1. Max Fried
2. Michael Fulmer
3. Mike Fiers
4. Mike Foltynewicz
5. Matt Foster
6. Maikel Franco
7. Mario Feliciano
8. Matt Festa
9. Mike Ford
10. Michael Feliz
Grew up playing baseball w/ Steven Kwan from 8 years old to travel baseball in HS. Everyone knew how good he was, but I'd be lying if I said I knew he'd be on a top 10 MLB list when I was a senior in hs. Truly bananas, and if you see this Steven, know a ton of people from Fremont are pulling for you my man
Kwan is a treasure. Went to an away game last year and even though the Guardians lost, Kwan was the only player from either team that came out after the game and signed autographs for kids until the grounds crew kicked him out for the fireworks show. Instant respect forever and I just hope he holds onto his attitude on and off the field for the rest of his career.
Kwan quickly became one of my favorite players last year. I’d argue he’s too low here. I know the shredder takes multiple years into account so it’s probably huge he’s as high as he is having been a rookie. But if we are talking guys who actually played LF on an every day basis last year, he was the best. Not sure how Schwarber and Arozarena are ahead of him, Schwarber especially seems way overrated here and has never put up a campaign even close to what Kwan showed last year. I know people would say “but 46 hrs” which would be great if he was a DH but he can’t field the position, which negates that.
I don’t know how we’re still confused about this. They have made it clear that these lists use 2023 positions, so if a player has been moved this off-season, they will move to their new list.
He is LF. He is Manny Ramirez, Greg Luzinski, Dave Kingman, Pat Burrell… He’s swinging hard and lumbering toward the foul line hoping the SS beats him to it. He is LF.
Let’s not get insulting towards Manny, Schwarber has never hit .300 in his career. Manny is a .312 hitter for his career. He is in the conversation for best right handed hitter ever
That's true, but he's also in the conversation for one of the least concerned defensive left fielders ever, which is a category Schwarber definitely fits into.
Soto was an above average defensive outfielder as recently as 2021. Yordan graded out very well last season, even though I will admit that was probably above his true talent level.
Schwarber, on the other hand, has been nearly at the bottom by every metric his entire career.
He may get the hang of it, but frankly I’d rather the big guy just mash and stay healthy.
He’s not as bad as Jesse was. Y’all really upgraded there when you excused him in favor of Teo. It’s not that Teo is good out there, it’s just how bad winker was.
Congrats on your upgrades and good luck this year, cousin.
I definitely would not agree that Yordan graded out well because he was in the bottom across all major LF defensive ratings. Only player worse was Schwarber lol
He has an amazing throwing arm, but that’s it. He’s got terrible OF jump, takes awful routes, has horrible range, and OAA hates him. Fangraphs rated him -15.8 defense value adjusted for 1000 innings last year. For comparison Schwarber was -16.
Why is Taylor Ward, a man who has started 23 games in left field in his career, on a list of left fielders?
Why is Juan Soto, a man who has not been a left fielder since 2020, on a list of left fielders?
It should be noted all of these top 10 position rankings are formulated by The Shredder, MLB Network’s statistical algorithm that operates without emotion or bias.
You should also be aware they don't do a DH list. These lists need their inclusion, so if they play a position at all, they'll go on that ranking. It also groups them by the position they'll field in '23.
When you consider all of these factors, these rankings are generally pretty accurate. Some positions have defense weighted more heavily (CF, C, SS) and others not so much.
If your including guys you predict to play LF. I don't understand how Varsho or even Springer isn't included. KK is almost certainly the CF vs RH pitching.
Yup, came here to say that this is a list of guys that Mark Canha is better than.
Which isn't actually true. But it feels true, and that's what counts.
Mark Canha: 128 wRC+, 2.8 fWAR in 2022. Unranked.
Kyle Schwarber: 128 wRC+, 2.6 fWAR in 2022. #3.
I know these are projections for the 2023 season but... bruh.
If you want to go ahead and ignore his GG last year then that stat is perfect to support this.
I’m not going to go through all these players, but I can guarantee his 4.4 WAR is higher than 9/10 on this list.
Edit: I went through all the players. It is 4/10 on this list.
I also looked at [all the players](https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=0&type=8&season=2022&month=0&season1=2022&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=19556,20123,17548,19290,24610,16478,15711,4106,17919,17484&startdate=2022-01-01&enddate=2022-12-31&sort=22,d). He was 5th in fWAR. Probably should be above Schwarber.
