Top Five at Every Position Right Now: Centerfield

Photo Courtesy of The LA Times 

By: Chris Larson 

Of all of the parts of our "Top Five at Every Position Right Now" Series, this might be the one where there is absolutely no debate about the number one player in the game right now at the position. Centerfield is one that has been ruled by Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout for the last several years and it's not going to be changing anytime soon. Trout is a special talent and a true face of not only the Angels franchise, but all of baseball.

Centerfield is a critical position in the outfield because the centerfielder is the primary leader when it comes to making those critical plays and catches in the outfield. If the centerfielder isn't on their game and aware of what's going on at home plate as well as on the base paths, then it's a potential recipe for disaster. Furthermore, a true centerfielder has to be able to have plenty of speed and good legs to cover a significant amount of area at their position.

As mentioned previously, easily the top centerfielder from the last decade is Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels. It's very difficult and challenging for any player to match Trout's talent level, love of the game of baseball, and ability to lead a franchise. Outside of Mike Trout, you can't forget about the significance that Andrew McCutchen had from 2010 until 2017 with the Pittsburgh Pirates or what Adam Jones did with the Baltimore Orioles from 2010 until 2018 either. Both players were icons in their respective cities and beloved by the fanbases of both teams. Rounding out the top five, Lorenzo Cain was a heck of a player during his tenure with the Kansas City Royals and continues to make an impact with the Milwaukee Brewers, while Curtis Granderson is someone that many will connect to the centerfield position moving ahead into the future.

With all of that being said, here are the top five centerfielders around the game of baseball right now.

* The statistics under each players name are from the 2019 regular season. * 

Photo Courtesy of The New York Post

1. Mike Trout (Los Angeles Angels) 

• Defensive Runs Saved: -1 (8th Among Centerfielders with 700 Innings Played) 
• Ultimate Zone Rating: -0.9 (11th) 
• Defensive Rating: 0.9 (T-11th) 
• Offensive Rating: 68.2 (1st Among Centerfielders with 400 PA) 
• Wins Above Replacement: 8.6 (1st) 

As stated before, Mike Trout is everything you could want in a baseball player. Although, his overall defensive metrics trended downward all of last season, there is still a significant chance that those defensive shortcomings rebound this year and he becomes much better on that side of the baseball. From an offensive perspective, it doesn't get much better than Mike Trout and the damage that he provides the Angels in their batting order. Now, the Angels have another power bat to pair with Trout in the middle of their batting order in third baseman, Anthony Rendon. Rendon signed a seven-year, $245 million dollar contract with the Angels in free agency this offseason and it's going to be a lot of fun to watch Trout and Rendon back-to-back in the Angels lineup this coming season. Both players are experts at their craft and know what it takes to make an impact to their ball club each and every day. 

One of the biggest things that stands out about Mike Trout's offensive skills is his ability to draw a walk and exercise an extremely high amount of plate discipline. From that standpoint, Trout was almost five percentage points better in his overall walk rate than the next centerfielder with at least 400 plate appearances last year. Trout led the way with an overall walk rate of (18.3%) last year, while the next highest walk rate among the group was Mark Canha of the Oakland Athletics at (13.5%). Besides that, you can't go wrong with the power that Mike Trout provides either. Last year alone, Trout had an Isolated Power (ISO) value of .353 which was the highest of his big league career. What's scary is that Trout is 28 years old right now and could become even more powerful with the bat over the next handful of seasons. 

Photo Courtesy of True Blue LA

2. Cody Bellinger (Los Angeles Dodgers) 

* Split time between first base, centerfield and right field last season. * 

* Cody Bellinger only played 170.2 innings in centerfield last season which is not enough to qualify for the metrics listed below the other players names. * 

Switching to the other team across town in the Los Angeles area, the Los Angeles Dodgers have a special player in outfielder, Cody Bellinger. Bellinger is ranked so highly because of the ceiling that he has from a talent standpoint and given that his primary position this season will be centerfield. It wasn't Bellinger's fault that he only played 170.2 innings in centerfield last year and didn't rack up enough plate appearances or innings played to have the qualifications listed out above under his name. However, if you are speaking about the top five centerfielders right now, then Cody Bellinger is right up there with the aforementioned, Mike Trout. Bellinger now has a set position in centerfield with Max Muncy penciled in at first base and newly acquired outfielder Mookie Betts over in right field. Either way, the Dodgers have an insurmountable amount of moving parts on their roster and can mix and match with the best of them each and every day. 

Regardless, Bellinger has already cemented himself as one of the top players in all of baseball at the young age of 24 years old and should only get better since he still hasn't reached his peak seasons. Outside of the offensive impact that Bellinger has on the Los Angeles Dodgers lineup, another aspect of his game that stands out is his overall speed. When you rank him using the metric Speed on FanGraphs, Bellinger has a total value of 5.0 which is very good, but slightly down from his Speed rating of 6.3 from the 2018 regular season. Still, that speed allowed Bellinger to rake up 15 stolen bases last season. Furthermore, Bellinger became much more of a pull hitter last season with a cumulative Pull Percentage of 47.9% which also lead to an increase in his Line Drive Percentage at 26.2% which was up significantly from 19.9% during 2018. With Mookie Betts in the lineup now, the damage that Bellinger causes could become even more significant this year. 

