The best right fielder of the past half-decade recently became the highest-paid baseball player of all time.
I’m talking, of course, about Juan Soto, who starred for the Washington Nationals, San Diego Padres, and New York Yankees between 2020 and 2024 — and who signed a $765 million, 15-year contract with the New York Mets earlier this month.
Soto topped my five-year rankings of right fielders with his overall base value of plus-679. OBV is a comparison of a given batter’s performance and the output of an average major leaguer.
Soto reached 1,885 bases during the 2020-2024 period through hits, walks, hit batters, stolen bases, and sacrifices. A typical big-league hitter would have attained 1,206 bases under the same circumstances. Soto’s surplus of 679 bases translates to his OBV.
Overall base value wasn’t the only five-year statistical category that Soto led. He also topped all right fielders in runs (468), home runs (145), walks (582), on-base percentage (.428), and slugging percentage (.531).
No other right fielder came within 200 bases of Soto in the OBV standings. The runners-up were Mookie Betts of the Los Angeles Dodgers at plus-463, Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Atlanta Braves at plus-447, and Kyle Tucker of the Houston Astros at plus-398. (Tucker was traded earlier this month to the Chicago Cubs.)
Today’s rankings are confined to players who made at least 1,400 plate appearances over the past half-decade and spent the majority of that time as right fielders. Their OBVs are determined by their total stats, including any accumulated at other positions.
Look below to see the half-decade’s top 10 right fielders. Each is listed with basic stats for 2020-2024: games, home runs, runs batted in, batting average, and overall base value.
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Top 10 right fielders (2020-2024)
1. Juan Soto (G 670, HR 145, RBI 412, BA .284) — OBV +679
2. Mookie Betts (G 587, HR 132, RBI 361, BA .284) — OBV +463
3. Ronald Acuna Jr. (G 455, HR 98, RBI 252, BA .292) — OBV +447
4. Kyle Tucker (G 583, HR 121, RBI 402, BA .279) — OBV +398
5. Fernando Tatis Jr. (G 432, HR 105, RBI 269, BA .272) — OBV +275
6. Teoscar Hernandez (G 638, HR 132, RBI 419, BA .274) — OBV +203
7. Seiya Suzuki (G 381, HR 55, RBI 193, BA .278) — OBV +150
8. George Springer (G 561, HR 101, RBI 286, BA .252) — OBV +133
9. Anthony Santander (G 607, HR 134, RBI 368, BA .245) — OBV +118
10. Starling Marte (G 479, HR 46, RBI 213, BA .283) — OBV +117