He entered spring training far from assured of a spot on the Baltimore Orioles' Opening Day roster, but he won the starting center field job and went on to have the biggest breakout season of 2021. He's a career .225/.337/.409 hitter in the minors, and his strikeout rate has risen at every level, topping out at 27% in Triple-A last year and 28.2% in his 238-plate appearance MLB debut . The club also traded away Diego Castillo at the deadline in exchange for JT Chargois and Austin Shenton. Rob Neyer ranked him as our best right fielder in his Big Book of Baseball Lineups (pre-Bautista). The double play he executed, reaching down to glove a looper in front of him and throwing toward home, with Marcell Ozuna eventually called out for leaving too soon. Tabbed as the 58th-best outfield prospect nationally (D1Baseball). He homered 12 times in a 10-game stretch at the end of June, but he missed most of July with a hamstring strain. Frelick also climbed three levels in his first full season, and the 2021 first . As in: This is the type of hitter I want to be; get out of my way.". He has won four FSWA Awards including on for his Mining . Slowed by a variety of injuries in 2020, Bryant returned healthy and productive this year. Griffey's defensive abilities helped him win the first of his 10 consecutive Gold Gloves at age 20. He struggled in 2020, with his slugging percentage (.312) matching his on-base percentage. 5. Williams played in just one World Series, and at a time when he was nursing an elbow bruise, Williams hit .200, with five walks and one RBI in seven games. A catch made high against the right field wall to take extra bases away from Ozuna. Clemente's arm was not only powerful but it also featured laser-like precision. Hernndez (.919 OPS) and Gurriel (.882 OPS) are looking to validate their breakouts, and Conforto is, too, to an extent. Like with many of the other top outfielders on this list, runners knew not to try for extra bases when the ball was anywhere near Barfield's hands. Reels. Translation: Realmuto dominates the catcher throwing department. The outfield will be the foundation of many fantasy teams in 2021. Not just mine, but any site's rankings of outfielders will not be . Sits in the Top Ten of draft. His throwing abilities were recognized by Bill James, as Guerrero was noted to have the best arm of the 1990s. 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! The left-handed outfielder had a rock solid 2022 season, holding a .281 batting average with 12 home runs while leading the South Atlantic League with 34 doubles joining Project Birmingham. Buxton, Myers, Pham, Laureano, Moore and Carlson could be double-digit homer and steal guys. After fielding the fly ball, Clemente unleashed a rocket that cause Retterman to retreat back to third base. With Merv Retterman on third base, Robinson knocked the ball more than 300 feet deep in center field. Kyle Schwarber, Washington Nationals/Boston Red Sox. 2. 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. 2021 Topps series 1,Rookie Monte Harrison #126 Miami marlins outfield baseball. Standings. One of the most exciting defensive plays in baseball occurs when there is going to be a play at the plate. Martinez started cold and never recovered last season, and Meadows was never right after dealing with COVID-19 in July. Free agency, trade talk, offseason news . Adam Eaton, Chicago White Sox, Right field, 11, (14-3) Adam Eaton of the Chicago White Sox makes a run for it | Ezra Shaw/Getty Images. All of the sudden, the ball is at the base, and a runner who thought he had it made is out. Andre Dawson had a cannon for an arm. "I'll take a guess that there hasn't been enough impetus for young players to be patient only until recently. Mondesi has a tattoo of a cannon shooting out a baseball on his right arm. 8. Over the past two seasons, he has a .393 on-base percentage, and an OPS+ of 140. The eight-time Gold Glove winner was finally inducted into Cooperstown in 2010. fourth round of the 2021 MLB Draft in right-handed . He's not just an MVP-caliber hitter; he has one of the strongest outfield arms in the league. In his 10 years, Valentine did manage to win one Gold Glove and he recorded 85 assists. The corner outfield duo of Nick Castellanos and Jesse Winker both rank among the MLB leaders in a number of offensive categories: Joining them isTyler Naquin, who earned a spot on the MLB roster on a minor league contract and is earning $1.5 million on a one-year deal. 3. After years of teasing his immense raw power potential in the minors and sporadically in the