Of note, he increased his stolen bases, and this trend could continue in 2023 with the new baserunning rules. 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. play. Advanced arm strength, over-the-top arm action. 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. Nicknamed "Muscles," Mantle's throws were both accurate and strong. window") of the runner is at least 30 ft/sec. On the other hand, those 40 HR and .347 ISO probably won some leagues last year for patient managers who could ride out the injuries. How quickly a player can get the ball from glove to hand and on its way can sometimes make up for a deficiency in arm strength. Reports also surfaced that he had turned down a 15-year, $440 million offer from Washington, and soon, the HR Derby winner headed to San Diego with expectations as big as the contract he turned down. His 10 hardest non-relay/pivot throws on the right side of the infield average 75.7 mph, maxing out at 78.2 mph. Yes, of course. Starling Marte had a good 2022 season, but injuries prevented him from being a truly great fantasy asset. exit velocity of 95 mph or higher. Paul Goldschmidt, for example, is an MVP candidate this year, and a borderline Hall of Famer. To qualify for inclusion, a player simply had to have at least 200 plate appearances. When he was 13 years old, Shoeless Joe Jackson began pitching on the baseball team of the textile mill in which he worked. the ERA scale, A measurement of a player's top running speed, expressed and 32 degrees. His K% (25.9) and BB% (7.1) need improvement, but at age 22, he has plenty of time to work on these numbers. He was named the MVP of the 1964 All-Star Game, best remembered for his three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth off Dick Radatz that gave the National League a 7-4 victory. Some players have power, whereas Yordan Alvarez has POWER. The 31-year-old hits the ball hard, in the 90th percentile in HardHit% and maxEV, and his BB% is a stellar 13.1%. Yet when Meusel had the ball in his hand, anyone who was still running the bases was a candidate to get picked off by one of his powerful throws. Which is a great lead-in to our next question 4) Do second basemen have weaker arms than shortstops because they dont need to throw as far? thrown with. In 1985 alone, Barfield doubled up eight runners, to go with his 133 . One of the great centerfielders of all-time, Duke Snider would land higher on this list if not for suffering an injury to his arm that robbed him of much of the power behind his throws. Week 1- First Day. Varsho split his time between right field (541.2 innings), center field (378.2 innings) and catcher (175.0 innings) as one of the more unique utility players in the sport. How quickly, in seconds, a catcher can get the ball out A Bolt is any run where the Sprint Speed (defined as He may suffer some of the typical rookie issues, but all signs point to a quick adjustment and solid fantasy production. How high/low, in degrees, a ball was hit by a batter. His slash line was an other-worldly .311/.425/.686 with an xwOBA of .463 and wRC+ of 207. The 28-year-old is too talented to leave on the board, so fantasy managers can draft him and send a quick wish into the universe that he plays basically anywhere else in 2023. Home Run record with 62, scoring 133 runs, driving in 131, and stealing 16 bases to boot. -- Sarah Langs 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. Current: On August 4, 1983, while warming up in the outfield with one of the Toronto Blue Jays' ball boys in the middle of the fifth inning, Winfield's throw hit a passing seagull, killing the bird and found Winfield arrested for cruelty to animals. The 27-year-old is miscast as a center fielder (-14 DRS, -3.2 UZR/150) and that undercut his overall value a bit. But in 1957, while playing for the Omaha Redbirds of the American Association, Gorbous made two ridiculous throws. Arm strength is measured on "max effort" throws, or the average above a player's 90th percentile performance. 2. level 2. Nicknamed the "Reading Rifle," Furillo led all outfielders in assists in 1951 with 24, and he has 151 for his career. Showcasing the Arm Younger players rarely have the opportunity to play in stadiums where statcast tracks their every move. Being a former pitcher who routinely hit the upper 90's will certainly leave you with a powerful throwing arm, but some of the throws that Rick Ankiel has made from the outfield have been ridiculous. A .230/.305/.388 career hitter in 534 plate appearances entering the 2022 season, Ward was one of the year's biggest surprises. Each player was only included at the position where he played the most innings. 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. If there is a player in this system who can make a Bryan Ramos-like jump in 2023, my money is on Mieses. 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. He was big guy, very strong, very muscular. Colavito recorded double digit assists in eight of the 14 seasons in which he playedfive of which he played in 79 games or less due to injury. 1 spot in 2023? USA TODAY Sports photo. With the score tied at three and Harold Reynolds on first, Seattle catcher Scott Bradley hit a double to left. In 2021, before he was injured, that went up to 88.2 mph. This will probably be the 26-year-old's last season with catcher eligibility, but in non-keeper leagues, he is a good asset. Pittsburgh Pirates coach Rich Donnelly explains: ""He eggs you on. Byron Buxton staying healthy is the carrot dangling in front of fantasy managers every offseason. There is a lot of value to be had here. Suppose he continues to bat atop the Cleveland order and takes advantage of the new baserunning rules. 