Ask a group of fans to name the best center fielder in the majors, and you’re almost certain to hear the same name over and over.
But here’s the thing. It’s important to keep in mind that my positional rankings are designed to reward not only quality, but also durability.
Trout’s quality is undisputed, as reflected by his sizable leads over all other center fielders in three of my formula’s key categories:
Bases per out (BPO). Trout reached 1.104 bases per out for the Los Angeles Angels during the study period (2020 through 2022), outdistancing the runner-up in that category, Byron Buxton (.921) of the Minnesota Twins, by the massive margin of 183 points.
Slugging average (SLG). Trout slugged .622 over the three-year span. No one else did better than .576, and nobody but Buxton and George Springer of the Toronto Blue Jays exceeded .500.
Runs generated per 500 plate appearances. Trout produced 129 runs — either scoring them or driving them home — for every 500 trips he made to the plate. Springer was second at 123 per 500, and Starling Marte of the New York Mets was third at 122.
But durability is an entirely different matter. Injuries limited Trout to 208 games over the past three seasons, a total exceeded by 19 center fielders. He ranked 11th at his position for total runs generated (228) and 12th for hits (219).
These deficiencies dropped Trout to second place in my overall ratings, slightly behind Marte, who played 91 more games and delivered 126 more hits than Trout over the three-year span.
My rankings are confined to the 21 players who made at least 750 plate appearances from 2020 through 2022 and spent more than half of their time as center fielders. (The formula took all of each player’s statistics into account, even when he was sent to other positions.)
Center fielders were sorted from top to bottom by my formula, which assigned scores of 1,000 points to the leader and 0 points to the tailender. The scores for everybody else were determined by their relative positions between top and bottom.
Marte emerged at the top of the list of center fielders with a score of 1,000, followed closely by Trout at 964.
Rounding out the top five were Cedric Mullins of the Baltimore Orioles, Bryan Reynolds of the Pittsburgh Pirates, and Brandon Nimmo of the Mets.
Some of the top-rated players have shifted away from center field this year, including Marte, who has been moved to right field, and Reynolds, who is now spending more time in left field. But they’re classified as center fielders here because that was their primary position between 2020 and 2022.
My position-by-position review of the top players in the majors is being unveiled on successive Thursdays. Previous installments focused on catchers, first basemen, second basemen, shortstops, third basemen, and left fielders.
Baseball’s top 15 center fielders are listed below, with statistical breakdowns for the five leaders.
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1. Starling Marte (2020-2022)
Score: 1,000 points
WAR: 10.2 total, 4.0 per 500 PA, 0.0 defensive
Averages: .297 BA, .457 SLG, .838 BPO
Scoring: 312 R generated, 122 per 500 PA
Totals: 299 G, 345 H
Notes: It’s hard to believe, but Marte compiled his top-rated numbers for four clubs over three years. He split 2020 between Arizona and Miami, then 2021 between Miami and Oakland, before arriving with the Mets as a free agent last year. He posted the highest 2020-2022 batting average in this group (.297).
2. Mike Trout (2020-2022)
Score: 964 points
WAR: 9.9 total, 5.6 per 500 PA, -0.8 defensive
Averages: .290 BA, .622 SLG, 1.104 BPO
Scoring: 228 R generated, 129 per 500 PA
Totals: 208 G, 219 H
Notes: Trout’s 2020-2022 numbers are dazzling, as noted above. And so is his overall history, featuring three Most Valuable Player Awards and four second-place finishes in MVP voting. But his time on the field has been restricted in recent years by back problems.
3. Cedric Mullins (2020-2022)
Score: 910 points
WAR: 9.9 total, 3.3 per 500 PA, 1.4 defensive
Averages: .274 BA, .455 SLG, .815 BPO
Scoring: 282 R generated, 94 per 500 PA
Totals: 363 G, 370 H
Notes: Mullins finished ninth on the American League’s MVP ballot in 2021, after blasting 30 homers and batting a solid .291. His other seasons weren’t as strong, though he did lead all center fielders for 2020-2022 in games played (363) and hits (370).
4. Bryan Reynolds (2020-2022)
Score: 868 points
WAR: 9.4 total, 3.2 per 500 PA, -1.0 defensive
Averages: .269 BA, .473 SLG, .821 BPO
Scoring: 304 R generated, 104 per 500 PA
Totals: 359 G, 346 H
Notes: Reynolds recently signed a contract that keeps him in Pittsburgh until 2031. His best season of the past three was 2021, when he led the National League with eight triples and finished seventh with a .302 batting average.
5. Brandon Nimmo (2020-2022)
Score: 833 points
WAR: 10.4 total, 4.1 per 500 PA, 0.7 defensive
Averages: .280 BA, .443 SLG, .842 BPO
Scoring: 264 R generated, 103 per 500 PA
Totals: 298 G, 306 H
Notes: The Mets find themselves in the rare situation of having two players in the top five at the same position. Nimmo, who is five years younger than Marte, is also a bit better with the glove. So he handles center field for New York on most nights, with Marte alongside him in right.
Next 10
6. Byron Buxton
7. George Springer
10. Kike Hernandez
11. Randal Grichuk
12. Myles Straw
14. Harrison Bader
15. Kevin Kiermaier