NL Outfielder Tiered Rankings
I’ve been slacking on my pimping: It’s been a long time since I’ve tiered my National League outfielders. After a long discussion of rankings every time we produce ranks (our late July ranks are up on the main page), I realized that I think in tiers. Too often a reader would react to one player that was right below another, and I would be surprised. Would I take this player for that player in a trade? Dunno, what does the rest of my team look like. What are my needs.
Instead, I find it more rewarding to think of players in tiers. Is there much sense in wondering if I would trade Carlos Gonzalez for Matt Kemp straight up anyway? Much more interesting to me is the idea that I could trade away Jay Bruce in a trade that netted me Justin Upton, and my outfielder’s tier wouldn’t be affected.
So, your tiers:
Grilling in the Backyard
Ryan Braun
Carlos Gonzalez
Matt Kemp
Andrew McCutchen
It’s pretty amazing how the outfield talent is clustered in the National League. The top NL outfielders are better off than their American League counterparts, and at every tier down the line you’d probably pick the senior circuit outfielders. These four guys are making their case to be top-five picks next year in mixed leagues, and there’s not much to dislike.
Sitting by the Pool
Justin Upton
Allen Craig
Michael Bourn
Jay Bruce
Matt Holliday
Melky Cabrera
Hunter Pence
Carlos Beltran
Giancarlo Stanton
Jason Heyward
You’re still sitting pretty cool (and in the shade) with this group. Allen Craig, with the news that Lance Berkman is headed to part-time duty when he returns, has no impediments or asterisks next to his ranking. He’s an excellent young bat, he just doesn’t steal enough bases to join the tippy top. There really isn’t too much to hate here. There’s a little injury risk with Matt Holliday and Carlos Beltran, and Hunter Pence has a tougher home park, but he’s been the same in a lot of different parks: streaky, but powerful and fast enough to belong here. Giancarlo Stanton is already rehabbing, and even though he’s more useful in OBP leagues, Jason Heyward has shown enough power and speed to join the tier.
Sipping a Cold Beverage
Andre Ethier
Michael Morse
Shane Victorino
Corey Hart
Bryce Harper
Martin Prado
Jason Kubel
You’re still doing pretty well here. We chose Mike Trout over Bryce Harper when they were called up, but don’t let the pendulum swing back too far in the other direction: He’s shown that he has more power upside than the already-useful power he’s already shown. After a hefty Lance Berkman vs Michael Morse in-house FanGraphs debate at the beginning of the season, and a reader vote that had the two neck-and-neck, it’s the younger player that is finally proving useful. On the other hand, last year’s version of Jason Heyward reminds us what happens if we get to hungry for young blood. Jason Kubel should be fine even with some regression — and with a career-worst strikeout rate (backed by a career-worst swinging strike rate) paired with a career-high BABIP and a career-high ISO, there is reason to believe regression is coming. The National League has good depth in the outfield, too, since these guys represent your second NL-only outfielders.
Lunch By the Fountain
Dexter Fowler
Jayson Werth
Carlos Quentin
Alfonso Soriano
Angel Pagan
Cameron Maybin
Norichika Aoki
Drew Stubbs
Carlos Gomez
Chris Young
Garrett Jones
Ryan Ludwick
Nate Schierholtz
Starling Marte
Justin Ruggiano
Domonic Brown
Carlos Lee
Michael Cuddyer
In the context of an NL-only league, these guys are pleasant and useful, like a sandwich by the fountain on a nice day. Dexter Fowler and Jayson Werth are both better in OBP leagues, Carlos Quentin is a hit-by-pitch away from a season-ending injury, Michael Cuddyer is hurt, Alfonso Soriano is streaky and a veteran on a team going in a different direction, Drew Stubbs strikes out too much, and guys like Nate Schierholtz and Garrett Jones are better used in a platoon. That’s okay, all of these guys are still great if used correctly. In an NL-only league, it’s best to have a good fourth outfielder to pair with most of these guys in order to mitigate their flaws.
Stuck Inside
Tyler Colvin
Travis Snider
Brandon Belt
Alex Presley
Todd Frazier
Steve Lombardozzi
Jon Jay
Gerardo Parra
Yonder Alonso
J.D. Martinez
Matt McBride
Will Venable
Logan Morrison
Lance Berkman
Emilio Bonifacio
Juan Pierre
Lucas Duda
This is basically your upper-level grab bag. Being stuck inside on a summer day can be a blessing on the right day, and each of these guys can step in and do some work for you in leagues with daily lineups. If Tyler Colvin seems low to you, I’d point you to his usage (mostly platoon) and luck (career-high BABIP) and bet on the guy striking out in a quarter of his at-bats to put up a batting average closer to .250 going forward. We’ll leave the injured and demoted guys on here because they still have a little more promise than the guys lower on this list, even in their reduced current states. Well, Juan Pierre might only have downside left now that his team is “Going Young,” but he could still be a post-waiver deadline trade piece.