big leagues, Tyler O'Neill finally put together his long-awaited breakout season. Julio Rodriguez was the team's best player while former top prospect arms Logan Gilbert and George Kirby shined in Seattle's rotation. February 24, 2023. Rodriguez was a top 10 prospect on MLB Pipeline's Top 30 international prospects list for 2019-20 when the signing period opened up in July of 2019. . Most teams need to go at least six starters deep over the course of a season, and the Brew Crew also have three quality back-end starters behind their ace-caliber arms. Honorable Mention:Los Angeles Dodgers, Oakland Athletics, San Diego Padres, Tampa Bay Rays, Washington Nationals. Below you'll find the consensus rankings that eight of our MLB writers were involved in. Carlos Correa (Twins): 95.0 mph 5. The 26-year-old had 32 doubles, 20 home runs, 20 steals and 94 runs scored, and he was a Gold Glove finalist in left field. Kaline was known for his perfect throwing from and his ability to catch and throw. If Stanton stays on the field in 2021, his production could swing many fantasy leagues. RP - Joe Mantiply, ARI (2.5 BB%) Devin Wiles. 9. The veteran has been a productive fantasy bat for several years, but his 2020 slash line (.322/.412/.515) was well above his performance from 2017-19 (.257/.363/.492). 14. ESPN's Paul Hembekides sent this along: "I think his issues in 2020 stem from a lack of confidence -- he just stopped swinging. From Jimenez's first season to his second, his wRC+ jumped from 116 to 141. Abreu's strong arm helped him win his only Gold Glove in 2005. Since the start of 2019, all of Duran's time in the outfield has been played exclusively at center, a position probably best suited for his elite speed and average to below-average arm. C $0.99 A 2021 20th-round pick . J.T. 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. But that represents the bulk of the 26-year-olds big league experience. Tier 1: Ronald Acua Jr., Mookie Betts, Mike Trout, Juan Soto, Christian Yelich, Cody Bellinger, Bryce Harper. Jackie Bradley Jr., free agent "There's a nuance to disciplined hitting that needs to become a habit. Youth. even despite missing a good chunk of 2021 . Mervis' busy spring preparing him for Majors. 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. NHL trade deadline: Winners and losers, including the Bruins, Devils and Bruce Boudreau? To qualify for inclusion, a player had to have at least 200 plate appearances. The top 10 center fielders, based on input from folks under the MLB umbrella: Another historical comp for Trout, unfortunately, is the link that is developing with Ted Williams: their paucity of postseason opportunity. His middling defense (-6 DRS, -4.8 UZR/150) and the time he missed kept him from ranking any higher. 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. Infielder Tyler Hardman also finds himself in the top 30, but unlike Fitts, he wasn't even ranked ahead of the 2022 season. The 27-year-old already has career-highs in OPS+ (109), hits (126), doubles (29), home runs (25) and RBI (75). Vote for who you think are the best MLB outfielders currently playing in the league today . Buxton debuted for the Twins in 2015, and since then has become one of the best defensive outfielders in baseball. Three-time AL MVP Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels definitely ranks in the top 10 outfielders, along with Mookie Betts and Charlie Blackmon. Runners were hesitant to try to take an extra base when the ball was hit to right in Coors Field between 1995 and 2003. His OPS+ is 176 -- a standard surpassed by only four players: Babe Ruth (206), Ted Williams (191), Barry Bonds (182) and Lou Gehrig (179). The 27-year-old also has a perfect 99 reaction time rating, 86 arm strength, and 81 arm accuracy. All three of those guys could finish in the top 10 in NL Cy Young voting, but the staff goes deeper than that trio. It's possible Ozuna will sign with an NL team and play left field most of the time. Cobb is widely regarded as one of the best baseball players in the history of the game. Minimum 800 innings 6. His shoulder first began giving him problems in 2021. He had an average max-effort arm strength of 94.1 mph, seventh-fastest among MLB outfielders (min. but if he regresses to 2017 or 2021 levels no one should complain. 