My Top 10: Left Field
By: Max Greenfield
Left field is an under appreciated position in baseball. It is filled with some of the great players in today’s game. There are some absolute sluggers in this list. In fact, the game’s best sluggers are taking the top spots in this list. I am including some designated hitters in this list as there aren’t enough DH’s for there to be a DH only list. The players were chosen based off past performance and potential moving forward. With that being said, here are my top 10 left fielders.
1. J.D. Martinez
2. Giancarlo Stanton
3. Justin Upton
4. Ronald Acuna Jr.
5. Juan Soto
6. Tommy Pham
7. Andrew Benintendi
8. Michael Conforto
9. Khris Davis
10. Marcell Ozuna
J.D. Martinez
J.D. Martinez is primarily a DH but, he plays enough games in the outfield and did play predominantly in the outfield before going to Boston. Since 2017, Martinez has been one of the best all-around hitters in baseball. Martinez has hit an impressive 88 home runs over the last 2 seasons which is 3rd in baseball. He ranks 2nd in batting average, wOBA, and wRC+ over the last 2 seasons as well. The 31-year-old is coming off his best season of his career. Signing after the beginning spring training, Martinez started hitting immediately and never stopped. Martinez hit .330 with 43 home runs and 130 RBI. He had 188 hits in 150 games. Martinez slugged an impressive .629 last year which was 2nd in all of baseball. Martinez had a .427 wOBA and 170 wRC+, both ranked 3rd in baseball. What makes Martinez’s offensive ability impressive is that he can go to all parts of the field. Martinez is exceptional at beating shift because teams can’t shift against him. He’s good at going to right center field with power and contact to keep defenses honest. The downside to Martinez is he is not good defensively. In his career, Martinez is -36 defensive runs saved. Including a 2016 year where he had -22 defensive runs saved. Luckily, he is primarily a DH, so the Red Sox don’t get to worry about Martinez’s defensive struggles. Martinez should be a big part of the Red Sox future as they look to repeat as World Series champs.
Giancarlo Stanton
After finally realizing his potential in 2017, Stanton was traded to the Yankees and faced a great deal of pressure during his first year in New York. How one might view Stanton’s first year in New York varies quite a bit. My personal view is that Stanton had a good first year and will likely get better. The Yankee slugger hit .266 with 38 home runs and 100 RBI. Stanton produced a 4.2 WAR with a .360 wOBA, and a 127 wRC+. Those aren’t top tier numbers, but they also don’t tell the whole story. Aaron Judge went down for about 2 months with a fore arm injury and during that time Stanton stepped up in a massive way. He missed only 2 games and was playing visibly hurt during that period as well. He also carried the offense during that time for the Yankees hitting over .280 for the them during that time period with around 15 home runs. Stanton’s problem was that he was inconsistent during the season. He showed for weeks on end that he was a top of the line talent who pitchers should fear. Other times he would go 0–5 with 4 strikeouts and look completely lost. Playing in New York is tough and coming from Miami where there wasn’t any pressure ever, can be a bit of a shell shock. I think Stanton is a sleeper MVP candidate this year and could dominate once again. He’s only 2 years removed from a season in which he hit 59 home runs and is entering his age 29 season. An underrated part of his game is that Stanton is a good defensive outfielder. Though it would be preferred by the Yankees for him to be their DH, Stanton has 58 career defensive runs saved, including 10 in 2017. I think Stanton can shine this year for the Yankees and he will get better.
Justin Upton
The thing about the next 4 players on this list, they can all be shuffled around in any order and it’d be fine in my opinion. The differences are so small that it’s tough to differentiate between them. With regards to Justin Upton, it feels like if your name isn’t Shohei Ohtani or Mike Trout, chances are you might get overlooked on the Angels. Upton has hit 30 home runs in each of the last 3 seasons. Though his offensive numbers don’t jump out at you, he’s quietly very consistent on offense. Since his first full season, Upton has never had a wOBA value less than .329 but never greater than .385. His wRC+ has never been below 105 but hasn’t been higher than 145. He’s a remarkably consistent hitter. Since 2013, he hasn’t had a season with less than 26 home runs. He also hasn’t hit more than 35 home runs during that span. Upton can hold his own defensively with 8 defensive runs saved in 2017. He had 0 in 2018 but that metric can jump year to year. Giving his consistency on offense it seems likely that when Upton’s career is over, he’ll have around 400 home runs, 2400 hits and 1300 RBI. The Angels left fielder is turning 32 in August this year, so he definitely has more years left in him. Upton is on the border of a HOF career, yet I don’t think anyone is really noticing. Upton is better offensively than Tori Hunter but the careers reminiscent of each other. Upton was never elite, but he was great at being good. That was the same with thought process I had on Tori Hunter. Perhaps it’s time we start taking a close look at Upton.
