MLB: The best since 1969 in right field – Surprise, it’s Larry Walker
By Bill Felber
Cumulative career OPS+
This category, which is simply the sum of each right fielder’s OPS+ values, is different from the standard career OPS+, which is essentially the player’s career average. Cumulative career OPS+ is designed to reward longevity. It is a counter-balance to the first, peak-performance oriented, category.
Here’s the top 10.
Rank Right Field Cumulative OPS+
1 Gary Sheffield 2,846
2 Reggie Jackson 2,816
3 Dave Winfield 2,757
4 Harold Baines 2,544
5 Dwight Evans 2,497
6 Andre Dawson 2,403
7 Dave Parker 2,258
8 Larry Walker 2,224
9 Sammy Sosa 2,186
10 Bobby Abreu 2,104
With his second and first place rank in the two major hitting categories, Sheffield plainly is the best hitter among MLB expansion era right fielders. Jackson is a strong second, and Winfield a strong third.
The surprises on this list are Baines, Evans, and Abreu. Again, Suzuki comes up as over-rated. His career total of 1,790 cumulative OPS+ points only ranks 15th – barely upper half – among our 30 contestants.
Gwynn also comes up surprisingly weak in this category. At 1,596, he stands just 21st. Not surprisingly, the contemporary players – notably Betts – are harmed by the fact that they are still in mid-career. The fact that Betts is still only 28 illustrates that he has many years to move up the career list.