Young Nationals Centerfielder Has A Good Case for National League's Gold Glove
The Washington Nationals likely weren't expecting centerfielder Jacob Young to be this good this quickly. After all, he started last season in High-A, rising through the system and getting a grand total of 33 games in the major leagues late last year.
But now? Young has a legitimate argument for winning the Rawlings Gold Glove in the National League, given to the best defender at his respective position.
The 25-year-old outfielder has been worth 20 Outs Above Average, MLB.com's preferred defensive metric that shows how many outs a player has saved versus what an "average" defender would do. The next closest outfielder is Tampa Bay Rays centerfielder Jose Siri at +16 OAA, with the gap between first and second place being larger than the gap between second and seventh.
There are very few components of outfield defense where Young doesn't currently excel. He is tied with Chicago Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong at making plays to his left (a +10 OAA) and is tied with three different outfielders at ranging to his right (+6 OAA) while being the singular best at charging in for plays at +5 OAA. He excels against both left-handed and right-handed hitters, at +7 and +13 OAA, respectively, and his +6% Success Rate Added is tied for the best among all outfielders with Michael Siani of the St. Louis Cardinals.
Jacob Young’s glove has been as good as gold this season. pic.twitter.com/IYF3uLSUMo
— Nationals Communications (@NationalsComms) September 13, 2024
With top prospects Dylan Crews and James Wood flanking him on the grass, in right and left fields respectively, there's hope in Washington that this outfield trio can form the core of the next competitive Nationals roster.
Young has batted .255 with a .646 OPS in his first full season, stealing 32 bases (in 41 attempts) and scoring 74 runs. Commonly batting from the bottom of the order with 102 starts in the #9 spot, Young has proven to be an offensive catalyst despite the lacking power numbers (just three homers in 494 plate appearances).
There's a blueprint to increased offensive production for Young, however: Brenton Doyle of the Colorado Rockies. Doyle was 2023's defensive leader in the outfield with +15 OAA while batting just .203 through 126 games. After an offseason of work and refinement, he's improved his batting average by 61 points to .264 and his OPS by 177 points while more than doubling his homer total, from 10 last season to 22 in this campaign.
With the young outfield trio in Washington getting an offseason of development, paired with rising rotation stalwarts MacKenzie Gore, DJ Herz, and Mitchell Parker, Washington's rebuild may be ahead of schedule and they could be competing for a postseason berth as soon as 2025.