Ronald Acuña Jr.
Before the year started, my rookie of the year picks were Miguel Andujar (so close) and Ronald Acuña Jr. I really wasn’t going out on a limb with picking them. Talent wise, Acuña could be right there with Mike Trout in the years to come and in fact could be better than him sooner rather than later. The 21-year-old rookie of the year winner played in 111 games last year and lit the baseball world on fire during that time. He became one of the most feared leadoff hitters in baseball after he hit 8 home runs out of the leadoff spot including 4 in a row at one point. Acuña hit 26 home runs while also hitting .293 with a .552 slugging. He had a .388 wOBA, a 143 wRC+ and 3.8 WAR. He also had 16 stolen bases in 21 attempts, so Acuña can do it all offensively. Where he needs to improve offensively is his plate discipline. His chase rate is below league average, but he strikes out about 25.3% of the time and only walks under 10% of the time. He’s young and aggressive swinging at almost 73% of pitches in the strike zone, which 5% above league average. The Braves star will also need to be more consistent in left field. He has the tools to be a great defensive player and showcased that when playing in center field. Going from center field to a corner position can take some adjusting but Acuña can do it. The 21-year-old phenom can very easily be at the top of this list next year. He could also be at the top of several top 10 player lists next year as well.
Juan Soto
When you hit an opposite field home run in your first major league at-bat at 19 years old, people are going to have expectations. Soto lived up to those expectations in his first season as the Nationals left fielder. Soto hit .292 with 22 home runs and 70 RBI. He also slugged over .500 and had an on-base percentage over .400. It is rare to see a player with the kind of plate discipline that Soto has but it makes truly amazing when you remember, he’s only 19. Soto only swings at 38% of the pitches he sees which is well below league average. When he does swing, he makes contact 80% which is 3% higher than league average. Soto also has power to all parts of the field. Half of his 22 home runs went to left or left center field last year. Soto’s groundball rate is concerning at 53% but that can be improved. Offensively, he was better than the NL ROY. Soto had a .392 wOBA and 146 wRC+, both of which are higher than Acuña’s. Acuña had the higher WAR however and that’s because Soto doesn’t steal too many bases and isn’t good defensively. Soto was a -5 value for defensive runs saved in 2018 and defense leaves something to be desired. The good news, he’s only 20 years old.
Tommy Pham
The Cardinals surprised many when they sent Tommy Pham to the Tampa Bay Rays in 2018. Pham was coming off a 6-win season in which he had a .398 wOBA and a 148 wRC+. He hit over .300 and slugged over .500 for the Cardinals in 2017. The Cardinals were in a playoff hunt and Pham was struggling so the Cardinals rolled the dice and sent Pham to Tampa Bay. Pham responded by lighting the world on fire for 39 games. Pham hit .343 with 7 home runs and 22 RBI. He had an impressive 20 extra base hits including 6 triples during that final stretch. He slugged over .600 during that time as well. It was a good enough stretch to put Pham as a 4-win player with a .359 wOBA and 129 wRC+ for the whole season. Pham also has 40 stolen bases over the last 2 seasons show casing some good speed. He has 10 defensive runs saved as left fielder in his career. The potential for great defense is high for Pham. The problem is Pham is entering his age 31 season, so he could either be at his peak or declining from it. Pham has also expressed frustration with the lack of attendance at Rays game, which many players have before. Could this lead to on the field performance issues or motivate him to play even better than before? Don’t know the answer to that but it’s a discussion worth having about Tampa Bay.
