In traditional 5x5 leagues, Garcia can provide value from the fifth round on. He is exactly the type of guy you wait for once you've built up your other categories. He batted leadoff 64 times, indicating the Royals are dedicated to getting him plate appearances in front of Bobby Witt Jr. and Salvador Perez. Yes, of course. 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. 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. After Ichiro, Francoeur has the best throwing arm in baseball today. 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. How hard, in miles per hour, a fielder throws the ball. Fantasy managers just need to decide if they can ride out the 0-for-4 streaks. Pittsburgh Pirates coach Rich Donnelly explains: ""He eggs you on. 3) Players throw differently at different positions, right? 27 prospect in the Cleveland organization would finish as one of the 10 best outfielders in baseball? From 1956 until he retired in 1964, he only threw out 32, due largely in part to the injury. 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. It's not natural. Mays fired the ball back into the infieldby his own admission, he had no idea where the ball was goingbut it stopped Al Rosen from advancing to second base and, more importantly, stopped Larry Doby from scoring, forcing him back to third base. the fastest reactions and most direct routes in the 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. It's possible they leave him in the 2-slot, especially until Bryce Harper returns, in which case he will continue to score runs and increase his RBI total. Heres what his 43rd-hardest throw looks like its clearly one hes putting effort into. Or he could clog your IL for two-thirds of the season. MLB average for right fielders is about 49 percent. A two-time gold glove winner, Mondesi's career high for assists didn't come until 2001 with the Toronto Blue Jays, when he threw out 18 baserunners from right field. You dont want to average all of those together, because so much of it just doesnt matter, and theres not exactly a rulebook definition for was trying. For Rodrguez, for example, he has over 430 tracked throws, but nearly 80% of them are under 80 mph. He batted third or fourth for most of 2022, but his skillset reads like a No. as Active Spin. 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. 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. 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. In a down season by his own lofty standards, Juan Soto was still one of the most productive offensive players in the game. Only in baseball can the son of a potato farmer who born and raised on Long Island become Boston's favorite son. Mike Trout missed 30 games at midseason with a back issue and still finished eighth in AL MVP voting while taking home his eighth Silver Slugger Award. He is in the top 10 percent in maxEV and xBA, and the new SB rules could benefit someone with his speed. Rankings Top 15 MLB Corner Outfielders for 2023. He still has a microscopic walk rate, but he also took four points off his K%. As MLB.com Tom's Tango has detailed, when looking at players who have played multiple positions, outfielders consistently throw about 3 mph higher than themselves at shortstop and third, 7 mph higher than at second, and 10 mph than they are at first base. Statcast position player arm strength metrics are available beginning with the 2020 season. Luis Mieses OF (Prev. Playing for the Cleveland Indians minor league team in the Pacific Coast League in 1956, Colavito threw a ball from home plate 436 feet, watching it land well beyond the centerfield wall. Every one, that is, except Story. 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. No one, I mean no one, runs on him.". In eight years of Statcast tracking, only two first baseman throws have come in above 91 mph, and each of them -- both from Vladimir Guerrero Jr., one shown below -- were on relays. Then during a throwing competition where competitors were given a six-step running start, Gorbous launched a ball 445 feet and 10 inches from the right field corner to left field, setting a world record that stands to this day. These are available back to 2020, that being when Hawk-Eye was installed in all 30 stadiums as the hardware that powers Statcast. 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. It only took two years for the American League to learn that you can't run on Kirby Puckett, a 10-time All-Star and six-time Gold Glove award winner. Suppose he continues to bat atop the Cleveland order and takes advantage of the new baserunning rules. For a batter, Best Speed is an average of 50% of his hardest hit balls. 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. Few rookies in recent memory have had a greater impact on the culture of their team than Julio Rodrguez, who played a pivotal role in helping the Seattle Mariners reach the postseason for the first time since Ichiro Suzuki's rookie season in 2001. For Rodrguez, thats 43 throws. Pittsburgh has a good long history of trading great players once they reach arbitration, so chances are that he will don a different uniform come Opening Day. Soto is worth every penny of a top draft pick. If strikeouts count against you in your league, then you might want to stay clear of Adolis Garcia. Do Not Sell My Personal Information. 14. 