He hit 25 bombs, stole 10 bases, and had a 123 wRC+ in 2021, and in 2022 hell be even better. Kicking off the list is one of the record-breaking five Gold Glovers of the St. Louis Cardinals in 2021. Listed as a center fielder but can also play as a catcher, Varsho also boasts a 1.5 RngR this season. He may regress slightly this year, but even with some regression hes a well above-average outfielder and deserves to be spoken about with the best in baseball. The 28-year-old is capable of making a greater impact in half a season than most players can in a full 162 games, and he racked up 4.0 WAR and 44 extra-base hits in 92 games this year while earning his first All-Star selection. He is 30 years old now, and the Angels' priority will be his offense -- and the up-and-coming Brandon Marsh is considered an elite center fielder. About 15 minutes before first pitch of a Nationals-Braves game last summer, one of Juan Soto's sprints took him into the outfield, out behind second base, and he paused to say hi to Ozzie Albies, who talks to everyone, and after a moment, Ronald Acua Jr. joined in, listening more than talking. min. So basically, in this short sample, hes proven he has 40+ HR power, hes one of the fastest players in the game, hes one of if not the best defender, and hes hit .289 in that span. It was the best framing season of his career, as d'Arnaud improved from +1 to +11 framing runs from 2021 to '22. 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. Hes as well-rounded as it gets in the outfield, and hes a nice dark horse for AL MVP. The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball. And while the . 7 since 2020, meaning the Twins secured three of MLB's top 10 defensive outfielders, all with elite arms. He'll hit the open market at 26, probably with some of the best numbers we've ever seen for a position player. Alex Verdugo is widely known in the MLB to be a versatile field player, and this season, he's proving to be a defensive stud in an otherwise underwhelming Boston Red Sox team. Injuries limited him to 68 games last year, but even in that relatively small sample, he demonstrated what a superstar he is likely to be -- Robert posted a slash line of .338/.378/.567, with an OPS+ of 155. So given the fact that this ball drops 93 percent of the time, and he made the play, he receives a +0.93 for it. Become a Stathead & surf this site ad-free. Catch up on the Top 25 in 2022 series: Catchers, First Basemen, Second Basemen, Shortstops, Third Basemen. The 25-year-old posted a 128 OPS+ with 28 doubles, 30 home runs, 107 RBI and 25 steals in 29 attempts. 1)Rutschman's all-around offensive brilliance was the major reason why he went No. 13)OF: Johan Rojas, Phillies (No. 2021 Stats: 61 G, .306/.358/.647, 1.005 OPS, 169 wRC+, 19 HR, 32 RBI, 9 SB, 5.1% BB, 24.4% K, 4.2 fWAR, 10 DRS, 7 OAA. As they might say in the NBA, he fills a line score -- he had 72 extra-base hits last season, scoring 91 runs and winning a Silver Slugger Award, stealing 30 bags along the way. The 24-year-old is followed by Harper, Betts and Trout, who have combined for six MVP Awards. The third baseman for the World Series champs was solid at the hot corner all year and accumulated a personal-best +8 OAA. Mookie Betts RF | Dodgers . When we combine left field, right field, and center, we get an incredibly hard list to rank. . Kris Bryant - Colorado Rockies. Williams and DiMaggio were sons of California, southern and northern, respectively. 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. Hell play a lot of right field this season as well, and already has a couple of sparkling plays over there. All stats courtesy of Baseball Reference and FanGraphs. Look out, Nolan might just claim his tenth Gold Glove this season. Isolates the pitcher's contribution to limiting the opposition's run game. He was tapped by the Brewers to for defensive purposes alongside the aforementioned Renfroe and Garcia in 2021 for a World Series push but it didn't pan out. Four other 2022 first-teamers made our 2021 squads. The Dodgers worked out a one-year, $17 million deal with Bellinger for 2022. Webb, prospect . 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. Copyright 2023 GDC Media Limited, licensed to GDC America Inc and sub-licensed to Roto Sports Inc. All Rights Reserved. A batted ball with the perfect combination of exit C: Shea Langeliers, Braves (No. The next-closest catcher was the Rangers' Jonah Heim at +12 framing runs. 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. Copyright 2000-2023 Sports Reference LLC. His year-to-year production is mind-boggling. Tier 3: Randy Arozarena, Byron Buxton, J.D. outfield. 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. For catchers, we'll use pitch framing runs -- the amount of runs a catcher saves his team by getting extra called strikes on borderline pitches. 