Andrew Benintendi
The former number 1 overall prospect hasn’t reached that superstar level yet, but he’s close. Benintendi was a slightly above league average player in his rookie year but took steps in the right direction in 2018. His offensive numbers went up all around. His batting average went up by 20 points to .290, his slugging percentage went up by 40 points to .465. His wOBA went from .332 to .357. His wRC+ in 2017 was 102 and then 122 in 2018. Benintendi had 41 doubles in 2018 and his ability to go to all fields plays well in Fenway Park with the Green Monster. Where Benintendi shines is his baserunning. Benintendi has 21 stolen bases on 24 attempts last year. His stolen base percentage was the best in baseball minimum 20 attempts. He’s not going to steal 40 bases a year, though he probably could. He takes the extra bag when he needs to and is always a threat to steal in key situations. The Red Sox left fielder is above average defensively in left field. He doesn’t have the range to play center field and when the Red Sox have tried, he has struggled there. He did make the play of the year in left field however, a diving catch to rob Alex Bregman of a base hit that would have even series at 2 games in the ALCS. Benintendi is a corner stone of the Red Sox future and entering his age 24 season, he will be on this list for years to come.
Michael Conforto
It feels like Conforto is always so close to being the player people expect him to be. He appeared to be heading in the right direction in 2017 with a monster year offensively. The Mets outfielder hit .279 with 27 home runs and 68 RBI in only 109 games. He had a .555 slugging percentage to go along with a .392 wOBA and 146 wRC+. Entering his age 25 season, Conforto had expectations to help carry the Mets offense. He did play in a career high 153 games but he couldn’t repeat his all-star level production. The Mets outfielder hit .243 with 28 home runs and 82 RBI. He slugged well under .500 and his wOBA value fell by 50 points. He walked more and struck out less but he put the ball on the ground at much higher rate in 2018 than he did in 2017. With less balls being hit hard, Conforto was hitting into more outs. The good news is, it’s an easy thing to fix. Try to hit the ball on a line or in the air a little bit more, raising his launch angle, and he should go back to producing like he did in 2017. Conforto will be 26 on opening day so he should be getting close to his peak years. The Mets made a flurry of offseason moves but don’t be surprised if Conforto is the guy people look to as the best player on that team.
Khris Davis
Death, Taxes, and Khris Davis. Those are the only constants in this world. Davis is primarily a DH, but he does play the occasional left field so like Martinez and Stanton, he qualifies for this list. Davis has hit .247 4 years in a row. He has slugged between .500 and .550 4 years in a row. He’s hit 40+ home runs with 100+ RBI 3 years in a row. The guy is a power hitter by traditional standards. He hits a lot of balls out of the ball park and drives in a lot of guys at the plate. He also strikes out a lot and doesn’t walk a ton. Since 2016, no one has hit more home runs than Khris Davis with 133. The next closest his Giancarlo Stanton with 124. It’s hard not to like Khris Davis. He’s a fun player to watch because he hits so many home runs and just quietly goes about his business. He doesn’t cause any problems, and he just goes up to the plate looking to hit the ball out of the ball park. He does that at a high rate and thus he’s on the list.
Marcell Ozuna
A year ago, Ozuna was part of the great outfield of the Marlins that was being traded away to save money on payroll. In 2017, Ozuna had a monster season. He hit .312 with 37 home runs and 124 RBI. He slugged just under .550 and had a .388 wOBA and a 144 wRC+. All that lead to a 5-win season. The Cardinals didn’t see that kind of player as Ozuna put up a league average year in his first year in St. Louis. He hit .280 with 23 home runs and 88 RBI. He had 28 fewer extra base hits in 2018. He struck out at a lower rate, but he also walked at a much lower rate. It’s hard to decipher where Ozuna went wrong exactly. Perhaps the lack of Stanton protecting him hurt a bit. Maybe playing in a place competing for a playoff spot also had a factor into it. Ozuna is looking to bounce back this year and people within the Cardinals organization expect him to be able to do that. Ozuna is entering his 7th year in the league and he may need to have a big year in order for people to not question the Cardinals acquiring him from the Marlins.
Once again, this list is not perfect, no list is. I value players differently than others and there is no one best way to do it. Michael Brantley and David Peralta are both worthy of consideration. All values of WAR, wRC+, and wOBA are found from Fangraphs. Data is found between Fangraphs and Baseball Reference. Follow me on twitter @GreenfieldMax18.
