![\"\"](\"https:\/\/platform.southsidesox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/148\/2026\/06\/Peters-v-Acuna.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0,0,100,100\")
<\/a><\/p>\nBaseball Reference<\/p>\n
Now, I won\u2019t sugarcoat it; I simply do not believe Peters is an .800 OPS monster. His Savant batting profile ranges from dark blue (bad) to gender reveal blue (respectably bad), except for a 67th percentile strikeout percentage. The one thing he\u2019s shown is a supersized ability to pull the ball when he does launch it, as his pull percentage on fly balls is 8.4% above league average. Beyond that, the real Peters most likely resembles the man we saw in the first six weeks of this season: a respectable .280 average with a few walks, a smattering of extra base hits, plenty of sacrifice bunts, and an OPS+ hovering around the mid-80s.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not mad about that. Peters\u2019 real value comes in two areas that never slump: baserunning and fielding. The Statcast percentiles make that clear enough. As of the end of play on June 9 \u2014 henceforth to be known both as Braden Montgomery Day and as the first time Bob Costas got sick of seeing a team bunt \u2014 Peters is in the 89th percentile of baserunning value and the 96th percentile of fielding run value.<\/p>\n
Peters\u2019 baserunning pops off the screen. He makes smart decisions and commits to them full throttle, a perpetual motion machine fine-tuned for the 180 feet between first base and third. I shouted out a play on Sunday against the Phillies<\/a> that won\u2019t show up in his stats but exemplifies his baserunning skill. With Peters on first and two out, Drew Romo slashed a sharp grounder up the middle that second baseman Bryson Stott knocked down. He recovered in time to throw out Romo by a step. It was a great play by the Phils\u2019 keystone man.<\/p>\n As Stott was still scrambling at the edge of the grass, Peters briefly appeared at the bottom of the TV screen. Peters hadn\u2019t slowed down. In fact, he made the turn around second as though the ball had reached the right field wall. Had Romo managed to beat the throw, Peters would have gone first-to-third on an infield single.<\/p>\n And yet! If we\u2019re ranking Peters\u2019 skills, baserunning would still be in the A-tier alongside sacrifice bunts, drag bunts, and being your dad\u2019s favorite player to the point where it\u2019s a little uncomfortable. Above them all, in the S-tier, is the Gold Glove-level fielding he brings to baseball\u2019s most important outfield position.<\/p>\n Peters has seven outs above average (OAA), according to Savant, ranking him fourth in all of baseball. I went ahead and checked some of the underlying metrics, something I had never done before. Definitions for reaction, burst, and route were oddly difficult to find on Baseball Savant\u2019s website. Still, thanks to a Samford University abstract posted online in 2020 by a high school senior named Jake, I finally tracked down this handy infographic:<\/p>\n Baseball Savant\/Jake<\/p>\n With that out of the way, I\u2019ll now show you the top 10 leaderboard for OAA. Fair warning, these numbers are going to seem very complimentary of Peter Crow-Armstrong. I\u2019ll try my best to twist them into a negative:<\/p>\n These numbers show that a good center fielder can go about their business in one of two ways. In both cases, burst is non-negotiable. The difference is in how you use that burst. Some guys use it, along with quick reaction time, to compensate for less-than-stellar routes. Like Crow-Armstrong. Looks like you\u2019re just a fast dummy, Pete!<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n