Photo: Gregory Fisher/Icon Sportswire 

By our anecdotal observations in surveying the various social media, Pete Crow-Armstrong is the most popular defensive player in baseball this season.

It’s understandable given his assortment of terrific catches, the amount of ground he covers and the capability of his arm to throw 98 miles-per-hour from center field.

So let’s give the people what they want and provide a few things to watch for after the All-Star Break (we’re not calling it “the second half”) from PCA.

Best Defensive Center Fielder in Baseball?

There’s a difference between popular and best and when we talk about the best defensive center fielders in baseball, there’s a lot of competition.

Ceddanne Rafaela of the Red Sox actually is tied with Crow-Armstrong in Runs Saved (13), and has played 71 fewer innings than Crow-Armstrong has. Myles Straw of the Blue Jays hasn’t even played half as many innings as either of them and is close behind with 11 Runs Saved.

There’s also defensive sensation Denzel Clarke of the Athletics (7 Runs Saved), who has played even fewer innings than Straw. And if he can get healthy, Daulton Varsho (5 Runs Saved) may be better than all of them. Others in the discussion include Julio Rodriguez, Michael Harris II, and Victor Scott II.

Crow-Armstrong is a great defensive player having a great defensive season. He’s No. 1 among center fielders in the range component of Defensive Runs Saved and he’s caught 89 of 103 balls hit to the deepest part of center field, 8 more than his expected catch total (his +8 is best in MLB on deep balls for CF).

But what we’re saying is: Crow-Armstrong is not a lock for the year-end Fielding Bible Award in center field. It’s still an open race.

(all stats via FieldingBible.com)

30-30 … and 20

Crow-Armstrong is 5 home runs and 3 stolen bases away from a 30-30 season. Defensive Runs Saved was first calculated in 2003 and Crow-Armstrong reaching those milestones will give MLB thirty 30-30 seasons in that time.

But only one player has had a season with 30 home runs, 30 stolen bases, and 20 Defensive Runs Saved.

Want to take a guess as to who it is? Answer at the end of the article.

MVP?

Crow-Armstrong’s defense is an integral part of his MVP argument, as he needs to be multi-dimensional to compete with someone like Shohei Ohtani.

Let’s use Baseball-Reference Wins Above Replacement as a proxy for MVP judgement. Crow-Armstrong is caught in a logjam of players at about the same level in the offensive component of WAR. Those include Ohtani, Juan Soto, Kyle Tucker, Will Smith, C.J. Abrams, James Wood, Elly De La Cruz, and Pete Alonso.

But none of those players are in the same territory as Crow-Armstrong in terms of defensive value. He’s at 1.7 Defensive WAR. Next-best from that group are Smith and De La Cruz, 0.5.

Ohtani is the one player capable of neutralizing that edge in the season’s remaining games if he pitches well enough. 

Regardless, it behooves Crow-Armstrong to be as complete a player as he can be. Defense is a vital part of that.

National League Wins Above Replacement Leaders

Trivia answer: The two players to hit 30 home runs, steal 30 bases, and record 20 Runs Saved in a season are Ian Kinsler (2009 Rangers) and Mike Trout (2012 Angels)