Sweaty Commute
Brett Jackson
Kirk Nieuwenhuis
Tony Campana
Jordan Schafer
Andres Torres
Gregor Blanco
Jason Bay
Nyjer Morgan
Chris Heisey
David DeJesus
John Mayberry
Roger Bernadina
Aubrey Huff
Jose Tabata
Ty Wigginton
Scott Hairston
Tony Gwynn Jr
Jerry Sands
There really isn’t a good reason to like any of these guys. Well, Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Brett Jackson are toolsy young outfielders, so you could like that about them, but both of them have contact issues, and one is still in the minor leagues. Brett Jackson had a strikeout rate over 30% in the minor leagues, and that’s just terrible. He’ll have to show power, patience, defense and speed to make up for it, and even then his batting average will likely make him a marginal player in 5×5 leagues.
With a phone full of pictures of pitchers' fingers, strange beers, and his two toddler sons, Eno Sarris can be found at the ballpark or a brewery most days. Read him here, writing about the A's or Giants at The Athletic, or about beer at October. Follow him on Twitter @enosarris if you can handle the sandwiches and inanity.
Where is Carlos Gomez?
Lunch by the fountain
Marte? Snider?
this pubbed early for some reason. Got em in there.
Where would you slot Carlos Gomez? I think he is going to be the everyday CF in Milwaukee moving forward.
Not sure about his strikeout rate. Maybe I’ll profile him tomorrow.
Second that. Marte and Snider should definitely be on there. Absurd to leave Marte off especially with the stolen base potential out of the lead off spot. You have the guy who job he took and is currently in Indianapolis ahead of him.
he’s there. this pubbed early for some reason.
And ruggiano?
cheaper Werth? in there now
Angel Pagan?
cut him out from behind Kubel in that tier, forgot to paste him back in. I like him, and he’ll have a better batting average than some of the speedsters in his tier, but Blanco is a better defender most days and should steal some time from him. Plus, Pagan is a little injury-prone.
Ha! How adorable you think Bruce Bochy cares about defense. Blanco will clog the bases with all that defense!
No Rios?? Definitely a top guy this year
NL ranks dude.
Awesome that you immediately thought of Rios but completely missed Bautista, Granderson, Ellsbury, Hamilton, etc etc
NL ranks. you need to chill
yea and you forgot trout, way to be condescending
Todd Frazier got tired of being stuck inside and decided to sneak out and play. Eventually he’ll have to go back in, but not until Joey Votto comes back.
Just realized this is NL only, my post can be deleted haha
Recent call-up Matt McBride?
in there now. his age, history, power levels, make me think he’ll be more batting average than anything.
Isn’t it time the Melkman got some love here? .395 wOBA and 151 wRC+ is pretty damn good if you ask me. I think he’s made his way to the side of the pool. BABIP might be a little high, but still the possible regression is still at least only to last year’s numbers, and more likely a little better. I think this is the real Melkman we’re seeing.
He’s in the “sitting by the pool” group?
I actually moved him up. I think the babip will regress and he doesn’t have much power or speed, but if you put him up against Heyward, for instance, he’ll be very similar, with a little bit less power and a better BA.
I must have posted this at the same time as he was finishing his cold beverage and moving poolside. Good to see.
I usually disagree with the tiers in a few spots. This one seems right on to me. Tyler Colvin seems EXACTLY placed right in that Stuck Inside group in my opinion.
Craig over Holliday? Found that… interesting.
Where is Mike Trout, Austin Jackson, Josh Willingham, Mark Trumbo, Jose Bautista, Alex Rios, Josh Hamilton, Adam Jones, Shin-Soo Choo, Josh Reddick, Curtis Granderson, Alex Gordon, Ben Zobrist, Torii Hunter, Nick Swisher, Alejandro De Aza, Nelson Cruz, Michael Brantley, Denard Span, Chris Davis, Colby Rasmus, Michael Saunders, Dayan Viciedo, Desmond Jennings, B.J. Upton, Delmon Young, Brennan Boesch, Ichiro Suzuki, and Jeff Francoeur? I can’t believe you got paid to write this. thx in advance.
This made me laugh.
if you’re serious, just go to the front of the site, we have mixed-league OF ranks right there in the RotoGraphs box.
funny that youre a dumbass enough to not know that this is a NL Rankings page
You forgot Wil Myers. I’m very disappointed that he’s not on this list.
And! how can you call this list complete without Pedro Cerrano. I mean, really.
Why is Matt Holliday so low?
He is batting .324, has a solid 21 HR, is 6th in wRC+ overall and 3rd for NL Outfielders(4th for wOBA,4th in SLG) and is playing a great lineup.
You say he is a an injury risk, but I am pretty sure Ryan Braun is out 4 times a month with something wrong.
I mean Allen Craig in front of Holliday…..really?
You don’t believe Melky’s BABIP will crash? He doesn’t have Mike Trout speed or Joey Votto’s LD rate and pure hitting ability.
He did say that the listings within the ranks are irrelevant. And for what it’s worth, Craig’s numbers are pretty similar to Holliday’s if you give him an extra 150 PA, and Craig will be playing full-time now. (If you extrapolate his numbers, he’s still lower on BA/OBP, but ahead in HR/RBI/R.)
I mean if you told me Craig,Melky,Pence, and Heyward were in the same tier below Upton,Bruce,Holliday,Bourn, and Stanton if would make more hence to me.
In what baseball sense is Allen Craig “young”? He’s 28. So I guess as a human being, he’s young. As a baseball player, he should be in the middle of his prime. To me “young” would suggest there is room to grow, not someone 28.