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. For a pitcher it is the average of his softest 50% of batted balls allowed. Palm Beach, Fla - It's early, but with each passing day Jordan Walker 's case to break camp with the Cardinals major league team gets stronger. Statcast refers to the spin that contributes to movement 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). -- Sarah Langs Ted Kluszewski, who was the Reds' hitting coach when Geronimo arrived and helped Geronimo enjoy a moderate level of success at the plate, explained how impressive his throwing arm was: "(Geronimo) is like a center in basketballhe intimidates you. Just beware that his numbers might look much closer to 2021 than 2022. He falls into the "walk year" category, so he might outperform his projections. 2 spot in the lineup between NL batting title winner Jeff McNeil and the one-two punch of Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso. the fastest reactions and most direct routes in the 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. 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 Batted Ball Event represents any batted ball that Just beware you'll probably get closer to 500 plate appearances than the preferred 600 with his injury history. Bo Bichette, Bobby Witt Jr., Fernando Tatis Jr., Marcus Semien, Francisco Lindor, Corey . 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. How far, in feet, a runner is ranging off the bag at the 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. Hall of Famer Red Schoendienst, who both played and managed against Roberto Clemente, gave Whiten's throwing arm the ultimate compliment: "As far as arm strength goes . That doesn't happen without Furillo's play. A Batted Ball Event represents any batted ball that How far off the mound, in feet, a pitcher releases the With a seasoned Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson in front of him, Santander will fill your power categories in the tenth round or so. Throughout the year, we released monthly updates to our position-by-position power rankings, selecting the top 10 players at each spot. In three seasons, he only has 924 plate appearances, and fantasy managers have been left to wonder what it would look like if he got 600 appearances in one season. Heres what his 43rd-hardest throw looks like. outfield. ", In discussing the effects of PED's on players with Morris Dalla Costa of the London Free Press, Barfield noted the biggest problem that taking PED's has on an outfielder: "They can't get the arm up over the top because of how the muscles are built up. 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). BY Justin Leger -. On Saturday . A good example of this is Cubs rookie Christopher Morel, who has a 96.5 mph competitive average as an outfielder -- maxing out at 102.3 mph -- and a 90.4 mph competitive average as a second baseman, maxing out at 90.9 mph. His throwing arm used to be a relative weakness. So the answer here might really be more than one answer, in that infielders who spend times on both sides of second base seem to throw harder from the left side, and Story might best be served as a second baseman going forward. 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. A diving catch or someone reaching over the wall to rob someone of a home run might get the crowd going, but nothing makes you stand up and say "wow" more than a big throw from an outfielder to nail a runner trying to advance a base. This will probably be the 26-year-old's last season with catcher eligibility, but in non-keeper leagues, he is a good asset. In total, he made 10 throws of 95-plus mph last season and had three throws of 300 feet or more. Outfielders can get a running start, preparing for a long throw. He was big guy, very strong, very muscular. Default = Experts with most recent updates. 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? A Batted Ball Event represents any batted ball that 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. A lot of 2023 draft boards will have Aaron Judge at the top of them, and there is no doubt he belongs there after his record-setting 2022. He once again tallied more walks (135) than strikeouts (96). On the home-to-first leaderboards, the same gap -- between truly elite speed and a catcher with bad knees -- is all of 1.23 seconds. 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. It gets you from Point A to Point B more quickly. 2 prospect in baseball when the season began, he lived up to the hype and then some by hitting .284/.345/.509 with 25 doubles, 28 home runs, 75 RBI, 84 runs scored and 25 steals in 132 games. 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. 3. There is a lot of value to be had here. He's barely a half-season into his career. Indeed, the 25-year-old came back in late April, immediately began stealing bases, and rewarded fantasy managers who used a high draft pick on him. His primary downfall when it comes to fantasy value is his 58.6% ground ball rate, which limits his HR and RBI totals. It was not his best all-around season by any stretch of the imagination, due in large part to the significant time he spent watching from the sidelines, but it was still good enough for a top-five ranking on this list. How much spin, in revolutions per minute, a pitch was How quickly, in seconds, a catcher can get the ball out Outfielders get the average of the top 10% of their throws. xBA measures the likelihood that a batted ball will 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. How far off the mound, in feet, a pitcher releases the Ad - content continues below. While his slugging percentage was down significantly, a lot of that can be attributed to working back from the injury. 