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. Mays is in the discussion for the greatest player of all-time. Or his game-saving throw from center field to the plate against the Red Sox in the 10th inning of Game 3 of the 2018 World Series. T. Alex Verdugo, Kik Hernandez, and Hunter Renfroe were Boston's primary outfielders last season. The sport needs to have him back on the postseason stage in the next few years. Welcome to Bleacher Report's final positional rankings of the 2021 MLB season! However, he was worth a staggering 4.5 WAR when he was on the field. And it would be a crime not to grab Bellinger in this five-tools exercise somewhere. Yes, Gallo hit .160 with a 38.6 percent strikeout rate after the Rangers traded him to the Yankees. He could seemingly throw out any runner trying to pick up an extra base. All stats courtesy of Baseball Reference and FanGraphs. Even at age 36, Ichiro was consistently able to throw out runners trying to take an extra base. Which outfielder has the strongest arm 2021? Regardless of who the Rays plug into the pen, they continue to find success. That success has come despite myriad injuries and significant roster turnover. Hard-throwing top prospect Aaron Ashby has also made three spot starts, and he could make a major impact as a multi-inning weapon out of the bullpen down the stretch. But Verdugo ingratiated himself with teammates and staff with his passion and play, and he seemed to earn the early respect of socially distant Red Sox fans. Despite his great arm, Gorbous only managed to play three seasons in the major leagues. In per-game DRS among all MLB. He hit .310/.383/.458 with 42 extra-base hits and 47 steals in 52 attempts to lead the majors. The precision is there (nine errors across nearly 1,140 innings last year), and so is the power and reaction time. At 321 feet, it was the longest on-the-fly throw for an outfield assist tracked by Statcast (since 2015). Most everyone reading this article is probably asking themselves who Glenn Gorbous is. One evaluator said that Bellinger's swing is so unusual that he'll probably always struggle for consistency, for finding the feel he needs to be successful, and because of that, he'll probably have a lot of ups and downs. 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. However, Mays is more well-known for "The Catch" than for his arm. Seven of the first 15 players in MLB.com's player rankings are outfielders, including four of the top five. He's already ranked pitchers and infielders, and he will follow these with the top 10 teams on Friday. Evans was considered to have one of the greatest throwing arms in baseball in the 1970s. Dawson racked up 157 outfield assists in his 21 major league seasons. . "He's a hitting outlier," Votto responded. Starling Marte made a unique bit of history in 2021, becoming the first player in MLB history with at least 20 stolen bases in both leagues in the same season. What follows is a ranking of the Top 10 left fielders in baseball. Mancini is back after missing 2020 because of Stage 3 colon cancer. 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. Hot Stove Tracker Starting Lineups Transactions . He had an average max-effort arm strength of 94.1 mph, seventh-fastest among MLB outfielders (min. But imagine him with this cannon attached to his shoulder. He hit .271 with a .349 on-base percentage, tallying 34 extra-base hits, 30 steals and 3.2 WAR, and he was also a Gold Glove finalist in center field. He made more consistent contact while maintaining his usual elite average exit velocity and hard-hit rate metrics. Soto, in my opinion, has that. A big part of any draft kit are the rankings, and we're continuing our staff consensus rankings for 2021 with our fantasy baseball outfield rankings. 1 guy is pretty obvious, through the compilation of thought from folks around the industry. There's no doubting that the Chicago Cubs farm system is vastly improved from where it was in 2021. You need to do it all to be an MVP these days. The man known as El Mago (The Magician) is blessed with many gifts and would have been a fine pick for the fielding tool, but lets focus on his rocket for a right arm. His career OPS is 1.000, exactly. He scored 15 runs in 18 postseason games, reminded everyone that he's the best baserunner in the game -- and then there was his defense, with layer upon layer of highlights. With Charlie Morton and Blake Snell both departing during the offseason and Tyler Glasnow lost to Tommy John surgery, more pressure has fallen on the relief corps to prop up the pitching staff. February 26, 2023. The 30-year-old is hitting .268/.333/.482 for a 105 OPS+ with 22 doubles, 18 home runs and 66 RBI. Each player was included in the rankings at the position where he played the most innings. LIVE Transfer Talk: Bayern still keen on Kane despite new Choupo-Moting