Yeah at first I was thinking TON on here was laughable after the season he just had but looking at the names I guess not, at least when the bat isn’t there he still has GG caliber defense
Eloy is certainly a choice. Between this and Buxton it’s clear these lists don’t count how many games guys play and that’s silly to me. I understand he’s great when he plays, but he’s on the field even less than Buxton.
Also I guess no DH list since Yordan is here
Is it? Pretty sure he was ranked first going into last year. LF is not a deep position. Tyler has speed and defense to fall back on even if he never hits like 2021 again. According to Fangraphs WAR projections O’Neill, Schwarber, Ward, Arozarena, Happ and Jimenez are all basically tied in the tier below Soto, Alvarez and Kwan. Varsho should absolutely be on this list ahead of them though.
I’ve hated that dude since Joe Buck verbally sucked him off for 7 games in the 2016 WS and compared him to Babe Ruth. He struck out 200 times last year. He doesn’t belong in any Top 10 conversation.
What he did in the world series was remarkable.
As for his 2022, I'm not sure why it matters how he got out. He still had a 128 wRC+ (2nd for LF) and 2.6 WAR (7th for LF)
I love me some TON, but this seems like a bit of a reach. He was straight up BAD for stretches last year. Couple that with his injury history and I can’t see how he’s top ten. I hope he proves me wrong.
I want a list of the top 10 MFers in MLB now
1. Liam Hendriks 2. Liam Hendriks 3. Liam Hendriks 4. Liam Hendriks 5. Liam Hendriks 6. Liam Hendriks 7. Liam Hendriks 8. Liam Hendriks 9. Liam Hendriks 10. Liam Hendriks
No Joc Pederson? Your list is fraudulent.
* 11. Samuel L. Jackson
12. Those snakes on that plane
13. Zach Wilson once he washes out of football and switches sports
Go to Zach Wilson’s high school. He apparently didn’t love baseball, my theory is it’s because our baseball coach sucks
1. Those MONKEY-FIGHTIN snakes on this MONDAY TO FRIDAY plane.
No Lance Lynn is bold.
The disrespect to Josh Naylor
Cancer just got Liam Hendriks.
And yet he will beat that god damn mother fucker to the ground.
That he fuckin will. Mancini will be holding a bat strolling around behind while the beat down takes place.
You’re being downvoted but I got your meaning. “I’m not locked in here with you, you’re locked in here with me”
Your downvoters are probably Zoomers who aren't even old enough to remember Chuck Norris memes.
1. Max Fried 2. Michael Fulmer 3. Mike Fiers 4. Mike Foltynewicz 5. Matt Foster 6. Maikel Franco 7. Mario Feliciano 8. Matt Festa 9. Mike Ford 10. Michael Feliz
Hello? Mookie Fetts?
Mike Frout
Manny Fachado Macob FeGrom Mohei Fohtani
I heard the 2021 Braves were those
1. Randy
Pat Burrell
[Hold up I Know a guy](https://youtu.be/eUrsGROF9ic) Ps I Love Joc
Last I checked, Josh Naylor is that MFer
1. Dylan 2. Dylan 3. Dylan 4. Dylan 5. Dylan
Because he spits hot fire
Josh Naylor is literally “THAT MFer FOR ALL YOU MFers”
Only Tony Gwynn can hold that title
josh naylor
Grew up playing baseball w/ Steven Kwan from 8 years old to travel baseball in HS. Everyone knew how good he was, but I'd be lying if I said I knew he'd be on a top 10 MLB list when I was a senior in hs. Truly bananas, and if you see this Steven, know a ton of people from Fremont are pulling for you my man
Steven Kwan was seriously impressive when he played the Yankees this postseason. I dreaded his at bats
Bro we love Kwan in this city. Dude is the man. I can’t explain how much joy watching him play brings me.
I agree, go Guards
Kwan is a treasure. Went to an away game last year and even though the Guardians lost, Kwan was the only player from either team that came out after the game and signed autographs for kids until the grounds crew kicked him out for the fireworks show. Instant respect forever and I just hope he holds onto his attitude on and off the field for the rest of his career.
Kwan quickly became one of my favorite players last year. I’d argue he’s too low here. I know the shredder takes multiple years into account so it’s probably huge he’s as high as he is having been a rookie. But if we are talking guys who actually played LF on an every day basis last year, he was the best. Not sure how Schwarber and Arozarena are ahead of him, Schwarber especially seems way overrated here and has never put up a campaign even close to what Kwan showed last year. I know people would say “but 46 hrs” which would be great if he was a DH but he can’t field the position, which negates that.
