Fantasy managers just need to decide if they can ride out the 0-for-4 streaks. His xwOBA and xSLG are both near the 90th percentile, and he hit particularly well at Camden Yards in spite of the extended left field fence. Long toss is the commonly mentioned method to strengthening a baseball . 14. The biggest plus Andrew Vaughn has going this season is that Tony La Russa won't be there to block his playing time. A mainstay in Boston for nearly 20 years, Dwight Evans is the owner of eight Gold Glove awards and one of the best throwing arms of the 70's and 80's. He just hasn't thrown enough to qualify yet from those spots, and when he does, he'll look like he has a considerably better arm than Goldschmidt which he does. No player had a stronger arm in the 1990's than Vladimir Guerrero. Yes. His arm recorded 195 assists over the course of his career and only adds to his case to be called the greatest of all time. Week 1 - Days 2and 3. Arm Strength. Key West (2-0): The Conchs ended 2022 with a 22-7 record and were able to play with many of the . How far, in feet, a runner is ranging off the bag at the Its been well over a year since his last 80 mph+ throw, much of which he spent at shortstop; Arizonas Ketel Marte, comparatively, has six such throws just this month. An 18-time All-Star and the last man to win the American League Triple Crown, a feat he achieved in 1967, Carl Yastrzemski played excellent defense in left field and had a strong, accurate throwing arm. White Sox first baseman Jos Abreu has about the same number of tracked throws as Rodrguez does. Mike Trout is finally a 5-tool player. He hit .320 with a .387 on-base percentage in 93 games with the Royals before he was traded to the Yankees at the deadline, and while he battled injury down the stretch, his combination of contact ability and defense still made him a 3.2-WAR player in 2022. Any infielder. 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. He played in 84 games last season, slashing .295/.358/.500 with 16 HR, 54 RBI, and 40 runs. Seiya Suzuki arrived to MLB and kicked off his career in the States with a bang, hitting four HR and getting on base at a .398 clip. become a hit. Cobb's 392 outfield assists rank second all-time behind Speaker. A 10-time Gold Glove winner, opponents learned very quickly that the explosive throws he had a reputation for making in Japan were very much a reality, and they generally wouldn't even think about running when Ichiro had the ball in his hand. 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. It is difficult to project significant development in outfielders' arm strength, but with a player with Buxton's athleticism, anything is possible. He hits the ball with great power, ranking in the 92nd percentile in maxEV. Ramon Laureano, Oakland Athletics. The 28-year-old has recorded no less than 11 assists in each of his seven seasons, and not only is his throwing arm powerful, but it's deadly accurate, as we can see in the video. On Aug. 21, Giants veteran Evan Longoria had to do the exact same thing, to make a throw of 100 feet from third to first. For example, lets take two somewhat similar plays. In 2022, thats down again, to 76 mph. outfield. Carroll's upside is in the 30/30 range, and he should have no trouble sticking as the everyday centerfielder with his plus-defense. If strikeouts count against you in your league, then you might want to stay clear of Adolis Garcia. This year, thats all the way up to 90.7 mph, which is about 75th percentile among outfielders. In 2022, the 28-year-old ranked in the 98th percentile in outfielder jump and 97th percentile in arm strength, filling out the mold for a complete defensive outfielder. In 2019, for example, Austin Meadows was the No. window.". window") of the runner is at least 30 ft/sec. 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. Up to you. Remembered more for his involvement in the Black Sox Scandal and alleged throwing of the 1919 World Series, Jackson routinely picked off baserunners from the outfield, racking up 183 career assists, including 90 in a three-year span from 1911 through 1913. Based on three separate categories (Release, Strength and Accuracy) here are the owners of the top outfield in 2005 according to the fans: Top-Ranked Outfield Arms, Fans' Scouting Report 1. pitch. lob after catching the third out of an inning). primarily for the Cleveland Indians. Acquired from the Houston Astros as part of the trade that bought Joe Morgan to the Cincinnati Reds, Cesar Geronimo patrolled center field for the Big Red Machine with aplomb, taking home four Gold Glove awards. Vaughn has underestimated power and maintains a good batting average. 