Photo Courtesy of The Houston Chronicle

3. George Springer (Houston Astros) 

* Split time between centerfield, right field and designated hitter last season. * 

• Defensive Runs Saved: 6 (T-7th Among Centerfielders with 500 Innings Played) 
• Ultimate Zone Rating: 3.9 (9th) 
• Defensive Rating: 4.8 (9th) 
• Offensive Rating: 40.9 (3rd Among Centerfielders with 400 PA) 
• Wins Above Replacement: 6.5 (3rd) 

Despite the controversy surrounding the Houston Astros right now and over the past few months, George Springer is still an integral part of who the Astros are as a team. Springer is a key cog to Houston's lineup and a vital part of their outfield trio because of the offense and defense that he provides the team. Springer really is talented on both sides of the baseball and as he enters his final season with the Houston Astros before free agency, it would not be a surprise to see the team try to sign him to an extension before the conclusion of the coming season. Springer has cemented himself as a very charitable player in the Houston area, he's a fan favorite of many Astros fans, and is someone that is a true leader both on and off the field for the Astros. At 30 years old, the prime years for Springer are right now and that might provide the Astros with even more reason to sign Springer to an extension now. 

Last season with the Astros over the span of 552 plate appearances, George Springer hit: .292/.383/.591 with 39 home runs, 96 RBI, and a Weighted On-Base Average (wOBA) of .400. Furthermore, Springer put up a Batting Average on Balls In Play (BABIP) of .305 and a Weighted Runs Created Plus (wRC+) value of 156. For Springer, he possesses all of the tools and instincts necessary to be the prime leadoff hitter for the Houston Astros which is exactly where the team has utilized him. In addition, Springer really shined during opportunities with runners in scoring position (RISP) last year. Springer recorded 142 plate appearances that would fall into that category and slugged: .316/.423/.693 over that span with 36 hits, 8 doubles, 1 triple, 11 home runs, 63 RBI, 22 walks, and 31 strikeouts. When you look at Springers overall game, he is someone that provides a lot of energy at the top of the Astros lineup and is certainly the right guy to start a rally during key moments of a game. 

Photo Courtesy of The Athletic

4. Harrison Bader (St. Louis Cardinals) 

• Defensive Runs Saved: 13 (3rd Among Centerfielders with 700 Innings Played) 
• Ultimate Zone Rating: 12.9 (1st) 
• Defensive Rating: 14.5 (1st) 
• Offensive Rating: -9.3 (24th Among Centerfielders with 400 PA) 
• Wins Above Replacement: 1.8 (13th) 

If you're looking for the centerfielder with the best overall defense on this list, St. Louis Cardinals centerfielder Harrison Bader is your guy. Bader has very good instincts and a high ability to play centerfield as well as the right amount of speed and agility to make the critical plays that matter the most. While last year was overall a down year for Bader especially from an offensive perspective, Bader is still someone that the St. Louis Cardinals view in high regard and is an integral part of their roster along with their outfield trio this coming season. In fact, some might say that some people around baseball are sleeping on Harrison Bader and the type of impact he can provide for the Cardinals due to those downward trends from last year. However, Bader is not someone you want to sleep on and could very well be poised for quite a breakout this coming season. 

Among all of the qualified outfielders around baseball last season, Harrison Bader ranked fourth in Outs Above Average (OAA) with an overall value of 13. It was down significantly from the Outs Above Average value that Bader recorded during the 2018 regular season (19), but still ranked in the 98th percentile overall according to data compiled by Baseball Savant. Furthermore, Bader rates very well when it comes to Sprint Speed which as mentioned previously is vital for any centerfielder to have. According to Baseball Savant, Bader had an overall Sprint Speed last season of 29.5 feet per second which was almost 2.5 feet per second higher, than that of the average centerfielder, which sat at 27 feet per second. Statcast fanatics are going to rejoice knowing that stat and knowing that Harrison Bader is lighting up the Sprint Speed beams every day he takes centerfield! 

Photo Courtesy of Federal Baseball

5. Victor Robles (Washington Nationals) 

• Defensive Runs Saved: 22 (1st Among Centerfielders with 700 Innings Played) 
• Ultimate Zone Rating: 5.3 (6th) 
• Defensive Rating: 7.4 (6th) 
• Offensive Rating: -3.0 (17th Among Centerfielders with 400 PA) 
• Wins Above Replacement: 2.5 (11th) 

Victor Robles of the Washington Nationals really burst onto the scene last year. Robles was a significant factor in the Washington Nationals 2019 season results and played a significant role in helping the team to win their first World Series Championship in franchise history. Of the names on this list, Robles has the highest overall chance of moving up significantly this coming season and really proving his overall worth at the centerfield position. Last year alone, Robles cemented himself from a defensive perspective and that should play huge dividends for him moving forward. The Nationals are going to need that defense in their outfield as well as the offense that Robles provides and given that Robles is entering his age 23 season, the future is extremely bright and talent packed. 

As indicated above, the area of Victor Robles game where he shines the most is his overall defense. Among those at the position, Robles had top notch defense as indicated by the 22 Defensive Runs Saved that he recorded and rated extremely well from an OAA perspective as well. Among all qualified outfielders last season, Robles had an OAA value of 23 which clearly led the way and ranked six outs higher than the next player - Kevin Kiermaier of the Tampa Bay Rays. For those that are into Statcast and figuring out the routes a player takes to make their outs, Robles rated well in coming into the baseball to make an out which accounted for 5 of the total 23 outs from above, as well as traveling backwards towards the left portion of the centerfield position. In that zone, Robles recorded 5 outs as well. Looking ahead to this season, Victor Robles will have yet another year of major league experience under his belt and that should only benefit him more.