3. He is a pure contact hitter who gets on base and isn't afraid to run (19-for-24 in SB attempts). From 1956 until he retired in 1964, he only threw out 32, due largely in part to the injury. 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. The Cubs surprisingly held onto him at the trade deadline despite significant interest, and he now enters a contract year looking to build off his breakout performance. Every one, that is, except Story. All rights reserved. How hard, in miles per hour, a pitch is thrown. From his Rookie of the Year season in 1977 through 1983, Dawson averaged nearly 10 assists a season, racking up 69 over those seven years, including a career high 17 in 1978. For a pitcher it is the average of his softest 50% of batted balls allowed. Default = Experts with most recent updates. produces a result. 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. . It's the first time he's hit the cutoff man. But theres also this, that Story has 195 tracked throws of at least 80 mph in his career -- he even topped 90 a few times early on -- but its happened only once since the 2021 All-Star break. Three times he registered 20 or more assists in a season. He was very muscular for an outfielder Plus he also had one of the best outfield arms of anybody. Between natural talent and growing up with his uncleformer New York Mets ace Dwight Goodenteaching him how to pitch, Gary Sheffield was destined to have a cannon for an arm. How far off the mound, in feet, a pitcher releases the 27 prospect in the Cleveland organization would finish as one of the 10 best outfielders in baseball? Proportional frame w/ well developed strength and athleticism. A lot of his fantasy worth is tied up in whether or not he continues to bat at the top of the lineup. Week 1 - Days 2and 3. Kyle Schwarber strikes out at such a large clip (29.9 K%) that it is easy to miss his dominance in other fantasy categories. One of the greatest players that the game has ever seen, Ty Cobb needs no introduction. Raul Mondesi did just that, compiling 112 assists over his 13-year playing career, including 53 between 1994 and 1997 with the Los Angeles Dodgers. When you measure a pitchers average fastball velocity, its simple. 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. At the time his throw slapped into first baseman Ryan Mountcastle's glove, Longoria's throw was still 15 feet away from his own first baseman, Wilmer Flores. "Jarrett is a speedy, defensive outfielder with a good arm and high baseball IQ," Swillum said. "He has gained a lot of strength since his sophomore year. Ramon Laureano, Oakland Athletics. Baseball Savant. The Venezuela native surged three levels in his age-18 season, showing off plus power and 70-grade speed on his way to becoming the No. He logged a 104 OPS+ with 52 extra-base hits, 34 steals and 3.8 WAR in 156 games, and he still has three seasons of club control remaining for an Orioles team on the rise. + Allen Williams, LHP/OF, Cleveland Central, 2019 "feet per second in a player's fastest one-second Buhner merely went on to hit more than 300 home runs and become one of the most beloved Mariners of all-time. Steamer projections have him hitting another 40 and maybe crossing the century mark on runs and RBI if anyone aside from Shohei Ohtani shows up to play in L.A. A mainstay in Boston for nearly 20 years, Dwight Evans is the owner of eight Gold Glove awards and one of the best throwing arms of the 70's and 80's. 1) Oneil Cruz has to be the hardest-throwing shortstop, right? Its that the demands of different positions are, well, different. Once he had the ball in his hand, anyone who was still running on the bases was a candidate to be thrown out. He is an OF5 being drafted in the OF4 range because of the cliff the position drops off of in drafts. time of a pitcher's first movement or pitch release. and, on certain types of batted balls, Sprint Speed. When he makes contact, Arozarena's elite maxEV will allow good things to happen. He is a top OBP guy and his ratios have one of the highest floors in baseball. How far, in feet, a fielder or runner has traveled on a Another year, another pile of accolades for Mookie Betts who won his fifth Silver Slugger, sixth Gold Glove and made his sixth trip to the All-Star Game in the third season of a 12-year, $365 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers. His arm strength is middling, but he makes good throws nonetheless. 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 The best player at the position was Ronald Acuna (.280 with 127 runs, 41 home runs, 101 RBI, and 37 steals . One of the greatest defensive centerfielders to play the game, Jim Edmonds played with a reckless abandon, often launching his body into the air or wall to make a catch. If you want to understand how it all works stay right here. Unless you're in a quirky league where defense counts, Melendez fills a scarce position with decent skills. He finished his career with 109 assists, 61 of which came in a four-year period for the Philadelphia Phillies, from 1984 through 1987. Let's freeze the play to show you exactly what we mean: If you check out the pop time leaderboards, the gap between absolute best and dead last is just 0.28 seconds. One of baseball's legendary figures and the greatest switch hitter who ever lived, Mickey Mantle's defense and rocket of an arm are often overshadowed by his offensive numbers. Ronald Acuna Jr. appeared in 119 games last year, a significantly higher number than the original projection of a July return from his torn ACL injury. able to make a catch on an individual batted ball. 