If you're willing to deal with the risk, Arozerana could turn out to be the steal of the draft. Merrifield led the league in steals twice from 2017-2018 but was held to just 20 steals in 2019, his first season after turning 30. A former Gold Glove winner in left field, he is a roughly average defender in center field. Hardest OF assists, 2022 1. Likely leading off in a stacked Padres lineup, he will rack up runs, so even if he doesn't match his 122 OPS+ of 2020, his speed and on-base-skills make him a great option at this point of the draft. 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. Tier 3: Randy Arozarena, Trent Grisham, Michael Conforto, Giancarlo Stanton, Nick Castellanos, J.D. After bouncing around the infield over his first five seasons, Bez settled in as the Cubs starting shortstop last year and was one of the best defensive players in all of baseball. Non-tendered by the Chicago Cubs at the start of last offseason, Schwarber signed a one-year, $10 million contract with the Nationals. The 26-year-old made notable strides at the plate in 2020, posting the best chase rate (14.1%, second lowest in MLB), walk rate (15.6%), hard-hit rate (43.2%) and barrel rate (12.5%) of his career. MLB Tonight: Outfield Arm | 09/10/2021 | MLB.com 0:00 5:48 MLB Tonight: Outfield Arm September 10, 2021 | 00:05:48 The MLB Tonight panel breaks down the components of a good outfield arm MLB Network MLB Tonight Hunter Renfroe Jump is calculated only on plays that are Two Stars or harder, meaning Despite his 2020 postseason heroics, Arozarena entered the 2021 season with rookie eligibility, and he wound up leading all rookies with 4.1 WAR. 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. The late-bloomer is controllable for two more seasons, and the Blue Jays could explore a long-term extension to make sure he sticks around as part of the offensive core that also includes Guerrero, Bo Bichette and George Springer. Catch up on the Top 25 in 2022 series: Catchers, First Basemen, Second Basemen, Shortstops, Third Basemen. outfield. Mike Yastrzemski is another player I like here. 25 attempts). It was one of the top five hardest outfield assists in MLB this year. With that, he became just the second player in Astros history with a 30-homer, 25-steal season, joining Hall of Famer first baseman Jeff Bagwell who did it twice. The veteran has been a productive fantasy bat for several years, but his 2020 slash line (.322/.412/.515) was well above his performance from 2017-19 (.257/.363/.492). The 21-year-old had 23 homers and 20 steals in the Minors in 2019, but thats the only full Minor League season hes played, and the left adductor muscle strain he suffered in his fourth Cactus League game spoiled any chance he had of cracking the Mariners Opening Day roster. 2023 Fantasy Baseball: Outfielders Rest of Season Rankings | FantasyPros Jump is a Statcast metric that shows which players have He also led the field with an average pop time of just 1.88 seconds on throws from home to second, and recorded eight of the 10 fastest caught stealing throws across MLB. xERA is a simple 1:1 translation of xwOBA, converted to Fantasy baseball 2021 outfield rankings OF rankings have serious star power at the top March 27th, 2021 Thomas Harrigan @ HarriganMLB The outfield will be the foundation of many fantasy teams in 2021. Statcast position player arm strength metrics are available beginning with the 2020 season. xERA is a simple 1:1 translation of xwOBA, converted to He had a disappointing season last year, but his xBA was in line with his breakout 2019 season, where he hit 36 home runs and 98 RBI. Yahoo Sports Fantasy Staff . He was hitting .283/.394/.596 with 19 doubles, 24 home runs and 17 steals through 82 games at the time of the injury, good for a 3.6 WAR season. Hernndez (.919 OPS) and Gurriel (.882 OPS) are looking to validate their breakouts, and Conforto is, too, to an extent. J.T. 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. How high/low, in degrees, a ball was hit by a batter. Harper hit .338/.476/.713 with 20 home runs after the All-Star break, doing his part to help a Phillies team that tried in vain to chase down a postseason berth. 1. 2021 MLB Draft Preview Position Rankings: Outfield Learn more here. 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. Through all the excess options, it becomes even more important to find the top values and to not settle for "good enough" production. It's easy to see where the hype comes from: He had nine homers and eight steals in just 58 games last year, and he will rack up the runs and RBIs in a stacked Astros lineup. He also hits the ball much harder than Santander. How quickly, in seconds, a catcher can get the ball out O'Neill finished with a 150 OPS+ and 34 home runs while hitting alongside Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado in the middle of the lineup. The 24-year-old hit .251 with 10 homers, 10 steals and 42 runs in 59 games for the Padres last year. Expect Bellinger to return to his MVP form this season. He earned a starting nod in the All-Star Game, and he deserves a ton of credit for the job he did protecting Vladimir Guerrero Jr. out of the cleanup spot in the Toronto lineup. He did it across 72 games and 322 plate appearances on a Washington Nationals team that was floundering at the bottom of the NL East standings. Those two players have been moved down, respectively, from 53 to 63 and from 69 to 77. Since the demands of each position grouping are different, the averages and qualifiers are different as well. However, the slugger has missed nearly a full seasons worth of games (142) over the past three years due to an assortment of injuries, which is something for fantasy managers to keep in mind. His 5.7 WAR was second on the AL West champions roster, behind only Carlos Correa. In addition, ATC Projections by Ariel Cohen were the #1 most accurate projections system in 2019. 