Once more, be sure to check the DH page if you don’t see an expected name here.
We have a new defensive metric for outfielders: ARM, which is an estimate of the number of runs saved (or allowed) from their throwing arms.
#S Tier
| Lg | Tm | Name | Age | Slash | Other | Def |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NL | PHI | Aaron Judge | 27 | 278/382/699 | 63 HR 133 RBI 108 R | -3.4 ARM |
Since being a bit of an add on in the Mike Schmidt trade, Aaron Judge has made himself the heart of the Stars’ offense, and fully deserves this ranking.
#A Tier
| Lg | Tm | Name | Age | Slash | Other | Def |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AL | CAG | Joe Jackson | 25 | 355/410/608 | 107 R 55 SB | -5.7 ZR |
| AL | NYY | Mickey Mantle | 22 | 255/368/601 | 56 HR 127 RBI 120 R 101 BB 21 SB | .972 fPct 3.8 ARM |
| NL | OTT | Larry Walker | 23 | 268/349/649 | 54 HR 126 RBI 101 R | .993 fPct |
Larry Walker continues to struggle with injury, but this a solid group. Joe Jackson was probably S-Tier last season, and Mickey Mantle may shift to CF at some point.
#B Tier
| Lg | Tm | Name | Age | Slash | Other | Def |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NL | BBB | Hank Aaron | 22 | 294/316/603 | 51 HR 105 RBI | |
| AL | CLE | Larry Doby | 25 | 263/359/583 | 41 HR | .968 fPct -4.8 ARM |
| NL | HOU | Tony Gwynn | 25 | 341/376/538 | 104 R 27 SB | 7 A 1.70 RF -5.5 ZR .960 dEff |
| AL | BAL | Bryce Harper | 21 | 256/358/550 | 41 HR 22 SB | 1.61 RF .956 dEff |
| AL | DET | Al Kaline | 21 | 286/356/602 | 36 HR | 2.08 RF |
| AL | MCG | Yasiel Puig | 23 | 298/388/658 | 30 HR | 1.60 RF -5.4 ZR 0.8 ARM |
Yasiel Puig‘s raw offense would actually move him up, but he didn’t play a full season, and that plus his defensive shortcomings are enough to keep him here. Each of these are key to their team, but each needs to improve to move up–Hank Aaron needs better strike zone control, Tony Gwynn more power, and Larry Doby and Bryce Harper just a shade more production somewhere.
#C Tier
| Lg | Tm | Name | Age | Slash | Other | Def |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NL | BRK | Beals Becker | 23 | 283/330/566 | 39 HR 44 SB | 8 A |
| AL | MEM | Mookie Betts | 24 | 280/335/530 | 35 SB | 1.000 fPct 7.6 RF 1.067 dEff -3.8 ARM |
| AL | SFS | Bobby Bonds | 25 | 248/319/527 | 36 HR 47 SB | |
| NL | NYG | Johnny Callison | 26 | 262/328/571 | 39 HR | |
| NL | HOM | Roberto Clemente | 27 | 275/305/500 | 11 A 2.22 RF 7.1 ZR | |
| NL | IND | George Foster | 22 | 259/309/563 | 38 HR | .993 fPct 2.12 RF 1.064 dEff 1.5 ARM |
| NL | KCM | Stan Musial | 22 | 300/371/519 | 33 SB | 8.4 ZR 1.067 dEff |
Interestingly, here is where all the defense rests. Roberto Clemente, and perhaps even Stan Musial, are only here because of their gloves–both can and should do more offensively in the future. George Foster was a very pleasant surprise for Indianapolis, and Mookie Betts may be the best pure baseball athlete not named Honus Wagner or Martín Dihigo in the game.
All very solid, with Musial and Betts the most likely to continue to develop.
#D Tier
| Lg | Tm | Name | Age | Slash | Other | Def |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AL | POR | Bobby Murcer | 27 | 250/311/489 | 33 HR | |
| AL | BAL | Ken Singleton | 24 | 256/363/481 | .967 fPct .925 dEff | |
| NL | OTT | Sam Thompson | 27 | 265/297/508 | 1.000 fPct |
A hard group. Sam Thompson wasn’t really a full time player, but did qualify, and his power is clearly quite useful, as is Ken Singleton‘s ability to get on base. But all 3 of these are on the fringes of their teams’ plans for next year.
#F Tier
| Lg | Tm | Name | Age | Slash | Other | Def |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NL | HOD | Sammy Sosa | 25 | 195/240/478 | 41 HR 20 SB | |
| AL | LAA | Ichiro Suzuki | 29 | 280/294/394 | 32 SB | 7 A 1.000 fPct 5.7 RF |
It’s such a rough league.
Sammy Sosa‘s 41 HR and Ichiro Suzuki‘s speed and defense are just not enough on their own: Sosa needs to do more than hit homeruns, and Suzuki needs to add offense across the board. Perhaps surprisingly given his age, the Angels remain committed to Suzuki’s upside, but it’s not clear if Sosa will get another change next season.
#Rookies
Foster (C Tier), Thompson (D Tier), and Suzuki (F Tier).
#Fielding Notes
We have our standard defensive stats here, with the leaders in bold and the worst performers in italics. Assists (A), more romantically referred to as Outfield Kills are runners eliminated on the bases. Range Factor (RF) measures the number of plays made per game–the higher the better. Zone Rating (ZR) attempts to credit players for plays other fielders missed and ding them for plays other fielders made–the higher the better, and it has the benefit of being comparative across the position. Defensive Efficiency (dEff) measures the rate at which an individual fielder contributes to outs being made on balls put into play, with any score over 1.000 being a net positive impact. Finally, Fielding Percentage (fPct) reflects the percentage of times a chance was handled without a mistake–if someone made no errors, their fPct would be 1.000.
Of these, Range Factor is the most susceptible to the impact of the pitching staff and the ballpark, although none of these defensive ratings are perfect.