Armed and Dangerous

 

            Purchasers of the Baseball Ratings Book (and disk) soon will get all the detail, but here’s a sneak peak at the best throwing arms for the 2003 baseball season.

 

            Not only is Roberto Clemente’s record -6 arm safe for another year, there are just two outfielders at -5: Ichiro Suzuki of Seattle and Richard Hidalgo of Houston. Vladimir Guerrero has dropped to -4 and two players who once were rated -5 (Raul Mondesi of the Yankees and Arizona, and Larry Walker of Colorado) are now -3.

 

            Similarly, only two catchers rate a -3 arm or better, with eight catchers rated at -2. Florida’s Pudge Rodriguez is -4, the best in the set, while Benji Molina of Anaheim is the only catcher rated -3.

 

            On a team basis, Montreal makes a strong showing, with RF Guerrero at -4, LF/CF Brad Wilkerson at -3 and C Brian Schneider at -2. Colorado can answer with RF Walker (-3), CF Preston Wilson (-2) and C Charles Johnson (-2).

 

 

Outfielders

I. Suzuki, Seattle                       -5

R. Hidalgo, Houston                 -5

V. Guerrero, Montreal              -4

A. Jones, Atlanta                      -4

J. Cruz, San Francisco              -3

J. Encarnación, Florida -3

J. Guillen, Oakland                   -3

T. Hunter, Minnesota                -3

A. Kearns, Cincinnati                -3

M. Kotsay, San Diego              -3

R. Mondesi, Arizona                 -3

L. Walker, Colorado                -3

B. Wilkerson, Montreal            -3

 

Catchers

I. Rodriguez, Florida                 -4

B. Molina, Anaheim                  -3

B. Ausmus, Houston                 -2

R. Barajas, Arizona                  -2

T. Hall, Tampa Bay                  -2

C. Johnson, Colorado               -2

J. LaRue, Cincinnati                  -2

M. Olivo, White Sox                -2

B. Schneider, Montreal -2

V. Wilson, New York Mets      -2

 

 

Who are the guys whose arms are going to make your opponents run wild? Starting center fielders Juan Pierre, Bernie Williams and Craig Biggio all have +3 arms. As does catcher Mike Piazza.

 

For all the throwing-arm and other fielding information, as well as all the data on hitting, pitching and base running, order Strat-O-Matic’s Baseball Ratings Book and disk. Ordering information is available in the Products section of the Strat-O-Matic website (www.strat-o-matic.com).