Atlanta Braves 2017 position reviews: right field

The final 2017 position player review will be the right field spot – a position where promise hasn’t always panned out into performance.

As with center field, a lot of ‘name’ players have played right field for the Atlanta Braves. Unfortunately, several problems have plagued that team here. Either:

The player didn’t stay at the position long
The player didn’t stay with the team very long
The player forgot how to hit along the way

As a result, I can run the same comparison that I did between left- and center-field players. Here are the fWAR results from those credited with playing the respective OF positions for the Braves over the past 30 seasons – among those with the Top 10 plate appearances.

Left Field: 87.4 fWAR
Center Field: 120.8 fWAR
Right Field: 89.5 fWAR

Honestly, you’d think it might higher – averaging just under 3.0 per year for corner outfielders.

That’s especially the case when the names are these (in fWAR order):

David Justice (25)
Jason Heyward (21.6)
Gary Sheffield (12.1)
Brian Jordan (9.4)
J.D. Drew (8.6… in a single year)
Jeff Francouer
Dale Murphy (near end of his career – I had forgotten that he actually logged more time in CF than RF early on)
Gerald Williams
Michael Tucker (3.6, 1023 PA)
Nick Markakis (3.5, 2040 PA)

Yes – Michael Tucker outperformed Nick Markakis with just half the plate appearances (defensively, they are a wash, by the way – so that difference is entirely on the offensive side of the ball). While stability in the field is good… performance matters too.

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Offensive Side

Here’s the breakdown of right fielders by team:

Best fWAR – offensive component only: Yankees 59.4, Braves 18th (-5.2)
Total fWAR: Yankees and Aaron Judge 8.2, Braves 21st (0.9) (among all players to man the position, not scaled by innings)
Best average: Arizona (.299), Braves 8th (.275; virtually tied with the Marlins (7th))
Best OBP: Yankees (.413). Braves 7th (.354)
Best Slugging: Yankees (.613), Braves 25th (.384)
Best OPS: Yankees (1.026), Braves 21st (.738)
wRC+: Yankees 167, Braves 19th (95)
Walk Rate: Yankees by a mile (18.1%); Braves 13th (10.1%)
K Rate:Red Sox (12.3%), Braves 4th best (16.4%). Yankees last, by the way
Doubles: Astros (63), Braves 17th (39)
Triples: Phillies 12, Braves tie for 25th (1)
Homers: Braves dead last with just 8.
Steals: Braves dead last with none.

Gloving the Position

Here’s the Right Field defensive numbers and rankings by team – again, because of the manner in which this data is compiled, the rankings matter more than the numbers.

fWAR, defensive component only: Red Sox 13.0, Braves 19th (-9.6). The median score was -8.9.
DRS (Defensive Runs Saved): Red Sox 33, Braves 21st (-5).
Plays: Mariners (269). Braves 14th (218).
RZR (Revised Zone Rating – “the proportion of balls hit into a fielder’s zone that he successfully converted into an out”): Athletics 94.3%, Braves 6th (92.4%).
OOZ (Out of Zone plays): Red Sox 139; Braves 20th at 92.
Putouts: Red Sox (390), Braves 14th (310).
Assists: White Sox 14, Braves 6 (tie for 24th).
Errors: Braves and Dodgers tied for 1st overall with just 1. Three teams hit double-digits.

The Skinny

The Braves clearly would like to see Nick Markakis on another club next season… or rather, they figure that they would have a better chance of moving him than Matt Kemp so that Ronald Acuna can hop in.

There are still things Markakis does very well – situational hitting is good, K rate and walk rates are good. When he makes a play, he doesn’t make a bad one.

He’s also durable and reliable (and those other Boy Scout traits like clean, reverent, trustworthy, etc.)… and should be tradable to somebody, in all honesty.

Next: The prospering prospects

Either of the Braves corner outfield positions could use an upgrade. One of them will get an upgrade… maybe both if we’re lucky.