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. Heres what his 43rd-hardest throw looks like. Power, speed Turner has it in bunches and has delivered such throughout his career, but he's not alone. The Diamondbacks traded Varsho to the Blue Jays in the offseason; Rogers Centre should support another 25-HR, 15-SB season and he could see a bump in runs and RBI with the better lineup around him. 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. Only in baseball can the son of a potato farmer who born and raised on Long Island become Boston's favorite son. It's been said that the Indians have been cursed ever since they traded Colavito to the Detroit Tigers in 1960, getting Harvey Kuenn in return. How far off the mound, in feet, a pitcher releases the Ronald Acuna Jr. appeared in 119 games last year, a significantly higher number than the original projection of a July return from his torn ACL injury. 2. Tyler O'Neill experienced a litany of injuries in 2022 that inhibited the power he demonstrated in 2021. In 118 games, he slashed .292/.347/.468, buoying the ratios for fantasy managers in roto leagues. A shortstop in college, Cory Snyder made his mark in the major leagues as a power-hitting outfielder. Steamer projections have him hitting another 40 and maybe crossing the century mark on runs and RBI if anyone aside from Shohei Ohtani shows up to play in L.A. Really, unless you are playing in a stolen base premium league, Alvarez offers little downside heading into 2023. The Orioles seem dedicated to giving their prospects every opportunity to succeed, which boosts Mullins's value in the runs category. Perhaps most important of all, he played in a career-high 151 games, proving he can stay healthy for a full season after injuries had significantly limited him in 2019 (69 games) and 2021 (92 games). raw numbers and as a measurement against average. Pittsburgh Pirates coach Rich Donnelly explains: ""He eggs you on. He is a pure contact hitter who gets on base and isn't afraid to run (19-for-24 in SB attempts). one base to another, like Home To First. 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. A lot of things went wrong for Giancarlo Stanton in 2022. The speedy Reynolds headed full steam towards third as Jackson played the ball on the warning track. Tris Speaker, one of Cobb's contemporaries, had this to say about Cobb in 1917: "As an outfielder Ty Cobb is unusually good. 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. It's time to put a bow on the 2022 MLB season with Bleacher Report's final positional rankings. He was big guy, very strong, very muscular. Luis Mieses OF (Prev. velocity and launch angle. Do Not Sell My Personal Information. 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 Blue Jays traded Teoscar Hernandez to the Mariners this offseason, which should be a similar situation to the one he just left regarding young talent. Today, the Prep Baseball Report Mississippi scouting staff takes a deeper look at outfield performances from the June event. 7) Al. Being a former pitcher who routinely hit the upper 90's will certainly leave you with a powerful throwing arm, but some of the throws that Rick Ankiel has made from the outfield have been ridiculous. Would anyone be surprised to see him reclaim the No. A range-based metric of skill that shows how many outs a He even threw a ball 100.8 mph on April 21, though it didn't result in an assist. He's barely a half-season into his career. of his glove and to the base on a stolen base or pickoff the fastest reactions and most direct routes in the Jump is a Statcast metric that shows which players have 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. So, here are the leaders in ARM over the past three years: Alfonso Soriano - +25.6 runs Jeff Francoeur - +23.4 runs Ichiro Suzuki - +12.5 runs Nick Markakis - +10.8 runs Michael Cuddyer - +10.4. and bam, you're dead.". Hard to see a difference with the naked eye, right? He's also had nearly 2,000 tracked throws since Statcast came online in 2015, and exactly one of them -- one! He has power to all fields, bats in the middle of a World Champion lineup, and will protect your ratios in traditional 5x5 leagues and those with advanced categories. He stole six bases in nine attempts, but his numbers declined from his best year in 2021. He finished his career with 109 assists, 61 of which came in a four-year period for the Philadelphia Phillies, from 1984 through 1987. In his fourth year in the league, Randy Arozarena hit 20 HR, knocking in 89 and scoring 72 while stealing 32 bases. These numbers and his BA/OBP should go up, assuming his BABIP recorrects somewhat closer to his .314 number. The 28-year-old is too talented to leave on the board, so fantasy managers can draft him and send a quick wish into the universe that he plays basically anywhere else in 2023. Obviously. Some players have power, whereas Yordan Alvarez has POWER. 