Hoses in the Outfield

Sep 28, 2022 - 5:03 PM

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Statcast has a new metric that they have unveiled on their leaderboard, documenting arm strength for position players. It sets out the average and maximum velocity on throws for position players, as well as showing the league average for various positions.

Notably, the Rangers have two of the ten strongest arms in MLB playing in their outfield. Leody Taveras has an average of 94.6 mph on his throws, which has him 7th out of 362 qualified players, while Adolis Garcia is right behind him in 8th, at 94.2 mph.

The leaders are almost all outfielders, with the exception of O’Neil Cruz — the Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop is 9th overall, at 94.0 mph. The next highest infielder is Sergio Alcantara, who is 24th.

The top of the list is someone named Nate Eaton, who is apparently an outfielder for the Kansas City Royals. His 98.1 mph average edged out Ronald Acuna, Jr., who is at 97.7 mph. No one else is higher than 96.6 mph.

Its a pretty neat little tool, so if you’re interested, hit the link above and check it out.