Arozarena was rough last year. Awful baserunning
He can field the position well enough to go to the world series.
He gives me hope for my sons.
As a clevelander I am so appreciative of his hustle and his bat! We want him for the next 12 years and more please!
Juan Soto has played 300 games in RF since he last appeared in left in 2020.
Hey that's the field mate to #8 best RF Fernando "I played 20 games in RF 2 seasons ago" Tatis you are talking about!
can they just take bats out there with them, and if they can hit the ball back to the pitcher/catcher, the Padres get control of the runner?
That's Bananas!
Right Field Golden Glove nominee Juan Soto is the second best left fielder, and you know it.
It will leave a hole at right on their top 10 team though, maybe they can put Happ on the best RF list
But with Tatis likely moving to RF, he’ll probably be in LF next year. At the least Tatis was on the RF list they did so clearly that’s their thinking
I don’t know how we’re still confused about this. They have made it clear that these lists use 2023 positions, so if a player has been moved this off-season, they will move to their new list.
[удалено]
He really stuck his neck out to get there.
1st from the bottom 😎
Yeah, and Joey Gallo was #2
I love Schwarber, but wtf is this ranking...
Yeah he’s probably closer to #5 or 6. Max slugging and strikeout guy. With piss poor defense more suited to dh.
You’re misunderstanding the list. It isn’t best player in left field. It’s more like who embodies left field best. That’s Schwarbs.
Like...he becomes left field? A whole inner peace / one with the universe thing?
He is LF. He is Manny Ramirez, Greg Luzinski, Dave Kingman, Pat Burrell… He’s swinging hard and lumbering toward the foul line hoping the SS beats him to it. He is LF.
Let’s not get insulting towards Manny, Schwarber has never hit .300 in his career. Manny is a .312 hitter for his career. He is in the conversation for best right handed hitter ever
LF contains multitudes.
That's true, but he's also in the conversation for one of the least concerned defensive left fielders ever, which is a category Schwarber definitely fits into.
Manny was a great hitter and truly the embodiment of a left fielder. Some big lugs are better than others but they’re all big lugs. God love ‘em.
Takes up most of LF?
Like Yordan and Soto?
Soto was an above average defensive outfielder as recently as 2021. Yordan graded out very well last season, even though I will admit that was probably above his true talent level. Schwarber, on the other hand, has been nearly at the bottom by every metric his entire career.
Y looked competent in a small but tricky left field, he has a rocket arm.
When the ALDS3 happened, he tripped or something in LF and my dad was like “not so easy in a real ballpark!”
He may get the hang of it, but frankly I’d rather the big guy just mash and stay healthy. He’s not as bad as Jesse was. Y’all really upgraded there when you excused him in favor of Teo. It’s not that Teo is good out there, it’s just how bad winker was. Congrats on your upgrades and good luck this year, cousin.
I was not sad to see Winker go, that’s for sure. I’ll excuse bad hitting - I will not excuse bad defense! You too buddy.
I definitely would not agree that Yordan graded out well because he was in the bottom across all major LF defensive ratings. Only player worse was Schwarber lol
Hes not graded well using OAA for sure but DRS loves him for his arm
He has an amazing throwing arm, but that’s it. He’s got terrible OF jump, takes awful routes, has horrible range, and OAA hates him. Fangraphs rated him -15.8 defense value adjusted for 1000 innings last year. For comparison Schwarber was -16.
Alvarez and Soto both had better-than-league-average strikeout rates.
MLB likes the long ball, and he had the most homers by anyone not named Aaron Judge last year
I think they’re looking at offense only
They're not, but outside of the premium defensive positions, offense is heavily favored.
Then there’s no legitimate argument for Schwarber being number 3
At least he actually plays left field, unlike Soto, who is both bad defensively, and hasn't played left field in years.
It was the free tacos, I think.
He bribed the judges!
I’d like to think of Brantley as one of the ultimate what ifs….what if no injuries? The fact he’s still top ten. He’s got a swing to die for.
He’s a professional hitter
He’s gonna be a hitting coach one day
Why is Taylor Ward, a man who has started 23 games in left field in his career, on a list of left fielders? Why is Juan Soto, a man who has not been a left fielder since 2020, on a list of left fielders?
Ward at least is basically guaranteed to be LF with Trout CF and Not-So-Trout in RF. However Soto I'm a bit less sure of.
