Colorado Rockies: Charlie Blackmon’s rank among the best center fielders

The Colorado Rockies have traditionally had a solid offense. Their outfield is no different. The leader and main superstar in the outfield is quite clearly Charlie Blackmon. In fact, Blackmon has been one of the best players in all of baseball this season, and it is no stretch to say he could be the best center fielder in the game.

Who is better than “Chuck Nazty?” Not many players. We can certainly pick out a number of elite center fielders to compete with Charlie Blackmon. In no order, Mike Trout, Kevin Kiermaier, Kevin Pillar, Joc Pederson, former Rockies outfielder Dexter Fowler, George Springer, and Billy Hamilton are on the list. Here’s how Blackmon stacks up compared to these superstars.

Kevin Kiermaier:

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Charlie Blackmon is far and away the better player in this scenario. Kiermaier has a below .200 batting average (.163 through Friday) and hasn’t hit a single home run. While we’re on the subject, let me just mention just how overrated Kiermaier is. His WAR is in the negative right now for a below .500 baseball team. To even consider Kiermaier to be better than Blackmon is just flat out wrong. I get he’s a great defender, but that doesn’t make up for the lack of production we see with his bat.

Kevin Pillar:

Pillar is probably the most underrated center fielder in all of baseball, and could definitely be better than Blackmon. Pillar is one of the best guys when you use the eye test, constantly making big plays offensively and defensively. He is far and wide the best defensive center fielder in Major League Baseball, in my opinion.

Blackmon’s batting average is at a solid .292, but that number looks a lot worse compared to Pillar’s .312 average. Charlie Blackmon does have the lead in the home run race, 11-4. Each have their pluses, including Pillar sporting a 2.0 WAR this season compared to Blackmon’s 0.9. Overall, it’s hard right now to say Charlie Blackmon is more valuable than Kevin Pillar.

Joc Pederson:

Pederson is younger than Blackmon, and has a lot more hype around him (part of being a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers). However, in this case, Chuck is much better. He leads in just about every single category. Even in home runs, which is known as Pederson’s specialty, Blackmon leads it 11 to 1. Not too much to say here.