Leandre: Top 30 right fielders entering 2024, 10-1
Opening Day is finally here and, with that, here are the top 10 right fielders entering the season.
Major League Baseball games that count are officially back.
I know, I know: the Seoul Series happened. But, as great as that two-gamer was, only two teams participated. Games are back for the rest of the league.
It’s the most exciting time of the year for the average baseball fan: every team is just as close as the other to the ultimate goal of winning the World Series.
Anywho, back to business. The right field position isn’t as strong as in previous years thanks to Mookie Betts’ conversion to the infield and Aaron Judge moving to center.
Now there are two new openings in the top 10.
Before getting into that, here are the previous 10 that got us here:
Let’s round out the top 30 right fielders entering the 2024 regular season.
10. Luke Raley — Seattle Mariners
Raley struggled in camp with the Mariners this season, but he was a freak last year for Tampa Bay.
In 118 games, he hit 19 homers and had a 130 wRC+ to go with 2.6 fWAR.
Raley hit at every other level but struggled to find his footing in parts of two seasons before settling into an everyday role in 2023.
Even though he posted a .327 xwOBA, Raley’s production thrust him into the top 10.
9. Max Kepler — Minnesota Twins
Kepler is one of the game’s most underrated players, mainly because he doesn’t come with the pedigree of Carlos Correa and/or Byron Buxton.
However, he’s super steady and that was none more evident than his 2023 season.
After a couple of down seasons, Kepler returned to great with the stick, posting a 124 wRC+ with a .362 xwOBA and 24 homers. He also contributed with the glove, racking up two defensive runs saved and four outs above average.
If he gets to a team with a more opportune right-field fence for him to hit the ball over, he’s someone who can hit 30 bombs a year.
8. Seiya Suzuki — Chicago Cubs
Year 2 in the States was much kinder to the Japanese phenom, who had a good but not super impressive rookie campaign in 2022.
Last year, he posted 3.2 fWAR with a .357 xwOBA, a 126 wRC+ and 20 homers.
In Spring Training this year, he posted a 307 wRC+ (!!!!) in 41 plate appearances.
He’s a great player and if the Cubs want to compete for the division this season, they’ll need him to get even better.
7. Josh Lowe — Tampa Bay Rays
Lowe will miss time to start the season as he recovers from an oblique strain, but his first full year in the majors was inspiring.
In 135 games, he hit .292 with a 131 wRC+, 20 homers and 3.8 fWAR. He also added seven base runs and 32 stolen bases.
Given that he’s 26, it’s a real possibility that he’s just getting started and there’s another level to his greatness we haven’t seen yet.
6. Adolis García — Texas Rangers
There’s a certain four-letter word to describe García.
If you guessed anything but aura, I’m sorry but you’re wrong.
As part of the Rangers’ run to postseason glory with a 2023 World Series, the veteran outfielder had timely big-fly after timely big-fly. In World Series Game 1, he hit a walk-off homer. In the final two games of the Rangers’ ALCS win over the Astros, he tore the cover off of the baseball.
He’s also an elite defender and great baserunner — quietly making him one of the game’s handful of five-tool players.
5. Kyle Tucker — Houston Astros
All Tucker does is mash.
He’s spent three full seasons on the MLB roster. Two of them saw him post a wRC+ over 140, thrice he’s hit 29 or more homers and driven in 92 runs batted in.
He’s also an elite baserunner and passable fielder.
His beautiful upper-cut left-handed swing is a cheat code for pull-side homers at Minute Maid Park in Houston.
I wouldn’t be shocked to see Tucker sneak into the MVP race this season.
4. Corbin Carroll — Arizona Diamondbacks
Carroll is insane.
His Rookie of the Year campaign was so dominant that I genuinely forgot he was a rookie.
It’s no wonder why the D-backs took off once he got called up in 2022, and the success carried over into 2023 where they nearly capped a Cinderella postseason run with a World Series title.
They ran out of gas in the big dance but Carroll weathered the nerves to churn out an impressive inaugural postseason as a 22-year-old. The D-backs are in good hands with him and Ketel Marte holding the keys.
3. Fernando Tatis Jr. — San Diego Padres
My pick to win National League MVP, Tatis Jr. is another one of those five-tool outfielders the game is seeing more of every season.
Last year, Tatis served a suspension for PED use but came back and managed a solid offensive campaign whilst playing the best defense of anybody in Major League Baseball.
He’s a freak, and this year I think the offense we’re accustomed to seeing from Tatis will come back and he will rack up six or seven wins above replacement and take home his first MVP award.
2. Juan Soto — New York Yankees
A former teammate of Tatis, Juan Soto enters a contract year in the Bronx after an offseason blockbuster trade.
Like Tatis, I predict Soto to win MVP — only for the American League.
It seems like a match made in heaven that Soto is a Yankee. The pinstripes look natural on him and his swing is tailor-made for Yankee Stadium.
There’s some worry he’ll get sucked in by the short porch and while the power numbers will flourish, the rest of his game would suffer. If Spring Training is any indication, the 25-year-old put that noise to bed with a 162 wRC+ and four homers in 51 plate appearances.
1. Ronald Acuña Jr. — Atlanta Braves
Coming off of a 40-homer, 70-steal MVP season, Acuña Jr. put to bed any thought that his ACL injury stunted what looked like a sure-fire Hall of Fame career.
He was other-worldly in 2023 and, while I “voted” for Mookie Betts for NL co-MVP, there’s zero logic to argue against Acuña winning the award.
There’s not much else to say. There’s nobody else deserving of this recognition.
Red Sox left-hander to miss time with rotator cuff strain (report)
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