By Mark Simon

In perusing the various queries and tools at my disposal this week, the phrase 'here we go again' came to mind on several occasions, both with player and team defensive performance.

Let me show you what I mean.

Players

It didn't take long for Pete Crow-Armstrong to rise to the top of the Defensive Runs Saved leaderboard. He's already got a few nice plays (this one against Jacob Young stands out). What's particularly impressive is the ease with which he catches balls that are drilled.

Three of his four top catches this season in terms of difficulty all have come on balls that had exit velocities of 105 MPH or higher that he was able to close in on with great jumps and closing speed.

Crow-Armstrong ranked second in MLB's stats related to jumps last season, covering an average of 4 feet more than other outfielders. He's right near the top of this year's leaderboard too. Crow-Armstrong was the runner-up to Red Sox center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela in Runs Saved at the position last season. He's already got a seven-run edge on Rafaela in 2026.

We could also include Red Sox right fielder Wilyer Abreu. He has the most Runs Saved of any player so far this season (6). Abreu led right fielders in Runs Saved two seasons ago and finished second to Fernando Tatis Jr. at the position last season.

We've got more time to go before player performance becomes even a little predictive on the defensive end. But it wouldn't be surprising if PCA or Abreu were at the top of the Runs Saved leaderboard at their respective positions again.

Defensive Runs Saved Leaderboard - Outfielders

Teams (and Pitcher)

Last season Gavin Williams posted a 3.06 ERA despite an MLB-leading 83 walks and a FIP of 4.39. We wrote about this and how the Guardians posted more Defensive Runs Saved against batted balls for Williams (18) than any team did for any pitcher.

Well, it's only 4 starts but it seems like the Guardians and Williams are at it again. They have 4 Runs Saved behind him through four starts and he again has lots of walks (tied for the MLB lead with 16) and a 4.44 FIP to go with a 2.38 ERA.

There haven't been a lot of big plays behind Williams other than this one by Brayan Rocchio. The .171 BABIP against him is legit in that most of the 10 hits against Williams came on balls in which defenses had little or no chance of recording an out. In other words, the Guardians defense is doing what it should do behind him. It's taking care of business.

We could have led this section of the article with the Dodgers, who lead all teams in Runs Saved through games played on Wednesday. But that's boring given that their being very good isn't that surprising. The Dodgers have ranked in the top three in Runs Saved in each of the last four seasons, but they've not been No. 1 at year's end in that time.

The key to this for the Dodgers so far is that they've turned an MLB-best 81% of ground balls and bunts into outs, including 33 of 35 in a just-completed three-game sweep of the Mets.

Most Defensive Runs Saved in 2026 - Teams

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