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 exit velocity of 95 mph or higher. A Batted Ball Event represents any batted ball that -- Sarah Langs The first half of 2022 found him in a terrible lineup, so opposing pitchers walked him 95 times in 436 plate appearances. 20. player has saved over his peers. Only in baseball can the son of a potato farmer who born and raised on Long Island become Boston's favorite son. The Blue Jays traded Teoscar Hernandez to the Mariners this offseason, which should be a similar situation to the one he just left regarding young talent. He had the hardest-hit ball of the evening, but he also showed off his arm, uncorking a pair of throws -- each tracked at over 95 mph. That "throwing hard" is rarely a demand of the position is somewhat reflected in the leaderboards, which has many first basemen near the bottom. 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. He missed 52 games due to injury, and his BABIP was a career-low (by a lot) .227. 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. Remembered more for his involvement in the Black Sox Scandal and alleged throwing of the 1919 World Series, Jackson routinely picked off baserunners from the outfield, racking up 183 career assists, including 90 in a three-year span from 1911 through 1913. Statcast Outs Above Average Leaderboard | baseballsavant.com 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. 12 finisher at outfield on the strength of a .291 average, 33 homers, 83 runs, 89 RBI, and 12 steals. time of a pitcher's first movement or pitch release. He led the league with 17 assists in 1982, and has 166 for his career. He might be an empty batting average/OBP player, though, so don't expect much more than 15 HR if you pick him. Starling Marte had a good 2022 season, but injuries prevented him from being a truly great fantasy asset. MLB average for right fielders is about 49 percent. The likelihood, in percent, that an outfielder will be It's not natural. Speaker refused, worked like a maniac to rehab the arm, and not only went on to become a Hall of Fame player and one of the greatest center fielders to ever play the game, but to have one of the best throwing arms that the game has ever seen. What Gonzalez weirdly does well is make contact, as his K% is 20, and he deploys this skill in the enviable position of batting directly behind Jose Ramirez. thrown with. He was one of only two qualified hitters with a strikeout rate below 10 percent, and he also won Gold Glove honors thanks to his brilliant defensive metrics (21 DRS, 8.4 UZR/150) in left field. Best throwing arms in the 2022 postseason - mlb.com But in 1957, while playing for the Omaha Redbirds of the American Association, Gorbous made two ridiculous throws. 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. Cedric Mullins stole 30+ bases for the second consecutive year in 2022, though the power disintegrated, lowering his home total to 16 from 30. 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. No longer an everyday playernor having as strong and accurate an arm as he had in his primeAbreu forces baserunners to show him respect and think twice before running on him. BY Justin Leger -. Hard to believe he was that agile. Statcast Arm Strength Leaderboard | baseballsavant.com After Ichiro, Francoeur has the best throwing arm in baseball today. He hits the ball with great power, ranking in the 92nd percentile in maxEV. Ranking the best outfield arms in the majors right now A finger injury derailed his season, but he finished the year strong. 3. Warm-up throws at 20-45feet Throws at 45 feet Warm-down throws 1 set only / Rest the next day. It's the first time he's hit the cutoff man. Flexibility, mechanics and total-body strength are key factors coaches and trainers stress in order to increase arm strength. 10 Players With The Strongest Arms In MLB | Tbones Baseball Yordan lvarez actually played more games at designated hitter (77) than he did in the outfield (56), but since there are not enough everyday DHs for us to do a top 25 list for that position, he's being included here alongside the rest of the league's best outfielders. xBA measures the likelihood that a batted ball will Prep Baseball Report > Tennessee > News Arm Strength. Move over, Aaron Hicks! A look at the best outfield arms in MLB history "I don't try to do too much. The 28-year-old has recorded no less than 11 assists in each of his seven seasons, and not only is his throwing arm powerful, but it's deadly accurate, as we can see in the video. Astros' Justin Dirden Tests New Body At Big League Camp Not any more. 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. outfield. 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. Tris Speaker, one of Cobb's contemporaries, had this to say about Cobb in 1917: "As an outfielder Ty Cobb is unusually good. Andrew Benintendi, Kansas City Royals/New York Yankees. Traded outfielder Michael A. Taylor to the Twins for pitchers Steven Cruz and Evan Zisk. Home Run record with 62, scoring 133 runs, driving in 131, and stealing 16 bases to boot. In 118 games, he slashed .292/.347/.468, buoying the ratios for fantasy managers in roto leagues. A lot of things went wrong for Giancarlo Stanton in 2022. Expected Weighted On-base Average (xwOBA). Beyond the gaudy numbers, he was the one consistent in a Yankees lineup that dealt with injuries and under performance, and he did it all while also playing a career-high 632.2 innings in center field. Three times he registered 20 or more assists in a season. A range-based metric of skill that shows how many outs a 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. 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. in "feet per second in a player's fastest one-second 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. In stints with the Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers, Smith threw out 127 runners from the outfield, spending significant time in both center field and right field. One of his most remarkable assists came in the top of the third inning of a game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Brooklyn Dodgers on August 27, 1951. Warm-up throws at 20-45feet Throws at 45 feet 2 sets / Rest 10 min between sets Warm-down throws Throw on . 