contract, Previewing the 2023 college baseball season: Teams and players to watch, key storylines, Top moments from Brady, Manning, Jordan and other athletes hosting 'Saturday Night Live', Dr. A's weekly risers and fallers: Jeremy Sochan, Christian Wood make the list, Ranking MLB's top 10 at each infield spot for 2021, Baseball's best arms: Ranking MLB's top 10 starters & relievers for 2021, Buster Olney's top 10s for 2021: Ranking MLB's best teams, Free agency, trade talk, offseason news , Author of "The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty". A good spring could get the 29-year-old on the 40-man roster. The MLB Tonight panel breaks down the components of a good outfield arm. 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. But Bellinger is one of only three outfielders with a tracked throw over 101 mph last season -- Hunter Renfroe and Aristides Aquino are the others -- and that wasn't the first time he hit triple-digit velo on a throw from the outfield (he also did it once during the 2018 postseason). Ozzie Albies, Dansby Swanson and Freddie Freeman, 505 PA, .235/.309/.504, 56 XBH (31 HR), 76 RBI, 75 R, 4.3 WAR. March 1, 2023 5:25 pm ET. This is a pretty straight forward category. With big-name, big-money free agents, there is usually a question of how the player will respond in big games, big moments. Two seasons into his 13-year deal with the Phillies, his production has been excellent -- a .385 on-base percentage, an OPS+ of 134, 139 runs in 215 games. Trout is about halfway through his career, maybe even further along than that. 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). 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. Soto has created a mountain of crazy numbers already, but here's one of my favorites: When he led off an inning in 2020 -- when pitchers might've been most likely to challenge him -- Soto went 13-for-25, with four doubles, four homers, eight walks, one hit by pitch and one strikeout. (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.)". 2y Buster Olney. For your basic .520/.647/1.160 slash line. Which non-quarterback group will define each top-25 team's season? The regimented preparation that had worked for Yelich in the past was simply not available to him, and he may have suffered for it. The 30-year-old showed a less patient approach at the plate, which resulted in a middling .318 on-base percentage, but his power production is enough to earn him a spot here. Yelich is 29 years old. 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. Part I: Hit toolPart II: Power toolPart III: Run toolPart IV: Fielding tool. Through Soto's age 21 season, he has played 313 regular-season games -- two full seasons, basically -- and has 228 walks, 69 homers among 146 extra-base hits, and an OPS of .972. Realmuto paced all full-time catchers (min. This will likely be the most questioned name on this list. That's primal, natural. with only his head and one arm free.The . The Tampa Bay Rays began the offseason by declining their $4.5 million club option on catcher Mike Zunino, who logged a 50 OPS+ and minus-0.2 WAR in 118 games with the team in 2019 and 2020. In Game 6 of the 1971 World Series, Clemente showed off this arm on a fly ball hit by Frank Robinson. Kevin Kiermaier, Tampa Bay Rays With the Astros first pick the 2021 draft, they took a prospect who fell right in their laps. Scouts noted that he has a plus arm in the. Ramirez has never won a Gold Glove and he is thought of more for his offensive prowess than his defensive abilities. The 24-year-old has a 131 OPS+ with 23 doubles, 27 home runs and 76 RBI, and he has also made significant strides defensively at the hot corner. Great teams are composed of . Even though Meusel played just 11 seasons, he still recorded 157 outfield assists. No position in fantasy baseball is deeper than the outfield. Joey Gallo, Texas Rangers/New York Yankees. The home run he stole from Freddie Freeman in the NLCS, his leap perfectly timed. Few players have joined an organization under more challenging circumstances than Verdugo faced when he went to the Red Sox. Near the top of Florida's next crop of freshmen are two of South Florida's finest arms, right-hander Christian Rodriguez . It's not all about arm strength, of course. The eight-time Gold Glove winner is one of the best defensive center fielders in major league history. In the third season of a five-year, $60 million contract, Pollock enjoyed his best season in a Dodgers uniform, hitting .297/.355/.536 for a 137 OPS+ with 27 doubles, 21 home runs and 69 RBI. He