5) Wait, is Mike Trout actually improving at yet another thing? By Geoff Pontes. velocity and launch angle. His throwing abilities were recognized by Bill James, as Guerrero was noted to have the best arm of the 1990s. The outfield will be the foundation of many fantasy teams in 2021. Once the No. 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. Jump is calculated only on plays that are Two Stars or harder, meaning Youd think measuring throwing arm strength would be easy. A range-based metric of skill that shows how many outs a Heading into the season, Juan Soto is the leading candidate for Comeback Player of the Year, which feels ridiculous to say about a guy who still ended with a WAR of 5.2. Ken Griffey Jr. is one player you look at and bemoan "Had he only been able to stay healthy". leaderboard, a player must have more Two-Star opportunities than team able to make a catch on an individual batted ball. 22). Players in the National League knew that Clemente could throw anyone out from anywhere in the ballpark, yet 266 of them feebly tried to advance on his powerful right arm, also known as "El Howitzer.". Managers who don't grab an outfielder in the first two rounds will still have an ample supply of impact players 8 prospect in the game. His HR tally dropped from 34 to 14 and games played went from 132 to 96. That "throwing hard" is rarely a demand of the position is somewhat reflected in the leaderboards, which has many first basemen near the bottom. Harris, 2022's No. An All-Star for just the second time in his career, he slotted perfectly in the No. In 118 games, he slashed .292/.347/.468, buoying the ratios for fantasy managers in roto leagues. We dont have Statcast from the early days of his career, of course, but we do have articles from way back in 2014 titled Trout working hard to improve arm strength. In 2019, the L.A. Times detailed the work hed put into improving that relative weakness. . 2. level 2. Fantasy managers can expect a course correction in 2023, somewhere in the vicinity of 30+ HR, 110+ RBI, and an elite .400+ OBP. The first of which registered. Five years later, Acua is a three-time All-Star, a Rookie of the Year Award winner, and a World Series winner. Assists, while a somewhat useful statistic in gauging how strong someone's throwing arm is, doesn't tell the whole storyit's hard to throw someone out when they don't even try to run. Arguably the greatest athlete in the history of the game, Bo Jackson made impossible plays on a routine basis and his cannon of a right arm kept runners at bay. Hardly the same, is it? 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. Baseball may never see another player as smooth at the "catch-and-throw" than Al Kaline. Soto is worth every penny of a top draft pick. Mike Trout unleashed a throw from center field Monday night at Dodger Stadium that looked more . Up to you. A shortstop and pitcher in high school, Sheffield played both positions on the left side of the infield until 1994his seventh in the majorswhen he moved to the outfield. From 1986 through 1991, Snyder led the league in assists with a total of 61. Anything below 88mph is considered 0. Van Slyke unleashed a throw to Pirates catcher Mike LaValliere that arrived in time to nail Oquendo, who was blocked from the plate by LaValliere's left leg long enough for the catcher to apply the tag. A shortstop in college, Cory Snyder made his mark in the major leagues as a power-hitting outfielder. Heres third basemen for 2021. window.". He had an average max-effort arm strength of 94.1 mph, seventh-fastest among MLB outfielders (min. 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. After all the hype over Cruzs 97.8 mph dart in July that stands as the fastest throw on an infield assist Statcast has tracked, hed better be atop a list like this, and he is, by a pretty large 4 mph gap over Cincinnati's Jos Barrero. When you measure a pitchers average fastball velocity, its simple. His arm strength is middling, but he makes good throws nonetheless. (He has 14 harder throws from the right side, though obviously in far more opportunities. 14. It's the first time he's hit the cutoff man. A Batted Ball Event represents any batted ball that Three times he registered 20 or more assists in a season. All rights reserved. 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. . Just make sure you have enough IL slots. 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. Signed to a four-year, $78 million deal as part of the Mets' spending spree last offseason, Marte hit .292/.347/.468 with 45 extra-base hits, 18 steals and 3.8 WAR in 118 games. Escape Velocity takes the average of a player's batted ball velocities subtracted from 88. His 10 hardest throws of the season are as an outfielder, and his 20 hardest throws are at positions other than second base. Its an important one, too. (And even that one, a force out at home plate, came back in 2015.). Here are Justin Leger's top 20 outfielders for the upcoming season. 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. 