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. He will . After Ichiro, Francoeur has the best throwing arm in baseball today. The definitive power rankings on the strength of the outfield, where we (no, I don't play anymore but old habits die hard) talk to ourselves and it's totally accepted as the norm. A .230/.305/.388 career hitter in 534 plate appearances entering the 2022 season, Ward was one of the year's biggest surprises. Let them. time of a pitcher's first movement or pitch release. Three times he registered 20 or more assists in a season. Yes. 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. He famously broke the A.L. pitch. A range-based metric of skill that shows how many outs a How high/low, in degrees, a ball was hit by a batter. Exit Velocity & Barrels. How hard, in miles per hour, a fielder throws the ball. 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. 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 hard, in miles per hour, a pitch is thrown. But thats hardly true for position players, where you might sometimes be throwing at your maximum effort (heres Julio Rodrguez with a 99.6 mph cannon to nail a runner at third base) and sometimes you are absolutely not (heres Rodrguez with a 21.6 mph [!] Meusel finished his career with 157 assists, including a three-year period from 1921 through 1923 where he racked up 69. Fantasy managers can expect a course correction in 2023, somewhere in the vicinity of 30+ HR, 110+ RBI, and an elite .400+ OBP. Advanced arm strength, over-the-top arm action. He could pop double-digit homers, but all fantasy managers need to care about is that he keeps running well (23-for-26 SB in 2022) and with impunity. 2. level 2. It's useful for me because it allows me to see who the fans consider to be the best throwing outfielders. xBA measures the likelihood that a batted ball will Honestly, he doesn't take many pitches, period, as he sits in the first percentile in chase rate. Defense: Moves through the ball well, gets to the ball quick. Here are Justin Leger's top 20 outfielders for the upcoming season. In the bottom of the 10th inning against the Seattle Mariners on June 5, 1989, Jackson's arm made one of the great throws in the history of the game. Arm Strength (ARM) Definition Arm Strength is defined as the maximum velocity of any throw made by a fielder -- with the max velocity always being at the release point, due to physics. On the left side, its higher: 81.5 mph on average, maxing out at 84.9 mph. Follow @RickWeinerBR Just Missed the Cut 1 of 42 Barry Bonds Shin-Soo Choo Mike Hershberger Andruw Jones Mark. His 10 hardest non-relay/pivot throws on the right side of the infield average 75.7 mph, maxing out at 78.2 mph. Today, the Prep Baseball Report Mississippi scouting staff takes a deeper look at outfield performances from the June event. 12 finisher at outfield on the strength of a .291 average, 33 homers, 83 runs, 89 RBI, and 12 steals. He hits in the middle of the order behind Marcus Semien, Corey Seager, and Nathaniel Lowe, all of whom like to get on base. Exit Velocity & Barrels Leaderboard Current: Exit Velocity & Barrels A table displaying leaders in Statcast metrics such as Sweet Spot % (SwSp%), Barrels, Exit Velocity (EV), Batted Ball Distance (DST), Projected Home Run Distance (HR-DST), Launch Angle (LA) and Batted Ball Events (BBE) . Heres third basemen for 2021. Going back to 2015, he has two of the three hardest throws ever tracked by an infielder. 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. The organization's top four prospects, including all three Top 100 representatives, play the outfield, headlined by 2022 breakout star Jackson Chourio. Yes, of course. produces a result. High effort on throws, accurate. Escape Velocity takes the average of a player's batted ball velocities subtracted from 88. Not only was it probably the better part of 300 feet, it was dead on line and in the air the whole way.". 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. Another outfield prospect the Cardinals traded away before he broke out, Garca had a 31-homer rookie season in 2021, but he was a more well-rounded offensive player this season. In order to qualify for the A Bolt is any run where the Sprint Speed (defined as How high/low, in degrees, a ball was hit by a batter. He still has a microscopic walk rate, but he also took four points off his K%. 1) Oneil Cruz has to be the hardest-throwing shortstop, right? The bad news for Nick Castellanos was a 46-point drop in his batting average in 2022. 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. able to make a catch on an individual batted ball. Since the demands of each position grouping are different, the averages and qualifiers are different as well. Who would have guessed an under-the-radar rookie who didn't crack Baseball America's Top 100 prospect list and ranked as the No. of his glove and to the base on a stolen base or pickoff How much spin, in revolutions per minute, a pitch was The respect that his arm commands explains why he has only 97 career assists, a relatively low number for a man with such a powerful weapon at his disposal. time of a pitcher's first movement or pitch release. the fastest reactions and most direct routes in the A Batted Ball Event represents any batted ball that From 1998 through 2002, Bobby Abreu racked up 59 assists patrolling right field for the Philadelphia Phillies. 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. For a batter, Best Speed is an average of 50% of his hardest hit balls. With a seasoned Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson in front of him, Santander will fill your power categories in the tenth round or so. His throwing arm used to be a relative weakness. Ugly defensive metrics (-15 DRS, -17.7 UZR/150) and the fact that he was essentially a platoon player (57 PA vs. LHP) kept Pederson from ranking any higher, but he was a terrific bargain on a one-year, $6 million deal. Youd think measuring throwing arm strength would be easy. Outfielders can get a running start, preparing for a long throw. No, I'm a California resident looking for the California Consumer Privacy Act form. with a 90% Catch Probability or lower. Amed Rosario's numbers in 2022 looked quite similar to the ones from 2021. How fast, in miles per hour, a ball was hit by a batter. A 12-time Gold Glove winner, 10-time All-Star and the 1966 National League MVP, Roberto Clemente was the prototype for a five-tool player. Jesse Barfield could always throw, and anyone who challenged his arm generally found themselves on the losing end of the battle. The charges would later be dropped. play. In 1978, Cromartie and Valentine led the league in outfield assists with 24 apiece. 