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. 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. He is a top OBP guy and his ratios have one of the highest floors in baseball. How much spin, in revolutions per minute, a pitch was You can see video of the play here (the actual play starts around the 40 second mark). There is a lot to love about O'Neill in fantasy formats, but there is a lot to question as well. "He has gained a lot of strength since his sophomore year. I thought he (Van Slyke) had no chance, to be honest with you," said Pirates manager Jim Leyland after the game. Those who did generally failed in their attempt to take an extra base, and Puckett finished his career gunning down 142 men on base. When he makes contact, Arozarena's elite maxEV will allow good things to happen. attempt. The volume just hasn't been there to truly be a fantasy stud. "feet per second in a player's fastest one-second Infielders have less time to throw shorter distances. Statcast Outfielder Jump Leaderboard | baseballsavant.com Outfielder Jump Leaderboard Current: Outfielder Jump 2022 Minimum Attempts (Q) Update Download CSV Jump is calculated only on plays that are Two Stars or harder, meaning with a 90% Catch Probability or lower. His OBP was the second-lowest of his career at .323, but his xwOBA was .375, so hopefully, some improvement is in the cards for 2023. From his Rookie of the Year season in 1977 through 1983, Dawson averaged nearly 10 assists a season, racking up 69 over those seven years, including a career high 17 in 1978. A seven-time All-Star who won only one Gold Glove award, Reggie Smith had one of the great throwing arms of the 1970's. 12 finisher hit .297. and 32 degrees. In order to account for that, outfielders receive the average of their top 10% hardest throws as a seasonal average. Suzuki struggled to adjust to the different levels of pitching, but he is a prime candidate for a bounceback season. For a pitcher it is the average of his softest 50% of batted balls allowed. Youd be surprised at how complicated it gets. All rights reserved. Zerby, a sophomore outfielder, hit .365 with 8 runs batted in and 8 stolen bases. He will . What a strong throwing arm does, mostly, is make things happen faster. 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. How far, in feet, a runner is ranging off the bag at the Meusel threw strikes to any base from the outfield. One of the great centerfielders of all-time, Duke Snider would land higher on this list if not for suffering an injury to his arm that robbed him of much of the power behind his throws. From 1956 until he retired in 1964, he only threw out 32, due largely in part to the injury. Laureano is looking to bounce back after a rough 2020 season in which he hit just .213 with a .704 OPS. A promising career cut short by injury and addiction, Ellis Valentine possessed one of the great throwing arms in baseball history. . The former top prospect posted a 109 OPS+ with 23 doubles, 27 home runs, 74 RBI, 79 runs scored and 16 steals, and he was a Gold Glove finalist in right field in a 4.9-WAR season. A batted ball with the perfect combination of exit Hes also, so far as Statcast is concerned, the owner of the strongest throwing arm in baseball this season -- or at least thats what being atop the newly released arm strength leaderboards for position players, available publicly for the first time, would imply. 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. Of note, he increased his stolen bases, and this trend could continue in 2023 with the new baserunning rules. How far, in feet, a fielder or runner has traveled on a one base to another, like Home To First. Yordan lvarez actually played more games at designated hitter (77) than he did in the outfield (56), but since there are not enough everyday DHs for us to do a top 25 list for that position, he's being included here alongside the rest of the league's best outfielders.