The Baseball 100: Walker (#90) to Strahm (#81)
The Mets and Pirates land two players apiece on today’s portion of the list
The countdown rolls on.
It began on Tuesday, when I unveiled the first 10 names in the Baseball 100, my list of the 100 best players in the major leagues.
Tuesday’s installment ran from 100th to 91st place. Today’s entry covers the next span from 90th to 81st.
The following nine paragraphs constitute a boilerplate explanation that I’m including in all 10 editions of this countdown. If you already understand (or you simply don’t care), please feel free to skip ahead to today’s list of honorees.
The rankings within the Baseball 100 are determined by 2024’s overall base values (OBV), which measure the relative effectiveness of batters and pitchers.
A positive OBV indicates one of two things:
A particular batter reached more bases than the average big leaguer would have attained under identical circumstances.
A given pitcher surrendered fewer bases than his typical counterpart would have yielded under the same conditions.
Click here if you want to know more about the formulas and calculations. (Be aware that OBV is slightly different from the BV described in the link. The initial sign for a pitcher’s BV is reversed for his OBV. A negative sign is better for a pitcher’s BV, but a positive sign is ideal for an OBV, which is what we’re using here.)
The player with the highest OBV — whether a hitter or pitcher — is deemed to be the best overall player. The rankings proceed downward in order.
If two or more players are tied with identical OBVs, I break the tie by matching their ratios of bases per out (BPO) against 2024’s big-league average of .675. BPO is exactly what it sounds like, a comparison of bases reached or yielded (through hits, walks, hit batters, stolen bases, and sacrifices) against outs made or induced.
Preference within a tie is given to the player who surpassed the BPO norm by the greatest amount, either above .675 for a batter or below the same mark for a pitcher.
Each player in the Baseball 100 is listed with his rank, club, primary position (the one he played more than any other in 2024), BPO or BPO allowed (BPOA), the numbers of bases and outs involved, and OBV.
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90. Christian Walker
Club: Diamondbacks
Primary position: 1B
BPO: .785 (on 299 bases and 381 outs)
OBV: +42
Bottom line: Walker hit 26 homers (and picked up his third Gold Glove) in his eighth season with the Diamondbacks. He joined the Astros as a free agent in December.
89. Mark Vientos
Club: Mets
Primary position: 3B
BPO: .809 (on 254 bases and 314 outs)
OBV: +42
Bottom line: Vientos struggled badly during his 2023 rookie season, batting only .211. But he came to life in his sophomore year, smashing 27 homers and hitting .266 in 2024.
88. Mason Miller
Club: Athletics
Primary position: P
BPOA: .459 (on 89 bases and 194 outs)
OBV: +42
Bottom line: Miller is a flame-throwing righty who became one of baseball’s elite closers in just two seasons. He picked up 28 saves in 2024, striking out 14.4 batters per nine innings.
87. Oneil Cruz
Club: Pirates
Primary position: SS
BPO: .780 (on 323 bases and 414 outs)
OBV: +43
Bottom line: Cruz shifted in August from shortstop to center field, and the latter may be his position going forward. He hit 21 homers and stole 22 bases last year.
86. Tyler Fitzgerald
Club: Giants
Primary position: SS
BPO: .858 (on 200 bases and 233 outs)
OBV: +43
Bottom line: Fitzgerald exceeded the Giants’ expectations as their rookie shortstop in 2024. He batted .280 and clouted 15 homers.
85. Bryan Hudson
Club: Brewers
Primary position: P
BPOA: .446 (on 83 bases and 186 outs)
OBV: +43
Bottom line: Hudson worked anywhere from the sixth to the eighth inning out of the Brewers’ bullpen. He held opponents to a .135 batting average.
84. Fernando Tatis Jr.
Club: Padres
Primary position: RF
BPO: .823 (on 247 bases and 300 outs)
OBV: +44
Bottom line: Tatis has yet to rebound fully from his 2022 suspension for using performance-enhancing drugs. But he took a step forward last year with 21 homers and a .276 average.
83. Pete Alonso
Club: Mets
Primary position: 1B
BPO: .769 (on 369 bases and 480 outs)
OBV: +45
Bottom line: Alonso attained free agency after a somewhat disappointing 2024. Yes, he had 34 homers and 88 runs batted in. But he had attained 46 and 118 the previous year.
82. Bryan Reynolds
Club: Pirates
Primary position: LF
BPO: .773 (on 358 bases and 463 outs)
OBV: +45
Bottom line: Reynolds drove home 88 runs in 2024, his third season above 80 RBIs since 2021. His .275 batting average was the best on the Pirates’ roster.
81. Matt Strahm
Club: Phillies
Primary position: P
BPOA: .436 (on 82 bases and 188 outs)
OBV: +45
Bottom line: Strahm was a sixth- to eighth-inning bullpen guy for the Phillies. He appeared in 66 games and finished with an earned run average of 1.87.