ultimately found his way back to Tampa Bay on a new one-year, $3 million deal that includes a 2022 club option. The 28-year-old hit .291 with 35 homers, 97 RBIs, 106 runs and an .899 OPS the last time we saw him. The longtime utility man split his time between center field (93 games) and second base (47 games), and he posted a 107 OPS+ with 58 extra-base hits in a career-high 585 plate appearances. Starling Marte, Miami Marlins He also had one of the strongest arms that baseball has ever seen. These guys. An intercostal strain limited Winker to only one game after Aug. 15. Among the four outfielders with a perfect 99 fielding rating is Minnesota Twins center fielder Byron Buxton. There has been industry speculation that he was still dealing with the aftereffect of the fractured right kneecap he suffered at the end of the 2019 season. Red Sox. The wild card in this tier is Kelenic, MLB Pipelines No. Cobb had 271 errors as an outfielder in his career. Previous picks: DJ LeMahieu (hit), Aaron Judge (power), Ronald Acua Jr. (run), Matt Chapman (defense). The best arms tend to have lower rates because they get run on less, though Clemente is barely in the top 70 all time and IIRC Vlad doesn't even crack the top 200 Though I guess my point agrees with you, he wasn't great but he wasn't awful 2 Buzzed27 San Francisco Giants 5 yr. ago Not sure what you're talking about exactly. 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. Ramon Laureano, Oakland A's His contract and track record mean more is expected of him, but he was still a top-15 outfielder. Sun's out, guns out. Springer has been one of the most productive outfielders in the game over the past five years, and he has joined up with a Blue Jays team that averaged 5.03 runs per game in 2020. Tom Glavine 1987-2002, 2008 (63.6 WAR) Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images. Catch up on the 2021 MLB Player Rankings series:Catchers,First Basemen,Second Basemen, Third Basemen,Shortstops. The MLB Tonight panel breaks . News. Top Outfield Defense in the Minor Leagues: Kevin Kiermaier ( Tampa Bay Rays) Though Kiermaier wasn't the unanimous winner in this category, his defense earned universal praise across the scouting community. Lagares easily has the most rARM per 1,000 innings over the last three seasons. Sign up to receive our daily Morning Lineup to stay in the know about the latest trending topics around Major League Baseball. It must be noted here that Tatis did have an issue with throwing miscues that drove down his overall defensive value. There are currently 13 relief pitchers on the injured list for the Rays, including standout closer Nick Anderson and hard-throwing setup man Pete Fairbanks. With club control through the 2025 season, he is a long-term building block for the O's. In five-and-two-thirds career innings, Colavito only gave up one hit. From first-time All-Star Andrew Kittredge (44 G, 1.41 ERA) to reclamation project Collin McHugh (27 G, 1.30 ERA) to 31-year-old rookie Louis Head (20 G, 3.16 ERA), they continue to plug and play better than any organization in baseball when it comes to building a bullpen. The identity of the No. Let's meet the 40 players who had the best outfield arms in the history of the game. Runners were afraid to take the extra base when these outfielders had the ball in their hands. The 33-year-old figures to be a hot commodity on the free-agent market this winter. Ha-Seong Kim (Padres): 95.2 mph 4. Jeff, one of the authors of the fantasy baseball guide, The Process, writes for RotoGraphs, The Hardball Times, Rotowire, Baseball America, and BaseballHQ. His defensive metrics in center field (14 DRS, 12.1 UZR) helped him post a career-best 4.9 WAR season. He also had the two fastest-tracked infield assists to first base -- reaching 94 mph -- and was responsible for about half of the 92-plus mph assists from all infielders. Since there are three times as many outfielders as there are other positions on the diamond, it made sense to tack an honorable mention list of 25 guys onto our top 25 list. The Yankees re-signed Brett Gardner, but they may finally give Frazier a chance to play every day. Castellanos and Blackmon, meanwhile, faded dramatically after blazing starts. 6 player in the Razzball Player Rater, despite playing just 130 games; give him Vladimir Guerrero's 161 games and he would've topped him for the No. O'Neill won a Gold Glove last season, but he hit only .173 with a 70 OPS+ and 0.9 WAR in 50 games, tallying just 12 extra-base hits in 157 plate appearances. 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)