There are plenty of talented third basemen at the Major League level and Bleacher Report did their best to rank each of them following the 2023 MLB season. This is admittedly a difficult task.
However, Cleveland Guardians fans probably won't be too thrilled with where Jose Ramirez finished on the list. The top-three third baseman, according to B/R, goes like this:
- Austin Riley - Atlanta Braves
- Jose Ramirez - Guardians
- Gunnar Henderson - Baltimore Orioles
Riley has been gaining respect from those around baseball for a long time but this is really the first time he's been put in the conversation with players such as Ramirez as the best in their position group.
Is Austin Riley really deserving of claiming the top spot over J-Ram though?
The offensive numbers between these two are eerily similar. Jose had a batting average of .282 and Riley had a .281. Ramirez posted an OBP of .356 while Riley nearly trailed with a .345.
The slugging number is where Atlanta's third baseman starts to separate himself a little bit. Riley hit 37 home runs and drove in 97 RBI with a .861 OPS while Ramirez only hit 24 homers with 80 runs driven in with an .831 OPS.
One part of this ranking that seems to be completely ignored is defense. Which is important when you're judging a group based on their defensive position.
Ramirez was in the 89th percentile in outs above average while Riley tailed way behind him in the 46th percentile. J-Ram also had a fielding run value of 4 which was higher than Riley who had a value of 0.
So, is Austin Riley deserving of being ahead of Ramirez?
Well, that depends on your perspective. Do you prefer a third baseman who is elite at slugging on offense but leaves much to be desired on defense or would you rather have an overall above-average hitter who is an elite defender with very few flaws in their game?
Personally, I'm going with the second which is J-Ram.
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