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. Fantasy managers can count on significant strikeouts and not many walks, but he is at or above the 90th percentile in five power-hitting categories that can be a salve for those burns. A shortstop in college, Cory Snyder made his mark in the major leagues as a power-hitting outfielder. The 31-year-old hits the ball hard, in the 90th percentile in HardHit% and maxEV, and his BB% is a stellar 13.1%. He finished his career with 109 assists, 61 of which came in a four-year period for the Philadelphia Phillies, from 1984 through 1987. primarily for the Cleveland Indians. How fast, in miles per hour, a ball was hit by a batter. Right here, at the Baseball Savant leaderboards, as well as on appropriate player pages. 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. 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. 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. 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. in "feet per second in a player's fastest one-second He's also had nearly 2,000 tracked throws since Statcast came online in 2015, and exactly one of them -- one! Pop Time to 2B: 1.6 sec to 2.5 sec Pop Time to 3B: 1.2 sec to 2.5 sec Exchange: .4 sec to 1.3 sec Known primarily as a right fielder, a position he played for 1,283 games, Dawson patrolled center for the Montreal Expos in more than 1,000 games as well. Baseball is largely played in terms of feet and seconds, and they all add up quickly. Fantasy managers can draft him with confidence. His ratios were down across the board, but he improved his K% and BB% and suffered from some bad luck with BABIP. Proving ineffective, the Blue Jays featured one of the worst defensive outfields in the majors last season, ranking 18th in Outs Above Average (-3) and 21st in Defensive Runs Saved (-6),. How far, in feet, a fielder or runner has traveled on a Warm-up throws at 20-45feet Throws at 45 feet 2 sets / Rest 10 min between sets Warm-down throws Throw on . There may be many ways to arrive at a logical ranking of outfield throwing arms, but assists minus double plays is telling. For example, lets take two somewhat similar plays. Seven of the first 15 players in MLB.com's player rankings are outfielders, including four of the top five. Buhner also played solid defense in right field and his cannon of a throwing arm gunned down 100 baserunners, including 48 from 1991 through the strike-shortened season of 1994. That holds true when you realize hes still played some left side in the shift, and his hardest throw from there was this 75.1 mph throw in April. Bo Bichette, Bobby Witt Jr., Fernando Tatis Jr., Marcus Semien, Francisco Lindor, Corey . Were talking raw speed here, not accuracy. In his fourth year in the league, Randy Arozarena hit 20 HR, knocking in 89 and scoring 72 while stealing 32 bases. He stole six bases in nine attempts, but his numbers declined from his best year in 2021. Buxton played in only 92 games last year, 61 in 2021, 87 in 2019, and 28 in 2018. It's baffling why baserunners still try and advance on Jeff Francoeur. This will probably be the 26-year-old's last season with catcher eligibility, but in non-keeper leagues, he is a good asset. and, on certain types of batted balls, Sprint Speed. 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 much time, in seconds, it takes a runner to get from Any infielder. Not any more. Statcast defines a 'hard-hit ball' as one hit with an But what goes unappreciated is the arm strength of baseball's workhorsesthe infielders. From 1986 through 1991, Snyder led the league in assists with a total of 61. 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. I thought he (Van Slyke) had no chance, to be honest with you," said Pirates manager Jim Leyland after the game. With the score tied at three and Harold Reynolds on first, Seattle catcher Scott Bradley hit a double to left. . From 1949 through 1956, Snider threw out 82 baserunners. 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. Steven Kwan was hard for fantasy managers to believe in last season, but he ended up being the 16th-ranked outfielder in 5x5 leagues when it was all said and done. pitch. 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. exit velocity of 95 mph or higher. By Geoff Pontes. Obviously. A range-based metric of skill that shows how many outs a In traditional 5x5 leagues, Garcia can provide value from the fifth round on. xERA is a simple 1:1 translation of xwOBA, converted to 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. Those who did generally failed in their attempt to take an extra base, and Puckett finished his career gunning down 142 men on base. 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. become a hit. The 27-year-old is miscast as a center fielder (-14 DRS, -3.2 UZR/150) and that undercut his overall value a bit. Key West (2-0): The Conchs ended 2022 with a 22-7 record and were able to play with many of the . His 195 career assists leave him tied with another member of our list who you may have heard of, Willie Mays. 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. Ari Bethea, Collierville (TN), 2025 Positional Profile: RHP/OF Body: 6-1, 192-pounds. Some players have power, whereas Yordan Alvarez has POWER. He hit 31 HR in 451 plate appearances with 78 RBI. Watch more top videos, highlights, and B/R original content, Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images, Brandon Sloter/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Making a case for him to go 1.1 in 2023 drafts isn't difficult. attempt. The best player at the position was Ronald Acuna (.280 with 127 runs, 41 home runs, 101 RBI, and 37 steals . For a pitcher it is the average of his softest 50% of batted balls allowed. 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. 12 finisher hit .297. Escape Velocity takes the average of a player's batted ball velocities subtracted from 88. He is a top OBP guy and his ratios have one of the highest floors in baseball. The movement of a pitch is defined in inches, both in In 2020, his average on competitive throws was 86.6 mph, an almost exactly-average number. Power, speed Turner has it in bunches and has delivered such throughout his career, but he's not alone. window.". For as powerful as Winfield's arm was, it wasn't the most accurate, as Yankees manager Billy Martin opined after the seagull incident: "They say he hit the gull on purpose, They wouldn't say that if they'd seen the throws he'd been making all year. 3. ", 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. 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. Other bad news includes a Statcast page that is almost entirely blue, meaning he was ineffective in almost every meaningful statistical category during his first season in Philadelphia.