Several sites have put out their “Best Outfields in Baseball” list after the Atlanta Braves recently acquired Justin Upton. This move has solidified the Braves at the top of these lists. Atlanta now has BJ Upton, Justin Upton and Jason Heyward. Other teams to show up on the list include the Los Angeles Angels of Aneheim, Los Angeles Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals, and Washington Nationals.
There are other teams that round out the Top 10 that are solid in maybe two positions and iffy on the thrid one. Teams like the Oakland Athletics, Milwaukee Brewers, and Cincinnati Reds are at the top of the bottom half of the list. What surprised me was that the Pittsburgh Pirates weren’t on the list anywhere.
My guess is that they were only looking at Andrew McCutchen. While he is one of the best center fielders in the game, other fans and analysts don’t have much to say about anyone else in the Buc’s outfield. Young Starling Marte is set to take over the left field spot it seems, leaving the right field spot wide open. If you check ESPN.com and go to the Pirates’ page, you’ll see that Travis Snider is listed as the projected starter over in right field. That spot is up for grabs with Snider, Jose Tabata, Alex Presley, and now Garrett Jones all jocking for the spot. For the sake of this article, let’s just say that Jones gets the majority of the time in right field.
If you look at that outfield, that gives you McCutchen patrolling center, Marte in left, and Jones in right. That’s a pretty powerful outfield.
Let’s start with the obvious: McCutchen. He’s proved himself time and time again as a leader and a fan favorite. He’s proved himself so much that he’s been voted to be on the cover of the popular game, MLB The Show. He’s been a constant for the Pirtes ever since he made his way into a starting spot. He can hit the ball. He can drive in runs. He can steal bases. He can make plays with the glove. And he does all of these exceptionally well. In 2012 he was a Gold Glover and a Silver Slugger. For the year, he hit .327 and knocked 31 over the wall. He drove in 96 runs and had 20 stolen bases. He also had a fielding percentage of .997, only comitting 1 error. He finished in the top 10 in home runs, runs, walks, slugging percentage, and on-base plus slugging percentage. I don’t think anyone would argue that he’s an elite player in the game.
Next, let’s look at Marte. While there aren’t really many stats to go off of, Marte has great upside. In 47 games, he hit .257, hitting 5 home runs, 6 triples, and drove in 17 runs. To add to that, he piled up 12 stolen bases in that short ammount of time. He had a fielding percentage of .957, commiting 3 errors. To top it off, he was named the MVP of his off-season winter league earlier in January. Fans and analysts have raved about Marte and the young man seems that he’ll live up to the hype.
Last but not least, Jones. Jones’ bat is finally coming alive for the Pirates. In the 2012 season, he hit .274 with 27 homers and drove in 86 runs. While his primary spot is first base, he could see some time in the outfield when Gaby Sanchez gets a day or two over at first (depending on matchups). He played 66 games in right field last season. While out there, he had a fielding percentage of .964, comitting 4 errors. He’s only commited 9 total errors in the outfield in 265 games. If his bat can stay hot and he continue to play solid, he could solidify a top notch season for this outfield.
With McCutchen, Marte, and Jones roaming the outfield at PNC Park and abroad, the Pirates will soon start to turn heads and work their way up on some of these “Top Outfields in Baseball” lists. The Pirates have been known best for their epic meltdowns after the All-Star break, but with these guys in the outfield, look for the Pirates to make other headlines not only around All-Star time, but in late September and October.
Photo Credit: Bleacher Report
