The competition for defense in CF is amazing right now, which means the replacement level is high. Value that used to be over and above a typical roster is now more like an ante — you need a good defensive CF just to be league average in terms of OF defense.
Bradley's tremendous, we know. But there's also: Leonys Martin, Billy Hamilton, Lorenzo Cain, Ender Inciarte, Kevin Pillar, Michael Taylor, Jarrod Dyson, Manuel Margot, Kevin Kiermaier, Ramon Laureano, Byron Buxton...
That level of defensive talent at a position lowers the WAR a player can accrue, if I understand things right. (Is that right? It's hard to keep that stuff straight. There are fewer Denard Span/Adam Jones types out there playing a barely competent CF.
Bradley's tremendous, we know. But there's also: Leonys Martin, Billy Hamilton, Lorenzo Cain, Ender Inciarte, Kevin Pillar, Michael Taylor, Jarrod Dyson, Manuel Margot, Kevin Kiermaier, Ramon Laureano, Byron Buxton...
That level of defensive talent at a position lowers the WAR a player can accrue, if I understand things right. (Is that right? It's hard to keep that stuff straight. There are fewer Denard Span/Adam Jones types out there playing a barely competent CF.
And his three year sample is +10, +6, +11 runs. That's pretty great. That makes him 21st among defensive players at all positions over that span. The top of the list is your rangey, sure-handed shortstops: Simmons, Lindor, Iglesias, Crawford. Then Betts, then a bunch of high end defensive catchers, mixed in with a few more shortstops. Kiermaier and Hamilton are above Bradley, and Pillar is level with him. What I'm saying is that his numbers aren't underwhelming. They indicate that he is indeed one of the best defensive players in the game at any position.It could just be noise. Don't defensive metrics need like 3 year sample sizes?