gold Glove honors thanks to his brilliant defensive metrics (21 DRS, 8.4 UZR/150) in left field. Just make sure you have enough IL slots. But it is best to exercise some caution and ensure you have outfield depth if you plan to roster him. He hits in the middle of the order behind Marcus Semien, Corey Seager, and Nathaniel Lowe, all of whom like to get on base. 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. With everyday playing time, 2023 could be a big year of growth for the 24-year-old. Pittsburgh Pirates coach Rich Donnelly explains: ""He eggs you on. To further test our theory, we took three players from the '60s and '70s who were known to have great arms and looked at their A-DP numbers. So is that because the elbow isnt allowing harder throws -- not that its mattered much, as hes been excellent defensively -- or because his new position doesnt demand it? Vaughn has underestimated power and maintains a good batting average. Going back to 2015, he has two of the three hardest throws ever tracked by an infielder. Let them. 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. Statcast refers to the spin that contributes to movement When healthy, he was productive atop the Toronto lineup, smacking 25 HR, scoring 89 runs, driving in 76, and even stole 14 bases for good measure. with a 90% Catch Probability or lower. 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). Nicknamed "The Hawk" for his ability to track down any fly ball that came his way, Dawson's right arm should have required a permit to travel between Canada and the United States. How far off the mound, in feet, a pitcher releases the Back in 2017, a then-19-year-old Ronald Acua Jr. appeared in Miami at the Futures Game. How fast, in miles per hour, a ball was hit by a batter. 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. How fast, in miles per hour, a ball was hit by a batter. Pirates starting pitcher Mel Queen hit a fly ball into the gap between right and center. (And even that one, a force out at home plate, came back in 2015.). All stats courtesy of Baseball Reference and FanGraphs. A range-based metric of skill that shows how many outs a He played at least 50 innings at six different positions and hit .281/.394/.379 with 27 extra-base hits and a 12.8 percent walk rate in 126 games, posting a 4.1-WAR season that earned him a third-place finish in NL Rookie of the Year voting. 8 prospect in the game. A three-time All-Star, Andy Van Slyke was one of the more underrated players in baseball during his career. 2022 Offensive Stats: 592 PA, .235 . That doesn't happen without Furillo's play. Hendersons throw was clocked at 85.2 mph, and took 0.87 of a second to reach first base. He missed 52 games due to injury, and his BABIP was a career-low (by a lot) .227. Greene played well in center field, finishing in the 71st percentile in Outs Above Average, 67th percentile in arm strength and 75th percentile in outfielder jump, according to Statcast. Heres third basemen for 2021. Bob Quinn, former president of the Boston Braves and Boston Red Sox, had this to say when asked about Bob Meusel: "Meusel's arm was the best I ever saw. His EV and HardHit% certainly showed no signs of slowing down, and he remains an on-base machine batting at the top of a fearsome lineup. it's a tough call between Clemente and Whiten.". Take Tommy Edman, who has moved back and forth between both spots. Of note, he increased his stolen bases, and this trend could continue in 2023 with the new baserunning rules. Which is a great lead-in to our next question 4) Do second basemen have weaker arms than shortstops because they dont need to throw as far? Raul Mondesi did just that, compiling 112 assists over his 13-year playing career, including 53 between 1994 and 1997 with the Los Angeles Dodgers. BY Justin Leger -. The movement of a pitch is defined in inches, both in His ratios were down across the board, but he improved his K% and BB% and suffered from some bad luck with BABIP. 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. But theres also this, that Story has 195 tracked throws of at least 80 mph in his career -- he even topped 90 a few times early on -- but its happened only once since the 2021 All-Star break. 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. 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. window") of the runner is at least 30 ft/sec. become a hit. 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. A Batted Ball Event represents any batted ball that There is hope that the White Sox have realized that Eloy Jimenez is a designated hitter and will deploy him as such in an effort to keep the 26-year-old healthy.