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. 6) Do first basemen really ever have to throw hard? Along with his stellar offensive numbers, Tucker also won his first career Gold Glove while posting stellar defensive metrics (13 DRS, 4.6 UZR/150) in right field. How hard, in miles per hour, a pitch is thrown. xERA is a simple 1:1 translation of xwOBA, converted to He will . Some, obviously, but its not everything. Its not that his arm suddenly got weaker on the right side of the infield, of course. 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. His fastball was thrown so hard that he broke a catcher's arm with it, and when nobody else would catch him, they moved him to the outfield. Some forget that before he was saving baseball with his bat, Babe Ruth was a heck of a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox. In a down season by his own lofty standards, Juan Soto was still one of the most productive offensive players in the game. For Rodrguez, thats 43 throws. The 31-year-old hit .283/.369/.630 for a 178 OPS+ while slugging 40 home runs in just 499 plate appearances, and his 6.3 WAR still ranked sixth among all American League players. In early September, he tried to throw out Jose Altuve, who was tagging up on a sacrifice fly. 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. 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. Expected Weighted On-base Average (xwOBA). Advanced arm strength, over-the-top arm action. outfield. From 1956 until he retired in 1964, he only threw out 32, due largely in part to the injury. Were talking raw speed here, not accuracy. An All-Star for the second time, he posted a 144 OPS+ and led the Giants with 23 home runs, and that earned him a qualifying offer which he accepted. velocity and launch angle. On Saturday . (For this, well just look at throws on fielded balls, not outfield relays or double play pivots.). Before last season, the fantasy community almost unanimously labeled him a second-year bust, but the 29-year-old responded by improving his slash line across the board. When he was 13 years old, Shoeless Joe Jackson began pitching on the baseball team of the textile mill in which he worked. Aaron Judge put together one of the greatest offensive seasons in MLB history in 2022, setting the AL record with 62 home runs while making a legitimate run at the Triple Crown by hitting .311/.425/.686 with 131 RBI and 133 runs scored. Strength is only one aspect of what makes a great throwing arm. Jump is a Statcast metric that shows which players have 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. He may suffer some of the typical rookie issues, but all signs point to a quick adjustment and solid fantasy production. Do Not Sell My Personal Information. Outfielders with strong throwing arms not only result in outs, but they make the opposition think twice about even trying to run when they have the ball in their hands. 7) Al. 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. 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 He hit 16 homers, his most since 2019, but he only stole 18 bases, a severe drop off from the 47 he snagged the year before. At the end of his breakout season, Justin Dirden felt fatigued. Kwan is in the 100th percentile of K% after striking out only 60 times in 638 plate appearances. The likelihood, in percent, that an outfielder will be 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. Upon his arrival in Detroit, Colavito's arm was so good that it pushed another member of this list, Al Kaline, to center field for the 1960 season. While his slugging percentage was down significantly, a lot of that can be attributed to working back from the injury. 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. Kyle Schwarber, Philadelphia Phillies. Mullins didn't quite match the out-of-nowhere 30/30 season he put together in 2021, but he was still one of the game's better everyday center fielders. 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. A six-time Gold Glove winner and the 1997 National League MVP, Larry Walker was yet another smooth fielding right fielder with a cannon for an arm who has played the game. The 27-year-old is miscast as a center fielder (-14 DRS, -3.2 UZR/150) and that undercut his overall value a bit. play. First, standing at home plate, he only needed three attempts to throw a ball over the center field wall, 410 feet away. 