Although it's tough to draw conclusions on players through just around 50 games played, the regular season is already nearly complete, and the Outs Above Average (OAA) list is ready to be dissected.
The metric, taken from Baseball Savant/Statcast is explained as...
OAA is the cumulative effect of all individual plays a fielder has been credited or debited with, making it a range-based metric of fielding skill that accounts for the number of plays made and the difficulty of them. For example, a fielder who catches a 25% Out Probability play gets +.75; one who fails to make the play gets -.25.
A number of Yankees have made this year's list so far this season, but none higher than Clint Frazier, who sits at the No. 2 spot in right field with 2 OAA -- just behind former MVP and Los Angeles Dodgers RF Mookie Betts' 3 OAA.
After numerous times being sent back and forth down to Triple-A or the alternate site in the last few seasons, Frazier seems to have found his place in the Yankee lineup due to his bat and fielding. He's slashing .280/.387/.516 and has made a lot of great defensive plays.
With Aaron Judge (who came in at No. 9 at right field with 1 OAA) missing time again this season, Frazier has risen to the occasion and made it even harder for Aaron Boone to figure out what to do with his crowded outfield.
It seems like Frazier will slide over to left field once Judge and Stanton are back, but there will still be room made for Brett Gardner and Mike Tauchman, Boone said.
Picking between Tauchman and Gardner in the near future could be tricky, because although Gardner is the veteran, he's only batting .183 this season compared to Tauchman's .253. Plus, Tauchman came in at No. 7 (1 OAA) on the left field list compared to Gardner's spot at No. 44 (-2 OAA).
Despite missing time with a sprained thumb this year, DJ LeMahieu still finds himself at No. 20 (1 OAA) on the second base list. If LeMahieu could've pulled together a complete season in the field and at the plate — where he's slashing .350/.399./536 — he may have had a chance at competing for the AL MVP.
Here's the complete group of Yankees to make it on the OAA list
Clint Frazier, No. 2 RF
Mike Tauchman, No. 7 LF
Aaron Judge, No. 9 RF
DJ LeMahieu, No. 20 2B
Thairo Estrada, No. 23 2B
Luke Voit, No. 27 1B
Gio Urshela, No. 27 3B
Gleyber Torres, No. 28 SS
Aaron Hicks, No. 38 CF
Brett Gardner, No. 44 LF