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. An All-Star for just the second time in his career, he slotted perfectly in the No. In early March, Statcast introduced Catch Probability, which allows us to evaluate outfield defense in an entirely new way. 1 at 1B? Andrew Benintendi, Kansas City Royals/New York Yankees. He also has well-above-average arm strength that ranks among the best at his position. One of the MLB's best defensive outfielders, Jackie Bradley Jr. made his comeback to the Boston Red Sox this year after a short stint with the Milwaukee Brewers. In 2021, a hip injury limited him to just 68 games, but the man hit .338 with a .945 OPS and 13 bombs. Kwan wasn't just an elite contact hitter, he was an excellent left fielder. Kevin Kiermaier, Tampa Bay Rays. His emergence has been crucial for the Astros in weathering the departure of George Springer (and, moving forward, the likely exit of Carlos Correa). Even with the injury, Betts finished with 23 homers, 10 steals, 93 runs scored and an .854 OPS in 122 games. But the 30-year-old looked as strong as ever at the plate before he hurt his calf last May, slashing .333/.466/.624 with eight homers in 146 plate appearances. It was back a bit in 2021, to 41.4%, but still a bit lower. At his best, he is a dynamic force. One of the games best power/speed threats finished just three stolen bases shy of MLBs first 40/40 season since 2006. Assuming Corey Dickerson spends most of his time at DH, the Rays have what might just be baseball's best defensive outfield. Brozovi, with his passing and positional awareness, tends to affect both halves of the pitch. His rate of hard-hit balls jumped from 33% in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season to 42.8% last year. +9 Jake Marisnick, Astros. Many thanks to him. With 5.3 WAR, he joined Jason Heyward (6.4, 2010) and Dusty Baker (5.1, 1972) as the only rookie outfielders in Atlanta Braves history with a 5-WAR season, and he edged out teammate Spencer Strider for NL Rookie of the Year honors. The defensive stats will reflect their time solely at shortstop. Harper plays the position. We already know who won the 2022 Gold Glove Awards. We dig into the decline. Last year: 48.8%. He also posted well-above-average defensive metrics (5 DRS, 19.7 UZR/150) in left field, which makes it much easier to justify including him in these rankings. Juan Soto is the second-best player in baseball and checks in at number two on our outfield list because of some dude named after a fish. In addition, RotoWire provides insight into the legal sports betting space and gives expert reviews on various legal sportsbooks to redeem the best bonuses available. time of a pitcher's first movement or pitch release. We will use some advanced baseball jargon in this article. Edman was in a similar situation to Lopez, playing both second base and shortstop for the Cardinals (and a little third base and a little outfield). The best outfield gloves help the players in the outfield position, popularly known as the last line of defense, to catch the ball that comes with great force and from a great height. Right field: Daulton Varsho, D-backs+17 Outs Above Average. one base to another, like Home To First. 2021 Stats: 82 G, .283/.394/.596, .990 OPS, wRC+, 24 HR, 52 RBI, 17 SB, 13.6% BB, 23.6% K, 4.2 fWAR, 2 DRS, 0 OAA. ESPN + Continue reading this article and more from . 1 spot on this list for years to come. Like Mike Trout, his trajectory in some of the most important markers could not be more clear. C. 1B. He's similar to Pache, albeit with plus rather than plus-plus speed and arm strength, and likely will shift to right field if they play in the same Atlanta outfield. 5)The best defensive outfielder in the 2020 Draft, Crow-Armstrong went 19th overall to the Mets and moved to the Cubs last summer in a trade for Javier Bez and Trevor Williams. RotoWire provides millions of annual users with the latest fantasy sports, daily fantasy sports, and sports betting news, information, tools, and more. +22 Mookie Betts, Red Sox All rights reserved. pitch. The top of the Mets' lineup could be dynamic, with Marte leading off. He dealt with a series of nagging injuries last season that limited him to 122 games, and his OPS+ -- which was a staggering 186 in 2018, when he was the AL MVP -- fell to 128 last season. Cedric Mullins burst onto the scene with a 30-30 season and played a stellar center field on top of it. He once again tallied more walks (135) than strikeouts (96) while hitting .242/.401/.452 with 25 doubles, 27 home runs, 62 RBI and 93 runs scored. His plus-plus speed alone would give him tremendous range and he enhances it with outstanding instincts. The versatile Varsho is a good enough all-around player to play both catcher and center field. Since there are three times as many outfielders as there are other positions on the diamond, it made sense to add an honorable mention list of 25 guys onto our top 25 list. Judge is the king of holding runners to a single, rather than a double, on a ball hit against the wall. Fantasy managers looking to load up on speed early in drafts would be wise to consider Marte, who now shares a city with Judge after signing with the Mets in December. Of holding runners to a single, rather than a double, on a ball hit against wall... 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