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. Jump is a Statcast metric that shows which players have xERA is a simple 1:1 translation of xwOBA, converted to Judge is the guy if fantasy managers want to shore up their slugging early. He struggled with the Padres, slashing .236/.388/.390 with only six homers and 16 RBI in 52 games, but he also took a trip to the NLCS. It's useful for me because it allows me to see who the fans consider to be the best throwing outfielders. He played one year of baseball for the school, but it was during a football game that his left arm was injured to the point that doctors gave serious consideration to amputating it. The Diamondbacks traded Varsho to the Blue Jays in the offseason; Rogers Centre should support another 25-HR, 15-SB season and he could see a bump in runs and RBI with the better lineup around him. For as powerful as his arm was, it was also prone to be erratic, and Parker committed his fair share of throwing errors, which is why he doesn't rank higher on our list. Buxton has essentially played one full season's worth of games over the past two years, posting a 150 OPS+ with 47 home runs and 8.5 WAR in 153 games since the start of 2021. He also led the majors with 200 strikeouts and was a below average defender (-14 DRS, -13.7 UZR/150), but he still finished with a 130 OPS+ and 2.2 WAR in 155 games as an impact bat atop the Philadelphia lineup. attempt. No one, I mean no one, runs on him.". In 118 games, he slashed .292/.347/.468, buoying the ratios for fantasy managers in roto leagues. Right here, at the Baseball Savant leaderboards, as well as on appropriate player pages. From 1986 through 1991, Snyder led the league in assists with a total of 61. the ERA scale, A measurement of a player's top running speed, expressed Mar 22, 2021. xwOBA is formulated using exit velocity, launch angle Carroll's upside is in the 30/30 range, and he should have no trouble sticking as the everyday centerfielder with his plus-defense. While the play itself was quite amazing, Dodgers starter Ralph Branca would end up taking a no-hitter into the ninth inning before the Pirates would collect two hits off of him. 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. and 32 degrees. 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. For Rodrguez, thats 43 throws. Those who did generally failed in their attempt to take an extra base, and Puckett finished his career gunning down 142 men on base. His career high came last year in Washington, recording nine. He once again tallied more walks (135) than strikeouts (96). 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. For a pitcher it is the average of his softest 50% of batted balls allowed. Mike Trout missed 30 games at midseason with a back issue and still finished eighth in AL MVP voting while taking home his eighth Silver Slugger Award. He will . If you have the IL spots, his current ADP of around 130 makes sense. 14. At. Its hard to think its entirely about Storys move to the right side. Honestly, he doesn't take many pitches, period, as he sits in the first percentile in chase rate. Run: 7.10 runner in the 60. 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. Fantasy managers just need to decide if they can ride out the 0-for-4 streaks. 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. Expect him to be one of the faces of baseball for the next decade-plus and a strong contender for the No. How high/low, in degrees, a ball was hit by a batter. xBA measures the likelihood that a batted ball will Expected Weighted On-base Average (xwOBA). Up to you. Baseball is largely played in terms of feet and seconds, and they all add up quickly. Junior had 154 assists for his career, a number that would have been significantly higher were it not for the rash of injuries that he dealt with. How much spin, in revolutions per minute, a pitch was Were talking raw speed here, not accuracy. 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. Let's meet the 40 players who had the best outfield arms in the history of the game. it's a tough call between Clemente and Whiten.". (He has 14 harder throws from the right side, though obviously in far more opportunities. 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. play. Remember though that depth of. That doesn't happen without Furillo's play. 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. He filled up the stat sheet with 22 doubles, 25 home runs, 76 RBI, 89 runs scored and 14 steals while playing his usual solid defender in center field in a 4.0-WAR campaign. 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. Heres third basemen for 2021. But Callison also threw out 175 over the course of his career, including a four-year stretch from 1962 through 1965 when he racked up 90 assists, leading the league each season. Furillo picked up the ball and fired a strike to Dodgers first baseman Gil Hodges, beating Queen to the bag by two feet. But all-in-all, the players on this list had an incredible combination of all those skills, making them more likely to throw straight for the base that the play was at rather then hitting the cutoff man. Anything below 88mph is considered 0. When you call Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth your teammates, you tend to get overlooked. The tools are all there: Robert has good speed, reduced his strikeout rate in 2022, and his expected slash numbers will be helpful to fantasy squads. MLB.com lists Ramon Laureano (average 94.8, top 100.1) and Cody Bellinger (101.1 top) as two outfielders with some of the best arms in the league. How far, in feet, a runner is ranging off the bag at the There is a lot to love about O'Neill in fantasy formats, but there is a lot to question as well. His arm was so impressive that Expos manager Dick Williams is said to have compared it to Roberto Clemente's, a bold statement to say the least. The Orioles seem dedicated to giving their prospects every opportunity to succeed, which boosts Mullins's value in the runs category. 