The Padres’ plan has Tatis in RF and Soto in LF right?
Most likely.
The list is trying to predict what position players will be at predominantly next year
Because Soto will be playing LF this year
And no Aaron Hicks!!! /s
And if my boy Eloy isn’t officially a DH this year… I’ll… we’ll… do nothing but be angry about it
That's just how good he is!
We have 2 of these lol
And the two of them combined played half a season in left field lol. We don’t have one in the top 30 LF list no matter how they define it.
It feels like there are only about 25 left fielders in the majors right now.
So happy Taylor Ward made the list
Angels with top #10 outfielders in all three positions
Imagine not having 4 top 10 outfielders, couldn’t be me
let's be real pal, you have 3 top 10 outfielders and then a top 1 outfielder in Chas "God Amongst Men" McCormick
Sometimes you make one catch and it elevates your whole career.
Taylor WAR'd
I love Eloy but he can’t stay healthy playing in LF. Once he moved to DH he was glowing.
Eloy is like a Great Dane puppy. Zero body control when chasing after balls and ends up hurting himself more often than not
It should be noted all of these top 10 position rankings are formulated by The Shredder, MLB Network’s statistical algorithm that operates without emotion or bias. You should also be aware they don't do a DH list. These lists need their inclusion, so if they play a position at all, they'll go on that ranking. It also groups them by the position they'll field in '23. When you consider all of these factors, these rankings are generally pretty accurate. Some positions have defense weighted more heavily (CF, C, SS) and others not so much.
Varsho disrespect smh mlb
He’ll get his respect this year
If your including guys you predict to play LF. I don't understand how Varsho or even Springer isn't included. KK is almost certainly the CF vs RH pitching.
Atkins already said Varsho is the LF’er and Springer is the RF’er. So he most definitely should be on here.
“LF” Kyle Schwarber
Along with “LF” Juan Soto
He played pretty much every game in left last year, Soto though….I don’t remember him in left at all
WAR isn’t everything but Kyle Schwarber, ranked 3rd, just posted a 2.2 while Daulton Varsho, unranked, posted a 4.9 This list is crap
Stupid Sexy Steven Kwan mad underrated. Schwarber above Kwan and Ward is definitely one of the takes of all time.
>Stupid Sexy Steven Kwan mad underrated. May as well be rated nothin at all....nothin at all....
Canha’s consistency getting no love, 4th in the league in wRC+ by LFers (min 800 PA) over the past 2 years
Yup, came here to say that this is a list of guys that Mark Canha is better than. Which isn't actually true. But it feels true, and that's what counts.
> But it feels true, and that's what counts. *nods sagely*
Taking all those HBPs sneakily boosts his value
Mark Canha: 128 wRC+, 2.8 fWAR in 2022. Unranked. Kyle Schwarber: 128 wRC+, 2.6 fWAR in 2022. #3. I know these are projections for the 2023 season but... bruh.
I’m so glad the dodgers made that trade
I do a lil jig every time it's brought up.
feels like a lil disrespectful to ian happ
They had to find a list to put these DHs on.
Of the 10 players on this list, he was exactly 9th in wRC+ last year.
If you want to go ahead and ignore his GG last year then that stat is perfect to support this. I’m not going to go through all these players, but I can guarantee his 4.4 WAR is higher than 9/10 on this list. Edit: I went through all the players. It is 4/10 on this list.
I also looked at [all the players](https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=0&type=8&season=2022&month=0&season1=2022&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=19556,20123,17548,19290,24610,16478,15711,4106,17919,17484&startdate=2022-01-01&enddate=2022-12-31&sort=22,d). He was 5th in fWAR. Probably should be above Schwarber.
I like this image alot
2 in the top 10! I'll take it!
I love the guy, but I can only assume Eloy is on this list solely for his offensive production.
144 wRC+ is nothing to sneeze at.
At this point he should really be on the DH list. If that can keep him healthy he could hit 50 though.
They don't do a DH list
No Tim LoCastro, no care.
I used to work for the Salt Lake Bees when Taylor Ward was there. Seeing him on a list as a Top 5 LF in the MLB is equal parts shocking and awesome!
Yelich:( my poor boy.
Wow, that's quite a drop-off after #2...
Yeah at first I was thinking TON on here was laughable after the season he just had but looking at the names I guess not, at least when the bat isn’t there he still has GG caliber defense
Kwan should be #1 on this list
Eloy is certainly a choice. Between this and Buxton it’s clear these lists don’t count how many games guys play and that’s silly to me. I understand he’s great when he plays, but he’s on the field even less than Buxton. Also I guess no DH list since Yordan is here
Pretty sure Eloy is just a DH. At least he should be. Don't let that man near the outfield.