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. The 21-year-old earned an All-Star selection, won Silver Slugger honors, finished seventh in AL MVP voting, and easily took home the AL Rookie of the Year Award. Phillies 2022 preview: The outfield bomb squad | PhillyVoice 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. Glen Gorbous might actually have the greatest throwing arm in the history of the world, but because his incredible feats were primarily accomplished outside of game action, he finds himself closer to the bottom of the list. A Batted Ball Event represents any batted ball that Acua maxed out at 101.5 mph this season, and on Aug. 13, he had a 99.1 mph outfield assist, throwing out Joey Wendle trying to stretch a single into a double from the right-field He is near the bottom of the league in K%, Whiff%, BB%, and chase rate. 2023 Fantasy Baseball Outfield Preview: Expert rankings, busts Headlined by three MVPs, our list of the best corner outfielders is a who's who of top-tier talent in Major League Baseball. the ERA scale, A measurement of a player's top running speed, expressed 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. 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. The outfield will be the foundation of many fantasy teams in 2021. When healthy, he was productive atop the Toronto lineup, smacking 25 HR, scoring 89 runs, driving in 76, and even stole 14 bases for good measure. 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),. 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. In 2022, thats down again, to 76 mph. How hard, in miles per hour, a pitch is thrown. Let's dive into the top 25 outfielders of the 2022 season. Now it's time to finalize those rankings while expanding the list to the 25 best at each position. Phelps would only play poorly in parts of two seasons in the Bronx. He played in 142 games in 2022, batting first in the lineup in all of them. Nicknamed "Muscles," Mantle's throws were both accurate and strong. Corbin Carroll mashed his way through the minor league system and arrived in Arizona for his debut in 2022. 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 volume just hasn't been there to truly be a fantasy stud. His 10.6 WAR led all of baseball, as did his ridiculous 211 OPS+ meaning he was more than twice as productive as the average hitter. USA TODAY Sports photo. After accumulating 35 assists in his first two seasons, baserunners simply chose not to try and advance when Puckett had the ball in his hand. Pirates starting pitcher Mel Queen hit a fly ball into the gap between right and center. An intimidating physical presence standing 6'5" and weighing 235 pounds, Dave Parker only exacerbated things by walking around the field with a shotgun. Or he could clog your IL for two-thirds of the season. exit velocity of 95 mph or higher. 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. Its the chicken-and-the-egg question of our times. Which is a great lead-in to our next question . 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). These are available back to 2020, that being when Hawk-Eye was installed in all 30 stadiums as the hardware that powers Statcast. Cannons and Popguns Rating Outfield Arms - The Hardball Times time of a pitcher's first movement or pitch release. 5) Wait, is Mike Trout actually improving at yet another thing? He still has a microscopic walk rate, but he also took four points off his K%. He should also get to move back to the infield and play 1B now that Jose Abreu is in Houston. Really, unless you are playing in a stolen base premium league, Alvarez offers little downside heading into 2023. 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. Guys who could throw, suddenly can't throw. 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. 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. 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). His 126 career assists include six consecutive seasons of 10 or more, from 1999 through 2004. Potentially ever, though we certainly cant go back through history here to see how hard Shawon Dunston or whatever shortstop of your choice might have thrown. Jesse Barfield was considered to have the best outfield arm in the '80s and he wasn't shy about reminding his opponents. 2023 Fantasy Baseball Rankings: Top 40 shortstops 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. For a pitcher it is the average of his softest 50% of batted balls allowed. Top Tools: Arm Strength - Baseball Prospectus Outfield Arm Strength Rankings : baseball - reddit Dave Winfield's throwing arm was so powerful that simply warming up in the outfield was a dangerous proposition. 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. How fast, in miles per hour, a ball was hit by a batter. Baltimore Orioles. 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. Amed Rosario's numbers in 2022 looked quite similar to the ones from 2021. Baseball is largely played in terms of feet and seconds, and they all add up quickly. 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. Hes also No. velocity and launch angle. -- came in above 72 mph. 1 spot in 2023? (Catcher throwing arm data has been available for some time and may be found here.). For a batter, Best Speed is an average of 50% of his hardest hit balls. Meusel threw strikes to any base from the outfield. A .230/.305/.388 career hitter in 534 plate appearances entering the 2022 season, Ward was one of the year's biggest surprises. How far, in feet, a fielder or runner has traveled on a Since the demands of each position grouping are different, the averages and qualifiers are different as well. Bo Bichette, Bobby Witt Jr., Fernando Tatis Jr., Marcus Semien, Francisco Lindor, Corey . 15. 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;. 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. High effort on throws, accurate. Astros Top Three Third Base Prospects for 2023 - Astros Future He's also had nearly 2,000 tracked throws since Statcast came online in 2015, and exactly one of them -- one! 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. 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. If he returns to 2021 form, he can be a five-category contributor, but he comes with plenty of risk in 2023. Just beware that his numbers might look much closer to 2021 than 2022. 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. The deal to acquire him from the St. Louis Cardinals prior to the 2020 season in exchange for prospect Matthew Liberatore looks like a major win. Tris Speaker recorded no less than 12 assists from the outfield in 20 of the 22 years that he played, including three seasons with 30 or more and 12 seasons with at least 20, giving him a record that will likely never be broken449 career assists for an outfielder. 2021 MLB Preview: Ranking the top 20 outfielders in the league At. 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.