The Best Facts and Figures From the 2019 Top 100
On Thursday, SI.com released its Top 100 players for the upcoming 2019 MLB season. Among the hundreds of names and countless stat lines and troves of data we analyzed to come up with this list, the list itself creates an entirely new set of questions. When juxtaposed with our 2018 Top 100, you’ll learn that so much can change in just one year. We even challenged ourselves to try and justify the rankings because, well, it's pretty tough!
Here are the most fascinating data quirks discovered after completing the Top 100.
• The Yankees and Astros have the most players, both with 8. The Red Sox are third with 7.
• Detroit, Baltimore, Miami and Texas all have zero players on the list. The Padres were due to have zero, but signed one before the list came out.
• NL Central leads with 21 players. AL Central has the fewest with 10.
• The American League has 44 players, the NL has 53, and there are 3 free agents.
• There are 26 outfielders, 32 starters, 13 middle infielders, 18 corner infielders, 4 relievers, 4 catchers, 2 utility players and 1 DH (Nelson Cruz).
• The pitcher with the least fWAR, not counting Ohtani at pitcher, is Madison Bumgarner at 1.4.
• The hitter with the least fWAR, including Ohtani, is Jose Abreu at 1.2
• Best pitchers left off the list
Category | Name |
ERA | Mike Foltynewicz (Braves): 2.85 |
WHIP | Mike Foltynewicz (Braves): 1.03 |
Wins | Jon Lester (Cubs): 18 |
K/9 | Nick Pivetta (Phillies): 10.32 |
fWAR | Zack Wheeler (Mets): 4.1 |
Win Probability Added | Jeremy Jeffress (Brewers): 4.9 |
• Best hitters left off the list (qualified)
Category | Name |
AVG | Jose Martinez (Cardinals): .305 |
RBI | Jed Lowrie (Mets): 99 |
Home Runs | Joey Gallo (Rangers): 40 |
OPS | David Peralta (Diamondbacks): .868 |
fWAR | Trea Turner (Nationals): 4.8 |
Win Probability Added | Brian Anderson (Marlins): 3.4 |
• Lowest Steamer fWAR projection for 2019, hitters: Jesus Aguilar - 1.1
• Yes, Vlad Guerrero Jr. is projected for 4.7 on Steamer!
• Lowest Steamer fWAR projection for 2019, pitchers: Blake Treinen - 0.9
• Highest-ranked 2018 players not on the 2019 list: Trea Turner (38), Brian Dozier (41), Kyle Seager (42), Kevin Kiermaier (43), Michael Fulmer (50), Yu Darvish (53)
• Biggest jumps from players: J.T. Realmuto (52 spots) Matt Carpenter (51 spots), Jacob DeGrom (37 spots)
• Players not on the list last year: 33
• Average bWAR of every hitter: ~4.63
• Average bWAR of every pitcher: ~4.52
• Matt Chapman committed the most errors of any player on the list, with 20.
• There are 22 players with a first name that starts with ‘J’ on the list, higher than any other letter.
• Think you can name everyone on the list? Try it out on Sporcle! No peeking!
