Buster Olney continued with his rankings of the top players on Thursday morning, naming the best left fielders in the game. He has Starling Marte ranked as the best in baseball, citing his outstanding defense as the main factor. Olney also notes that while Marte wasn’t as patient at the plate this year as he was in prior years, which wasn’t patient to begin with, he did hit 19 homers and collect 51 extra-base hits. He also stole 30 bases and was successful 75% of the time, so that adds to his value. Marte hit .287/.337/.444 this past season and won his first Gold Glove.
If you missed it from last week, Gerrit Cole was named the ninth best starting pitcher. Mark Melancon wasn’t among the top ten relievers, getting mentioned in the “just missed” category.