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. His ratios were down across the board, but he improved his K% and BB% and suffered from some bad luck with BABIP. Had he only been able to stay healthy, we could be talking about the greatest player in the history of the gamebefore he got injured, there was no better player in the game. No, I'm a California resident looking for the California Consumer Privacy Act form. one base to another, like Home To First. Ari Bethea, Collierville (TN), 2025 Positional Profile: RHP/OF Body: 6-1, 192-pounds. Baltimore Orioles. Known primarily for his throwing arm, Glenn Wilson threw out 38 runners between 1985 and 1986, leading the league in assists each season. A .230/.305/.388 career hitter in 534 plate appearances entering the 2022 season, Ward was one of the year's biggest surprises. Julio Rodriguez led the 2022 youth movement throughout MLB, skipping Triple-A to win Rookie of the Year with 29 of 30 first-place votes and electrifying the crowd at the HR Derby in July. 12 finisher at outfield on the strength of a .291 average, 33 homers, 83 runs, 89 RBI, and 12 steals. and 32 degrees. Click a bubble to see all the player's throws. The Phillies will score in bunches, and Schwarber may have multi-position eligibility, depending on your league, which is not a bad fantasy asset to have at all as long as you can absorb the batting average. Phelps would only play poorly in parts of two seasons in the Bronx. Top Major-League Arm: Bryce Harper (Washington Nationals) All-Time Tool: Jesse Barfield As MLB.com Toms Tango has detailed, when looking at players who have played multiple positions, outfielders consistently throw about 3 mph higher than themselves at shortstop and third, 7 mph higher than at second, and 10 mph than they are at first base. He might be an empty batting average/OBP player, though, so don't expect much more than 15 HR if you pick him. 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. pitch. However, the 25-year-old smashed 30 HR with 107 RBI, 71 runs, and 25 stolen bases in 2022 en route to another World Series win for the Astros. "He has gained a lot of strength since his sophomore year. in "feet per second in a player's fastest one-second xERA is a simple 1:1 translation of xwOBA, converted to How much spin, in revolutions per minute, a pitch was Even with his torn UCL last season, he still slashed .286/.364/.514 and powered the Phillies to the World Series. In Game 6 of the 1971 World Series (the throw can be seen in the video around the 1:20 mark), Clemente unleashed a throw from deep in the right field corner towards third base, trying to nail the runner. Top Major League Outfield Arm: Bryce Harper ( Washington Nationals) All-Time Tool: Jesse Barfield How to Identify It: Arm strength is a simple tool to evaluate in comparison to others. When you walk around calling yourself "El Caon" (translation: the cannon) and you tell Maryann Hudson of the LA Times, "I don't know why they keep running on methey know I'm going to throw them out"only a month into your rookie seasonyou'd better be able to back that up in the field. How hard, in miles per hour, a fielder throws the ball. Ranking third here is not a knock, just shows the depth at third base. and, on certain types of batted balls, Sprint Speed. For example, if you're an outfielder and they want you to improve your arm strength for a training period goal, you can pour spare points into arm strength even after meeting your goal;. There is a lot to love about O'Neill in fantasy formats, but there is a lot to question as well. In order to account for that, outfielders receive the average of their top 10% hardest throws as a seasonal average. 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. Showcasing the Arm Younger players rarely have the opportunity to play in stadiums where statcast tracks their every move. 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. The movement of a pitch is defined in inches, both in The other draws include his 27 homers and 16 stolen bases, something only J.T. Not only was it probably the better part of 300 feet, it was dead on line and in the air the whole way.". Statcast defines a 'hard-hit ball' as one hit with an The likelihood, in percent, that an outfielder will be He hits in the middle of the order behind Marcus Semien, Corey Seager, and Nathaniel Lowe, all of whom like to get on base. The Coors effect isn't going to bring the 31-year-old back near his prime, but he should put up better numbers in 2023 and recently stated he would be ready to go for Spring Training. Obviously. a batted-ball event with a launch angle between eight Three times he registered 20 or more assists in a season. 