Top 30 Outfielders 11-20 For 2014

Since there are three outfield positions and players seem to swap between left, right, and center all the time im just going to bunch all the outfielders together. Also I know many of the people who read this website play fantasy baseball, and outfield is a general position in the draft. There are not any significant players switching positions to the outfield, but defense and previous seasons are always considered in the list. Followed by each player's name is their current team and their OPS+ for the 2013 season.

11. Jay Bruce - Cincinnati Reds                 118 OPS+
12. Justin Upton - Atlanta Braves               122 OPS+
13. Hunter Pence - San Francisco Giants  136 OPS+
14. Jacoby Ellsbury - New York Yankees    114 OPS+
15. Torii Hunter - Detroit Tigers                  114 OPS+
16. Josh Hamilton - Los Angeles Angels     108 OPS+
17. Carlos Beltran - New York Yankees      128 OPS+
18. Carlos Gomez - Milaukee Brewers        126 OPS+
19. Allen Craig - St. Louis Cardinals            131 OPS+   
20. Jason Heyward - Atlanta Braves            111 OPS+   

Up Upton and Away

Justin Upton and the red hot Atlanta Braves are off to a rocketing start. Bryce Harper and the Nationals were my pick and the pick of many others to win the National League East in 2013, but it is the Braves' star left fielder leading the first place Braves.

Whatever you can do I can do better. 

With his older brother, BJ, to his left this 25 year old outfielder is doing much more than the Braves would have hoped for when they traded for him this off season. In 2012 with the Arizona Diamond Backs Justin Upton hit a respectable 17 home runs in 150 games played. In 2013 he has already crushed 11 homers in just 21 games. For Upton the sky is the limit, but he is heading for the sun, because they don't come much hotter than he is right now.

The power for Justin is very noticeable, but it isn't the only thing to be impressed about. About one-eighth into the season Justin Upton is playing considerably better defense after shifting to left field from right field to accommodate slugger Jason Heyward. Also Justin has stolen 3 bases in 3 attempts in 2013. You can pencil Justin Upton as an early favorite for National League MVP especially if the Braves win the division.

The older of the two Upton brothers is in a terrible slump to begin the season. BJ has blasted 3 dingers thus far, but his on base percentage is a horrific .229. The speed demon has played a fantastic center field for the Braves but has stole the equivalent amount of bases, three and has been caught once. BJ signed with the Braves as a free agent and will be with the club for the next 5 years. Being only 28 years old his value is still high and he is expected to do better, but you can bet he is the less talented of the Upton brothers.

In one game against the Chicago Cubs BJ Upton hit a home run to tie the game and then a few batters later Justin Upton hit another home run to win the game. In Colorado the two brothers hit back to back jacks, it really is a competition between the two of them. You can expect stories about the Upton brothers like that for the next few years.

The Arizona Diamondbacks

The Diamondbacks finished 2011 strong, winning the NL West. They had a record of 94-68 and may very well repeat something similar to that in 2012.

A major part of The Diamondbacks' success was their young and effective starters. Ian Kennedy won 21 games for The D-Backs and Daniel Hudson won 16. Their ages are 27 and 24 respectively. In the 2011-2012 offseason they traded for another young starter in Trevor Cahill. Although Cahill didn't win 18 games with a sub 3.00 ERA like he did in 2010, the 23 year old had a 12-14 record with a 4.16 ERA over 207 innings. That is good enough to be an effective number 3 starter in the NL West.

The Diamond Backs have a young and effective offense as well. Lead by Justin Upton in right field. Upton had a .369 on base percentage, 31 home runs and a .529 slugging percentage, giving him a 141 OPS+. Another offensive superstar in Phoenix is Chris Young. Although his OPS+ is only 103, he can hit home runs and get on base. In 2011 he had a .331 on base percentage and 20 home runs. Miguel Montero is their young catcher. He is 28 years old and is in the prime of his career. Montero had a 121 OPS+ in 2011 making him one of the best offensive catchers.

In the bullpen is Takashi Saito, JJ Putz, and the newly acquired Craig Breslow. Saito and Putz had ERA's close to 2.00 and Breslow had an 3.79 ERA. That adds up to a decent back end of the bullpen.

The Diamond Backs play in the National League West which isn't a powerful offensive division. It is oriented around pitching and The D-Backs definitely have that. They will compete well with Th.es Giants and it can go either way.