2023’s top 100 players (61-70)
Alonso, Goldschmidt, and Verlander are the biggest names on today’s list
You know the drill by now.
We’re in the midst of a 10-part rundown of baseball’s 100 best players, as determined by the statistics from the 2023 season that concluded a few weeks ago.
New installments will be posted every Tuesday and Friday until we reach the top 10 on December 8. Today’s spotlight is on the players between 70th and 61st place:
70. Brusdar Graterol (Dodgers)
69. Pete Alonso (Mets)
68. Luis Castillo (Mariners)
67. Eduardo Rodriguez (Tigers)
66. Paul Goldschmidt (Cardinals)
65. Randy Arozarena (Rays)
64. Jorge Soler (Marlins)
63. Isaac Paredes (Rays)
62. Jack Suwinski (Pirates)
61. Justin Verlander (Mets-Astros)
Players are ranked in order of their overall base values (OBV), with any ties broken by their ratios of bases per out (BPO). If you’re unfamiliar with those stats — or if you’d like to know more about the whole rating process — click here.
You can see previous installments in this series through these links:
Scroll downward to see brief profiles of today’s 10 rated players. We’ll resume the rundown next Tuesday, focusing on the honorees between the 51st and 60th positions.
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70. Brusdar Graterol (Dodgers)
OBV: 50
Primary position: P
BPO (pitching): .455
ERA: 1.20
Other pitching stats: IP 67.1, W-L 4-2, SV 7, SO 48
Notes: Graterol yielded only nine earned runs in 68 appearances for Los Angeles. His ERA of 1.20 was the lowest for any pitcher who worked at least 60 innings in either league. He notched seven saves, yet primarily served as a seventh- or eighth-inning setup man.
69. Pete Alonso (Mets)
OBV: 51
Primary position: 1B
BPO (batting): .814
BA: .217
Other batting stats: PA 658, HR 46, RBI 118
Notes: Alonso was one of only two National Leaguers to swat more than 40 homers and drive home more than 110 runs in 2023. (Atlanta’s Matt Olson was the other.) Alonso’s slugging average of .504 put him above .500 for the third season in a row.
68. Luis Castillo (Mariners)
OBV: 52
Primary position: P
BPO (pitching): .616
ERA: 3.34
Other pitching stats: IP 197.0, W-L 14-9, SO 219
Notes: Castillo tied for the American League lead in games started (33), and he ranked fifth in both wins (14) and earned run average (3.34). He paced Seattle’s staff in innings pitched (197.0) and strikeouts (219). He piled up at least nine strikeouts in seven different games.
67. Eduardo Rodriguez (Tigers)
OBV: 52
Primary position: P
BPO (pitching): .590
ERA: 3.30
Other pitching stats: IP 152.2, W-L 13-9, SO 143
Notes: Detroit outstripped expectations in 2023, and Rodriguez’s pitching was a key factor. He bounced back from his mediocre showing the previous year — 5-5 with a 4.05 ERA — to amass 13 victories with a 3.30 ERA. Nobody else on the Tigers’ staff had more than seven wins.
66. Paul Goldschmidt (Cardinals)
OBV: 52
Primary position: 1B
BPO (batting): .818
BA: .268
Other batting stats: PA 687, HR 25, RBI 80
Notes: Goldschmidt regressed in 2023. He had posted the National League’s highest OBV a year earlier (plus-159), which brought him 2022’s Most Valuable Player Award. But his batting average dropped 49 points this year (.317 to .268), and his home-run total slipped from 35 to 25.
65. Randy Arozarena (Rays)
OBV: 52
Primary position: LF
BPO (batting): .823
BA: .254
Other batting stats: PA 654, HR 23, RBI 83
Notes: Aronzarena was an early contender for the American League’s MVP trophy, batting .311 with 39 RBIs in his first 50 games. But he subsequently tailed off, much like Tampa Bay did as a whole. He hit only .226 the rest of the way, driving home 44 runs in his final 101 games.
64. Jorge Soler (Marlins)
OBV: 52
Primary position: DH
BPO (batting): .833
BA: .250
Other batting stats: PA 580, HR 36, RBI 75
Notes: Soler’s second year in Miami was considerably better than the first. Injuries restricted him to 72 games in 2022, resulting in an anemic .207 batting average. He jumped to 137 games and a .250 BA this season, and his 36 homers ranked eighth in the National League.
63. Isaac Paredes (Rays)
OBV: 52
Primary position: 3B
BPO (batting): .840
BA: .250
Other batting stats: PA 571, HR 31, RBI 98
Notes: Paredes, a four-year veteran, finally received the opportunity to be an everyday player in 2023, and he responded nicely. He led Tampa Bay in homers (31) and runs batted in (98). He respectively ranked eighth and sixth in those categories in the entire American League.
62. Jack Suwinski (Pirates)
OBV: 52
Primary position: CF
BPO (batting): .849
BA: .224
Other batting stats: PA 534, HR 26, RBI 74
Notes: The bad news first. Suwinski had a contact rate of .just 615, indicating that he struck out in 38.5 percent of his at-bats. It was the worst rate among all qualified batters (at least 502 appearances) in the NL. But his 26 homers infused badly needed power into Pittsburgh’s limp offense.
61. Justin Verlander (Mets-Astros)
OBV: 53
Primary position: P
BPO (pitching): .596
ERA: 3.22
Other pitching stats: IP 162.1, W-L 13-8, SO 144
Notes: Verlander’s free-agent stint in New York lasted only four months, with the Mets dealing him to the Astros at the deadline. Yet the 40-year-old pitcher was decently effective for both of his employers: 6-5 with a 3.15 ERA for New York, 7-3 and 3.31 for Houston.