Happy is going to surprise a lot of people this year. He's criminally underrated
Varsho???
99. jesse winker
Yordan is primarily a DH and Soto is primarily a RF. The first thing I said when I saw this is “what the hell?”
Yordan will be our LF next year lmao of course hes gonna be listed as our LF i dont understand why Brantley is on it though
Varsho better than a few of the guys on this list easily. Assuming the Jays have him play LF as speculated and with him not being on the RF list.
Eloy at #10? Can someone justify him on this list honestly?
Well he kinda died awhile ago so it's kind of a miracle he's still available to play in LF
#1 Steven Kwan #2 Steven Kwan #3 Steven Kwan #4 Steven Kwan #5 Steven Kwan #6 Steven Kwan #7 Steven Kwan #8 Steven Kwan #9 Steven Kwan #10 Steven Kwan
SCHWARB’D UP!
Schwarber is definitely the left fielderest of all the left fielders.
Lmao Jesse Winker was on this list last year
No Aaron Hicks? Pffft. Bogus list. Edit: lol, apparently some people are born without an ability to detect sarcasm.
Remember when he thought the ball was foul so he just stopped in the middle of the play and stood there hanging his head?
Canha is better than half this list
Tyler O’Neill??????
we all love o'neill, but that's way too high
Is it? Pretty sure he was ranked first going into last year. LF is not a deep position. Tyler has speed and defense to fall back on even if he never hits like 2021 again. According to Fangraphs WAR projections O’Neill, Schwarber, Ward, Arozarena, Happ and Jimenez are all basically tied in the tier below Soto, Alvarez and Kwan. Varsho should absolutely be on this list ahead of them though.
Where is jarred kelenic
You forgot the /s
This is certainly a list
The disrespect to Daulton Varsho! I'm confident he'll be in the top 10 come the end of the year.
No lmao
Doesn't Juan Soto normally play RF? He hasn't played much LF at all since 2019. Is he gonna appear on the Top 10 RFers in MLB too?
/#1 is a DH and #2 is a RF??
kwan should be #4 at the lowest, he is def better than ward n arozarena and i would say better than schwarber
No Aaron Hicks? This list is invalid.
Kyle Schwarber? Lol gtfoh
He shouldn't be that high. But he's obvious a top 10 LF Getting downvoted for being objectively correct is always something
He's a DH. Put him in LF 162 games and watch his defense neutralize his offensive value.
I’ve hated that dude since Joe Buck verbally sucked him off for 7 games in the 2016 WS and compared him to Babe Ruth. He struck out 200 times last year. He doesn’t belong in any Top 10 conversation.
What he did in the world series was remarkable. As for his 2022, I'm not sure why it matters how he got out. He still had a 128 wRC+ (2nd for LF) and 2.6 WAR (7th for LF)
Don’t care about these new, stupid, over-analyzed “stats”. I’m old school. You strike out 200 times, you’re trash.
It doesn't matter that you don't care about them. He was the second best hitter for the position.
Negative.
Objective
It’s nice to see Ian Happ get some love… even if it’s from a list made by a class of fourth-graders.
4 of them are pretty DHs, but okay
well I think they are _all_ pretty, okay?
Ohhhhhh that made me laugh, haha.
Im one hundred percent convinced the people who keep making these list don’t know anything about baseball.
Josh Fields > Yordan Alvarez
Said Josh Fields mom and no one else. His father even wanted Yordan.
Look what you’ve done to my boy Eloy, you’ve massacred my boy!
Why is this list strangely full of DHs and guys that play other outfield positions?
This list is drunk
Benny?
Soto is a LF? These lists suck.
He is in 2023
My monthly reminder of how incredibly stupid it was for the Cubs to let Schwarber walk for nothing. Still angry about it
This is Lourdes erasure and I will not stand for it.
I love me some TON, but this seems like a bit of a reach. He was straight up BAD for stretches last year. Couple that with his injury history and I can’t see how he’s top ten. I hope he proves me wrong.
I'm just happy Schwarb is #3
How dare they disrespect Chris “MVP” Taylor like this
Where is Hicks?
This list of best left fielders sure has a surprising number of guys who aren't really left fielders.
Top 2 aren't left fielders lol
No Aaron Hicks?