And I'm talking about strong arms, not merely accurate ones. 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. 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. The identity of the No. Translation: Realmuto dominates the catcher throwing department. After missing much of the 2019 season and all of last year with a gruesome injury, Haniger finally returned to action, posting a 122 OPS+ with 39 home runs and 100 RBI for the upstart Mariners. . Kevin Kiermaier, Tampa Bay Rays Bez was responsible for five of the 31 tracked assists of at least 90 mph by infielders last season, the second most in MLB, and his average arm strength on max-effort throws (88.3 mph) was the third best among infielders. The lefty bat can play both first base and outfield, and has even filled in a third base. Infielder Tyler Hardman also finds himself in the top 30, but unlike Fitts, he wasn't even ranked ahead of the 2022 season. Cobb is widely regarded as one of the best baseball players in the history of the game. Guerrero currently ranks fifth on the active list for outfield assists. "There's a nuance to disciplined hitting that needs to become a habit. At age 19, Kaline recorded 16 of his career 170 outfield assists. 6. We're going to try something a little different. . How could a man who nicknamed his right arm "El Canon" not make this list? Ramirez has never won a Gold Glove and he is thought of more for his offensive prowess than his defensive abilities. He was hitting .283/.394/.596 with 19 doubles, 24 home runs and 17 steals through 82 games at the time of the injury, good for a 3.6 WAR season. Yelich was the 2018 NL MVP and runner-up in the MVP voting last year. Guerrero has the second best arm of any player in baseball today. Carl Furillo's right arm earned him the nickname, "The Reading Rifle". Abreu's strong arm helped him win his only Gold Glove in 2005. XFL Week 3 preview: Can AJ McCarron, Battlehawks continue their fourth-quarter heroics? Stars and depth help the Dodgers dominate both NL competition and Best Tools voting. Sign up to receive our daily Morning Lineup to stay in the know about the latest trending topics around Major League Baseball. Ichiro has won a Gold Glove all 10 years that he has been in the major leagues. 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. Regardless of who the Rays plug into the pen, they continue to find success. Giants Sign Carlos Correa to 13-Year, $350 Million Deal Dansby Swanson's Market Is Heating Up Harper hit .338/.476/.713 with 20 home runs after the All-Star break, doing his part to help a Phillies team that tried in vain to chase down a postseason berth. Soto, in my opinion, has that. He led the National League in outfield assists twice in his career. A former Gold Glove winner in left field, he is a roughly average defender in center field. Each player was included in the rankings at the position where he played the most innings. Teel is an excellent athlete with a strong arm, and has a good swing with excellent hand acceleration, but he had some bad BABIP luck last year and hit just .276/.402/.439, a drop from his strong . To qualify for inclusion, a player had to have at least 200 plate appearances. I think we'll see him hunt early in counts against next season.". Scouts noted that he has a plus arm in the. He ultimately found his way back to Tampa Bay on a new one-year, $3 million deal that includes a 2022 club option. Part I: Hit toolPart II: Power toolPart III: Run toolPart IV: Fielding tool. 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. His nickname is Laser Ramn, so you already knew hed have to make this list. 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. Rob Neyer ranked him as our best right fielder in his Big Book of Baseball Lineups (pre-Bautista). Honorable Mention:Los Angeles Dodgers, Oakland Athletics, San Diego Padres, Tampa Bay Rays, Washington Nationals. 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). However, he was worth a staggering 4.5 WAR when he was on the field. 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. According to Bill James' Baseball Abstract, Valentine had the best arm in baseball in the 1970's. 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. Honorable Mention: Chicago White Sox, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners, Tampa Bay Rays. He made more consistent contact while maintaining his usual elite average exit velocity and hard-hit rate metrics. Jeff, one of the authors of the fantasy baseball guide, The Process, writes for RotoGraphs, The Hardball Times, Rotowire, Baseball America, and BaseballHQ. February 24, 2023. Once regarded as injury-prone, the 28-year-old has missed only 10 games over the past three years combined, averaging 36 homers, 107 RBIs, 105 runs and 16 steals per 162 games in that span. Hitting with discipline is something you elect to do. 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. It has been suggested that the Indians have been cursed after trading Colavito, a fan favorite, to the Detroit Tigers in 1960. Nate Eaton is making a case for sticking on . His shoulder first began giving him problems in 2021. MLB Tonight: Outfield Arm. Reels. Buck Showalter, Mets. . Steven Hajjar- Michigan prospect sophomore that fanned 24 of 87 batters faced and 3-0 record in four game. While his .286 on-base percentage and 31.2 percent strikeout rate leave something to be desired, he was a stellar defender (16 DRS, 11.8 UZR/150) to go along with his power production in a 3.8 WAR season. The biggest surprise has been Austin Riley, who looked like the weak link after posting an 84 OPS+ in 503 plate appearances over his first two seasons. 