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. Anthony Santander answered the fantasy world's questions regarding his power by hitting 33 HR with 89 RBI and 78 runs in a Baltimore lineup that should be much improved in 2023. His 10 hardest non-relay/pivot throws on the right side of the infield average 75.7 mph, maxing out at 78.2 mph. With everyday playing time, 2023 could be a big year of growth for the 24-year-old. Going back to 2015, he has two of the three hardest throws ever tracked by an infielder. While "The Catch" is unquestionably one of the great plays in the history of the game, the part of the play that is often overlooked is the throw that Willie Mays made immediately following it. Hard to see a difference with the naked eye, right? Escape Velocity takes the average of a player's batted ball velocities subtracted from 88. He played in 84 games last season, slashing .295/.358/.500 with 16 HR, 54 RBI, and 40 runs. Traded shortstop Adalberto Mondesi to the Red Sox for pitcher Josh Taylor. Even with his torn UCL last season, he still slashed .286/.364/.514 and powered the Phillies to the World Series. An intimidating physical presence standing 6'5" and weighing 235 pounds, Dave Parker only exacerbated things by walking around the field with a shotgun. Only a starter in four of the 11 seasons he played, Whiten ended his career with 77 assists, an impressive number when you figure that he was often a pinch-hitter or late-inning replacement. The other draws include his 27 homers and 16 stolen bases, something only J.T. With many new faces around him, there is a chance he could drop down, which would harm his value. 20. Back in 2017, a then-19-year-old Ronald Acua Jr. appeared in Miami at the Futures Game. He is in the top 10 percent in maxEV and xBA, and the new SB rules could benefit someone with his speed. Its hard to think its entirely about Storys move to the right side. 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. Buhner merely went on to hit more than 300 home runs and become one of the most beloved Mariners of all-time. 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). Buxton played in only 92 games last year, 61 in 2021, 87 in 2019, and 28 in 2018. A batted ball with the perfect combination of exit 3. Flexibility, mechanics and total-body strength are key factors coaches and trainers stress in order to increase arm strength. Escape Velocity takes the average of a player's batted ball velocities subtracted from 88. In 1978, Cromartie and Valentine led the league in outfield assists with 24 apiece. Not all was lost, though, as the 27-year-old showed off more of his speed, stealing 14 bases, which was only one less than his 2021 total. He is one of the best pure hitters in the game today, and the six-year, $115 million extension he signed in June already looks like an absolute steal for the Astros. 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? 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. He only played in 119 games due to a rare and persistent back injury that will require more rest days going forward, even when healthy. a batted-ball event with a launch angle between eight His baseball career almost ended in 1905 when he enrolled at Fort Worth Polytechnic Institute. The shortstop position has become one of the deepest and most talented positions in fantasy baseball over the last decade. Top Major-League Arm: Bryce Harper (Washington Nationals) All-Time Tool: Jesse Barfield newly released arm strength leaderboards for position players, when Hawk-Eye was installed in all 30 stadiums, look at their comparisons on both sides of the bag. Pirates starting pitcher Mel Queen hit a fly ball into the gap between right and center. USA TODAY Sports photo. He's barely a half-season into his career. a batted-ball event with a launch angle between eight 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. 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. He even threw a ball 100.8 mph on April 21, though it didn't result in an assist. Current: The likelihood, in percent, that an outfielder will be The 30-year-old posted a 126 OPS+ with 29 home runs and 72 RBI, and he had 11 outfield assists in a career-high 2.7-WAR season. ", 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. In 2020, Story averaged 82.3 mph as a Rockies shortstop -- a good-not-great number, slightly below average for shortstops. He doesn't make a lot of loud contact at the plate . window") of the runner is at least 30 ft/sec. exit velocity of 95 mph or higher. Steamer projections have him at 43/109/104 for the upcoming season, and his ratios should see a small decline as well. In fact, if we look at the 16 fielders who had enough throws to qualify at both second base and shortstop this year, plus Story, and look at their comparisons on both sides of the bag every single one had a harder average throw from the left side than the right side, by an average of 5.3 mph. Default = Experts with most recent updates. In 2021, before he was injured, that went up to 88.2 mph. 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. Those who did generally failed in their attempt to take an extra base, and Puckett finished his career gunning down 142 men on base. 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. Schwarber batted leadoff for the vast majority of the season, but the acquisition of Trea Turner will most likely move him down in the order. Whether or not you draft Luis Robert depends entirely on how risk-averse you are to injuries. 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. 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. -- Sarah Langs Baltimore Orioles.
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