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. Hes also No. velocity and launch angle. He is currently going in the 180s and has enough RBI upside to take a flier on him at that ADP. 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. Today, the Prep Baseball Report Mississippi scouting staff takes a deeper look at outfield performances from the June event. Hall of Famer Red Schoendienst, who both played and managed against Roberto Clemente, gave Whiten's throwing arm the ultimate compliment: "As far as arm strength goes . . It is difficult to predict what effect the new running rules will have on his SB total, but fantasy managers can safely count on 10-15 in this area. Defensively, he is a great player. 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). While his slugging percentage was down significantly, a lot of that can be attributed to working back from the injury. 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. become a hit. 1 spot on this list for years to come. 1 / 20. Let's meet the 40 players who had the best outfield arms in the history of the game. Obviously. You don't currently have any notifications, Copyright 2010- FantasyPros.com as Active Spin. Youd be surprised at how complicated it gets. 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. outfield. How much spin, in revolutions per minute, a pitch was Its the chicken-and-the-egg question of our times. To get past that, the averages work like this. Pete Rose once attempted to put Valentine's arm in perspective: "They say that I can't throw like Ellis Valentine or run like Tim Raines or hit with power like Mike Schmidt. Over a 17-year career that was spent primarily with the Montreal Expos and Colorado Rockies, Walker picked up 154 assists, including eight seasons with 10 or more. raw numbers and as a measurement against average. 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. 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. Whether he was lost in the Aaron Judge hoopla or continues to squander an incredible career on a terrible team (hint: it's the latter), Trout went about his business as he always has. Anything below 88mph is considered 0. Jake McCarthy is a vessel for stolen bases in the later rounds of drafts. Kwan is in the 100th percentile of K% after striking out only 60 times in 638 plate appearances. Most of a pitchers fastballs are thrown at or near the same velocity, so you average them all together and call it a day -- its not like Max Scherzer is throwing some four-seamers at 95 mph, and others at 72 mph. Realmuto can top at the position. Then again, Hendersons throw got there about 11% faster. So the answer here might really be more than one answer, in that infielders who spend times on both sides of second base seem to throw harder from the left side, and Story might best be served as a second baseman going forward. Andrew Benintendi, Kansas City Royals/New York Yankees. exit velocity of 95 mph or higher. games / 5. able to make a catch on an individual batted ball. Making a case for him to go 1.1 in 2023 drafts isn't difficult. 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. ", 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. Mike Trout is finally a 5-tool player. 1 prospect in baseball with the Red Sox in 2017, Benintendi never quite lived up to expectations in Boston, but he has set himself up for a nice free agency payday after a strong 2022 season. The charges would later be dropped. Opponents quickly learned that they couldn't run on Geronimo and they stopped trying, which explains his 81 career assists, one of the lower totals of those on our list. exit velocity of 95 mph or higher. Ruth carried his strong pitching arm into the outfield, where he threw out 204 runners over the course of his career. It's a risky proposition, but the payoff could be incredible. outfield. Julks was solid in 2021 but had a breakout season in 2022. Statcast refers to the spin that contributes to movement He hits in the middle of the order behind Marcus Semien, Corey Seager, and Nathaniel Lowe, all of whom like to get on base. Escape Velocity takes the average of a player's batted ball velocities subtracted from 88. The fact that Dave Roberts might deploy him enough at 2B to give him that eligibility is just icing. At the end of his breakout season, Justin Dirden felt fatigued. Harris should be a 20/20 guy for the foreseeable future, and he is surrounded in the lineup by guys who will boost his counting stats. The movement of a pitch is defined in inches, both in of his glove and to the base on a stolen base or pickoff Going back to 2015, he has two of the three hardest throws ever tracked by an infielder. window.". Which is a great lead-in to our next question . He finished his career with 89 assists in 877 games played, which means that, on average, Snyder threw out a runner every 10 games. And I'm talking about strong arms, not merely accurate ones. Do Not Sell My Personal Information. Steven Kwan put together a 5.5-WAR debut season with an old school game built on contact ability, speed and defense.
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