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. There is no shortage of articles ranking MLB players by position, league, age, production or something else entirely. Listen. In five-and-two-thirds career innings, Colavito only gave up one hit. He did it across 72 games and 322 plate appearances on a Washington Nationals team that was floundering at the bottom of the NL East standings. Bill James had him as the 67th best right fielder in major league history and said he had. Verdugo batted .308 for the Red Sox, his energy sometimes feeling like life support for a franchise going through one of the worst seasons in its history. Each writer provided anywhere from 80-100+ outfielders so we could create our consensus top-80. He might just be entering his throwing prime, making this the perfect time to claim his golden arm for my superplayer. But imagine him with this cannon attached to his shoulder. That Betts is the best right fielder in the game is assumed. Bobby Abreu has had one of the strongest and most accurate arms in baseball in recent years. His career will always be under a microscope, but it's hard to call his 2021 performance anything but superstar-caliber. Williams loved to talk hitting, and through the last years of his life, he developed friendships with the likes of Tony Gwynn. Here are the Cubs' 2023 Top 30 prospects. 1 spot. Even with all of those free passes and teams pitching around him, he still managed 20 doubles, 29 home runs and 95 RBI. Walker won seven Gold Gloves and ended his career with 154 outfield assists. Cobb did have some trouble with his arm however. The 21-year-old had 23 homers and 20 steals in the Minors in 2019, but thats the only full Minor League season hes played, and the left adductor muscle strain he suffered in his fourth Cactus League game spoiled any chance he had of cracking the Mariners Opening Day roster. Larry Walker is considered one of the best Rockies ever in the team's short existence. He tallied a career-high 42 doubles along with 35 home runs, 84 RBI and 101 runs scored in a 5.9 WAR season. The 33-year-old figures to be a hot commodity on the free-agent market this winter. In the short 2020 season, he had more walks (49) than strikeouts (43). In 2019, it was all about arm strength for Laureano. There was a lot of debate during the truncated season why Yelich struggled so much -- and there's no disputing that his troubles were acute, something more than a slump. As a rail-thin rookie, Bonds managed to accumulate 10 assists. One of the most exciting defensive plays in baseball occurs when there is going to be a play at the plate. I want my superplayer to own a cannon and have shown time and time again that he can be accurate with it. It's worth remembering that during the 2018-19 seasons, Pham had an on-base percentage of .368 and scored 179 runs in 282 games. Rather than ranking individual players, we set out to name the best multi-player units in baseball. He also had one of the strongest arms that baseball has ever seen. He hit .281 with an .800 OPS after the All-Star break, and he capped off the season by winning his first Gold Glove. Few players have joined an organization under more challenging circumstances than Verdugo faced when he went to the Red Sox. Frelick also climbed three levels in his first full season, and the 2021 first . Just like the regular-season rankings, players are ranked solely on the 2021 season. Runners will not even try to advance extra bases when the ball is in Ichiro's hands. The 26-year-old got off to a slow start this year, but he caught fire in May and never looked back. The 27-year-old became the first 30/30 player in Orioles history, hitting .291/.360/.518 with 37 doubles, 30 home runs and 30 steals while finishing fourth in the league in hits (175), sixth in total bases (312) and 10th in OPS+ (135). Previous picks: Anthony Rendon (hit), Mike Trout (power), Byron Buxton (run), Simmons (defense), Ramn Laureano, CF, AsKey stat: 321-foot assist on Aug. 11, 2018. 2y Buster Olney. He went three rounds without hitting a home run, and had one extra-base hit in the seven-game National League Championship Series against the Braves. even despite missing a good chunk of 2021 . Let's meet the 40 players who had the best outfield arms in the history of the game. Having to play the field regularly could hinder his production, but the fact that he led the NL with 18 homers and 56 RBIs while hitting .338/.431/.636 last season cant be ignored. Mookie Betts is the sixth-best outfielder in baseball, and it feels wrong to rank him this low, but wait until you see the top five. But that seemed to be more about a rookie being overly aggressive than anything else. he Boston Red Sox outfield exceeded expectations in 2021. 14. Free agency, trade talk, offseason news . 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. 7. He earned a starting nod in the All-Star Game, and he deserves a ton of credit for the job he did protecting Vladimir Guerrero Jr. out of the cleanup spot in the Toronto lineup. The 31-year-old is hitting .337/.413/.543 with 15 home runs and 41 RBI in 74 games since the beginning of June, and his 3.5 WAR on the year ranks fifth among all first basemen. An intercostal strain limited Winker to only one game after Aug. 15. It's not like swinging hard and hitting a ball 115 mph. The 27-year-old also has a perfect 99 reaction time rating, 86 arm strength, and 81 arm accuracy. All of what you need to know about Meusel's arm was said by Bob Quinn, former president of both the Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves. 1. 