25 attempts). The best player at the position was Ronald Acuna (.280 with 127 runs, 41 home runs, 101 RBI, and 37 steals . Average times are calculated with the following ranges. But Callison also threw out 175 over the course of his career, including a four-year stretch from 1962 through 1965 when he racked up 90 assists, leading the league each season. and bam, you're dead.". The bad news for Nick Castellanos was a 46-point drop in his batting average in 2022. With 305 total bases he was one of just 12 players to break the 300 mark during the 2022 season, joining Aaron Judge (391) as the only outfielders on that exclusive list. Nicknamed the "Reading Rifle," Furillo led all outfielders in assists in 1951 with 24, and he has 151 for his career. OF-95 mph. On the left side, its higher: 81.5 mph on average, maxing out at 84.9 mph. If you can stomach the idea of spending a high-round draft pick on an injury risk with a high ceiling, Robert could be a steal. The shortstop position has become one of the deepest and most talented positions in fantasy baseball over the last decade. Between natural talent and growing up with his uncleformer New York Mets ace Dwight Goodenteaching him how to pitch, Gary Sheffield was destined to have a cannon for an arm. Partly because of time missed due to injury, largely because of his reputation, people generally don't try to run when Ankiel has the ball in his hand, which would help to explain how someone with that strong of an arm has never reached double-digit assists in any season as an outfielder. Unless you're in a quirky league where defense counts, Melendez fills a scarce position with decent skills. exit velocity of 95 mph or higher. Andrew Benintendi, Kansas City Royals/New York Yankees. The Orioles seem dedicated to giving their prospects every opportunity to succeed, which boosts Mullins's value in the runs category. A shortstop in college, Cory Snyder made his mark in the major leagues as a power-hitting outfielder. Traded shortstop Adalberto Mondesi to the Red Sox for pitcher Josh Taylor. become a hit. Pete Rose once attempted to put Valentine's arm in perspective: "They say that I can't throw like Ellis Valentine or run like Tim Raines or hit with power like Mike Schmidt. Judge has shown off his rocket arm many times in the past. 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. Just look at the 2022 averages on competitive throws from those positions. Teammate Bob Meusel had a better arm than the Babe, but Ruth wasn't far behind. The Venezuela native surged three levels in his age-18 season, showing off plus power and 70-grade speed on his way to becoming the No. Home Run record with 62, scoring 133 runs, driving in 131, and stealing 16 bases to boot. The open event saw prospects from across the state of Mississippi perform in front of several college coaches, and the Prep Baseball Report Mississippi scouting staff. Once he had the ball in his hand, anyone who was still running on the bases was a candidate to be thrown out. This Eaton is a speedy infielder who seems more useful in the outfield, where he can leverage his range and strong arm into GIF-worthy plays. A finger injury derailed his season, but he finished the year strong. But it is best to exercise some caution and ensure you have outfield depth if you plan to roster him. He missed time in the middle of the season with a finger injury he incurred while stealing a base, or he would have probably joined the 30/30 Club. In traditional 5x5 leagues, he can anchor any fantasy outfield you put him in. When he was 13 years old, Shoeless Joe Jackson began pitching on the baseball team of the textile mill in which he worked. Heres Astros outfielders, since 2020. Michael Harris II played 43 games in Double-A last year before getting called up to the majors and proceeded to hit 19 HR, steal 20 bases, and slash .297/.339/.514 on his way to winning the NL Rookie of the Year award. The past two seasons, Phillips has amassed 21 outs above average while patrolling center and right field (seventh-most among outfielders last season with 11). with a 90% Catch Probability or lower. With that, he became just the second player in Astros history with a 30-homer, 25-steal season, joining Hall of Famer first baseman Jeff Bagwell who did it twice. George Springer continues to appear on the What Could Be All-Star Team after playing 133 games in 2022 while dealing with elbow and knee injuries that left him with many "DTD" tags. 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. It only continues to get better, as about half of these prospects below have a good shot to earn consistent playing time this upcoming season. Frelick also climbed three levels in his first full season, and the 2021 first . Here are the players who just missed the cut, listed alphabetically: Ronald Acua Jr., ATLMark Canha, NYMDylan Carlson, STLOscar Gonzalez, CLENick Gordon, MINTrent Grisham, SDLourdes Gurriel Jr., TORAustin Hays, BALTeoscar Hernndez, TORJake McCarthy, ARIChas McCormick, HOUChristopher Morel, CHCLars Nootbaar, STLJurickson Profar, SDLuis Robert, CWSAnthony Santander, BALMyles Straw, CLESeiya Suzuki, CHCMichael A. Taylor, KCTyrone Taylor, MILLane Thomas, WASTrayce Thompson, SD/LADAlex Verdugo, BOSMike Yastrzemski, SFChristian Yelich, MIL. Yet when Meusel had the ball in his hand, anyone who was still running the bases was a candidate to get picked off by one of his powerful throws. 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. The stolen bases are most likely gone forever, but he could pair nicely with a speed guy from Round 1. . in "feet per second in a player's fastest one-second A below average fielder who threw out 107 runners over the course of his career, Jose Guillen made what some consider to be the best throw in the history of baseball - click here to check it out.