1B -- average of top 1% of throws -- minimum 100 throws to qualify. Fantasy Baseball Outfield Draft Rankings for 2021 MLB season - Yahoo Sports One player who has been added to the top 80 is new Brewers outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. The reigning AL Rookie of the Year heading into the 2022 season, Arozarena enjoyed his second straight 20/20 season, hitting .263/.327/.445 for a 124 OPS+ with 41 doubles, 20 home runs, 89 RBI and 32 steals. Max Kepler is someone I like at this spot. You might not realize just how strong his arm is, though, because the focus tends to be on his hitting first, then his running, then his defense. 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. Andrew Benintendi, Kansas City Royals/New York Yankees. and 32 degrees. Acuna was squarely among the NL MVP front-runners when he suffered a season-ending torn ACL on July 10. rHR - HR Saving Catch Runs. The man known as El Mago (The Magician) is blessed with many gifts and would have been a fine pick for the fielding tool, but lets focus on his rocket for a right arm. Target Wiemer as a free agent outfielder on the waiver wire. The 10 Best Defensive Players in MLB Entering 2021 Season Reynolds hit.302/.390/.522 with 35 doubles, 24 home runs, 90 RBI and 93 runs scored for a 146 OPS+ despite having little in the way of protection in a bad Pittsburgh lineup. Let's dive into the top 25 outfielders of the 2022 season. Each player was included in the rankings at the position where he played the most innings. J Edmonds 7. Yordan Alvarez is a player I really like at this spot. Perhaps most important of all, he played in a career-high 151 games, proving he can stay healthy for a full season after injuries had significantly limited him in 2019 (69 games) and 2021 (92 games). -- Thomas Harrigan Previous picks: Michael Brantley (hit), Nelson Cruz (power), Trea Turner (run), Kevin Kiermaier (defense) The first three hitters in Tier 2 could all conceivably lead the MLB in home runs. Current: 2023 Fantasy Baseball: Outfielders Rankings, Consensus Preseason Rankings for OF | FantasyPros 2023 Fantasy Baseball Rankings Expert Consensus Ranking (55 of 58 Experts) - Mar 30,. one base to another, like Home To First. Looking For A Strong Finish, Favored To Win Again At Dover Despite Starting 18th, No Driver Will Be Surprised If Chase Elliott Wins At Dover This Weekend, Loves Racing At Dover, Looks To Take Over As Points Leader, Fastest in Practice, Hopes Speed Translates To Race Success At Dover, Colts Get Tight End Help With Will Mallory, Jets Fortify Backfield With Israel Abanikanda, Saints Spend Fourth-Round Pick On Jake Haener, Excellent As Stars Advance To Second Round, Bears Add Receiver Help In Cincinnati's Tyler Scott, Has Two Points As Stars Complete Job Against Wild, Racks Up Three Points As Panthers Survive, Marcos Rogerio De Lima Looking For A Victory On Saturday, Song Yadong Can Cement His Place As A Top Bantamweight, Avoid Martin Laird In Lineups At The Mexico Open, Hard To Trust An Expensive Mark Hubbard In Mexico, Alex Noren Could Be A Surprise Pick At Vidanta, We Are Your Secret Weapon|Copyright 2011 - 2023|Win Big with RotoBaller, - Import Your Leagues With Team Sync, Get Custom Tools and Advice -. 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. Cedric Mullins hit .225/.290/.342 with seven home runs and 10 steals in 115 games scattered across his first three big league seasons. All told, he hit .333 with 17 homers and a 1.158 OPS over 43 games in 2020. A Batted Ball Event represents any batted ball that One of the tougher players to slot on this list, Buxton played in only 61 games while missing time with a hip strain and fractured hand. Prep Baseball Report > New York > News 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. Tier 5 is filled with bounce-back candidates and high-risk/ high reward players. RotoBaller's rankers, JB Branson, Pierre Camus, Nick Mariano, and Ariel Cohen have updated our 2021 Mixed League rankings once more based on early spring training action. A Bolt is any run where the Sprint Speed (defined as Statcast Leaderboard | baseballsavant.com as Active Spin. able to make a catch on an individual batted ball. At 321 feet, it was the longest on-the-fly throw for an outfield assist tracked by Statcast (since 2015). Bryce Harper may never reach his 2015 MVP pinnacle again, but his ability to hit for power, get on base, and drive in runs will always make him a valuable fantasy player. O'Neill won a Gold Glove last season, but he hit only .173 with a 70 OPS+ and 0.9 WAR in 50 games, tallying just 12 extra-base hits in 157 plate appearances. He was in the 66th percentile in exit velocity and 83rd percentile in hard-hit percentage, while Santander was just 45th and 38th respectively. 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. Assuming he is healthy, of course. The advanced stats back it up: He was in the top 10 percentile in just about every batted ball category. M Kotsay 5. If you missed them, here is our review of Catcher,First Base, Second Base,Third Base and Shortstop. and, on certain types of batted balls, Sprint Speed. "feet per second in a player's fastest one-second The 2021 MLB Draft Preview position rankings finally covers its last group of hitters today with a closer look at the outfielders. Despite his age and limited upper-minors experience, he didn't miss a beat in the majors, hitting .297/.339/.514 with 27 doubles, 19 home runs, 64 RBI, 75 runs scored and 20 steals in 22 attempts over 114 games. xBA measures the likelihood that a batted ball will His contract and track record mean more is expected of him, but he was still a top-15 outfielder. Here are the players who just missed the cut, listed alphabetically: 25. He made more consistent contact while maintaining his usual elite average exit velocity and hard-hit rate metrics. Bellinger's contact and strikeout rates barely moved, so the main culprit appears to be a .245 BABIP. He entered spring training far from assured of a spot on the Baltimore Orioles' Opening Day roster, but he won the starting center field job and went on to have the biggest breakout season of 2021.