25 attempts). That's why the model. Fantasy managers can still find some starting-caliber outfielders in this tier. 8 prospect in the game. But given his offensive production and impact at the top of the lineup, that's more than enough to make him an extremely valuable all-around player. In order to qualify for the leaderboard, a player must have more Two-Star opportunities than team games / 5. Tier 3: Randy Arozarena, Trent Grisham, Michael Conforto, Giancarlo Stanton, Nick Castellanos, J.D. While a member of the Indians minor league team in San Diego, he once threw a ball from home plate and it landed 436 feet away, deep over the center field fence. has him drawing comparisons to Hall of Famer Ted Williams. Despite his defensive limitations, he should be able to find a more lucrative deal this winter. Hernandez was signed as a super-utility . He immediately impressed both his manager and scouts with his impressive throwing arm. But the Rays also added some competition for the starting role in former top prospect Francisco Mejia, whom they acquiredin the Blake Snell blockbuster. Evans was considered to have one of the greatest throwing arms in baseball in the 1970s. Who Are the Best Outfield Arms in MLB? Shortstop Dansby Swanson is hitting .322/.372/.594 with 10 home runs in 36 games since the All-Star break. For a boost in the batting-average category, target McNeil, Verdugo or Brantley. The wild card in this tier is Kelenic, MLB Pipelines No. Ken Griffey Jr. may have been the greatest player in baseball history had injuries not plagued him during his career. Utley's UZR/150 has been at least 8.0 in nine of his 10 seasons as a regular in the big leagues. A catch made high against the right field wall to take extra bases away from Ozuna. Carlos Correa (Twins): 95.0 mph 5. This is Just Baseball's staff consensus ranking of the top 15 corner outfielders in baseball. Stadium MLB insider Russell Dorsey breaks down who the top five outfield arms in MLB are. 4 overall prospect. It's partially controllable. Tatis, of course, was a sensation in just about every way as a rookie in 2019, and his throwing ability was no exception. Yelich is 29 years old. Cobb is also remembered for his feisty attitude and his aggressive playing style. Thursday, it's outfielders -- the top 10 left fielders, center fielders and right fielders. He also quietly held his own in right field (3 DRS, 2.0 UZR/150) after posting negative defensive metrics in left field previously, and his 7.1 WAR led all outfielders and ranked fifth among all players in 2021. Clemente is tied with Willie Mays for the the most Gold Gloves for an outfielder with 12. He threw a ball 445 feet and 10 inches in 1957 while he was a member of the St. Louis Cardinals' Triple-A team. In 2015, Marte had a 16-1 number (A-DP) as part of perhaps baseball's best fielding outfield. Lagares easily has the most rARM per 1,000 innings over the last three seasons. Pollock, Los Angeles Dodgers; Eddie Rosario, free agent; Andrew Benintendi, Boston Red Sox; Robbie Grossman, Detroit Tigers; Clint Frazier, New York Yankees. He has never finished lower than third on the MLB pop time leaderboard since Statcast launched, and 2019 was his fastest season yet. 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. He also led the field with an average pop time of just 1.88 seconds on throws from home to second, and recorded eight of the 10 fastest caught stealing throws across MLB. In total, he made 10 throws of 95-plus mph last season and had three throws of 300 feet or more. The fourth tier features OF3 candidates of every type. MLB Power Rankings: The 25 Best Outfield Arms in MLB History | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors | Bleacher Report MLB Final NYY 7 LAA 4 Soccer Today 6:30PM ARS AVFC Today. The Bulldogs and Sooners are joined by California (which is off to a strong 6-1 start) and Ohio State (a . It is a shame that his career was cut short as the result of a hip injury. Ramirez is fourth among active outfielders with 129 career assists. Honorable Mention: Arizona Diamondbacks, Cincinnati Reds, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, Oakland Athletics, San Francisco Giants. What follows is a ranking of the Top 10 left fielders in baseball. Dawson racked up 157 outfield assists in his 21 major league seasons. $0.99 those in the top 10 percent of a players sample. The 24-year-old led the team in OPS+ (147) while hitting .294/.359/.557 with 37 doubles, 30 home runs, 92 RBI and 14 steals in what was essentially his first full season in the majors, aside from last year's shortened slate. "There are so many factors that go into it, and I don't want to speak for Soto, but there are certainly some habits you have to develop and reinforce when you are young. The eight-time Gold Glove winner was finally inducted into Cooperstown in 2010. He struggled in 2020, with his slugging percentage (.312) matching his on-base percentage. The organization's top four prospects, including all three Top 100 representatives, play the outfield, headlined by 2022 breakout star Jackson Chourio. The 28-year-old hit .305/.394/.556 for a 140 OPS+ with 32 doubles, 24 home runs and 71 RBI in 485 plate appearances, earning his first All-Star selection. The 27-year-old batted .308 last season, with a .534 slugging percentage. Which outfielder has the strongest arm 2021? Which non-quarterback group will define each top-25 team's season? Colavito is another player on this list who has a legendary arm.