Matt Johnson
Who is the best left fielder in baseball? We’re rounding out our positional ranking series ahead of the 2026 Major League Baseball season with left fielders. With some recent position switches and better defenders played in other parts of the outfield, some of the best MLB left fielders are MVP candidates or emerging stars.
So, before Opening Day 2026, let’s dive into our list of the 10 best left fielders in MLB right now. Statistics come via FanGraphs, Baseball Savant and the Fielding Bible.
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1. Juan Soto, New York Mets
Juan Soto is the best left fielder in baseball. The New York Mets moved him away from right ahead of the 2026 MLB season—a return to the spot he played in 2023 with the San Diego Padres and in his first two seasons with the Washington Nationals. The last time we saw him play regularly in left, he finished with -5 Defensive Runs Saved and placed in the 6th percentile for Outs Above Average (-7). But at least he’s got the arm strength for it. Of course, Soto’s true value comes with the bat. In 2025, he ranked fifth among all hitters in OPS (.921) and wRC+ (156) with the second-highest walk rate (17.8 percent) in the majors. What’s even more impressive is that after a slow start to the season, he hit 34 home runs with 78 RBI and 31 steals with a .282 batting average and 1.005 OPS in his final 369 at-bats. Still just 27 years old, this season might be Soto’s best shot at NL MVP.
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2. Roman Anthony, Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox have a new star. Roman Anthony made his MLB debut last June, putting up a .210 batting average and .667 OPS in his first month. Over the next two months, he posted the ninth-highest OPS (.927) and the sixth-best batting average (.316) in all of baseball with the sixth-highest fWAR (2.5). An oblique injury sidelined him in September, but what the former top prospect showed speaks volumes to the caliber of player he can be in 2026. Anthony could play center field if Boston didn’t already have a Gold Glove winner there. We opted to list him as a left fielder, a spot where he should get 40-plus games this year.
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3. Cody Bellinger, New York Yankees
Cody Bellinger proved to be a perfect fit for the New York Yankees last season, so re-signing him was a no-brainer. He posted a 5.1 bWAR, the first time since 2019 that he posted a five-win bWAR season. He also posted his second-best OPS (.813) in the last six seasons. Bellinger is most dangerous as a hitter at Yankee Stadium, where he hit 18 home runs with a .302 batting average and a .909 OPS this past year. On top of that excellent offensive production, he thrived defensively in left field with the sixth-most Defensive Runs Saved (seven) at the position, and he ranked in the 93rd percentile for Outs Above Average (seven). Bellinger’s career trajectory has been a bit of a roller-coaster, but it’s great to see the left-handed hitter find his way back to becoming one of the best players at his position in all of baseball.
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4. Riley Greene, Detroit Tigers
After making his MLB debut in 2022, outfielder Riley Greene has become everything the Detroit Tigers dreamed of and more. Formerly the fifth pick in the 2019 MLB Draft, Greene has earned an All-Star selection in each of the past two seasons and is coming off a career year. He put up 111 RBI with 36 home runs and an .806 OPS this past season and now boasts an .811 OPS across 1,490 at-bats in the last three years. Now, Greene does strike out a lot (30.7 percent), and he’s not bringing much defensively (-5 Defensive Runs Saved), but Greene’s power and run production make him one of the best left fielders in MLB right now.
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5. Tyler Soderstrom, Athletics
It might come as a surprise for some to see Tyler Soderstrom ranked fifth among the best left fielders in MLB. However, he made 108 starts in left field this past season for the Athletics, placed fourth in Defensive Runs Saved (10), and landed in the 88th percentile for Arm Strength (90.7 mph). At the plate, Soderstrom ranked fifth at the position in OPS (.769), and he led all left fielders in batting average (.278). The offensive production matches the likes of Ian Happ and Wyatt Langford, all the while he’s better defensively than James Wood. He also just turned 24 years old, so there’s a chance the best is yet to come for Soderstrom.
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6. James Wood, Washington Nationals
At his best, Washington Nationals outfielder James Wood is one of the best hitters in baseball. He showcased that early in the 2025 MLB season, recording the fifth-highest OPS (.938) with the sixth-most home runs (22) and RBI (64), along with the seventh-best wRC+ (155) through June. However, Wood compiled just a .226 batting average with a 38.3 percent strikeout rate, a 95 wRC+, and a .696 OPS in the final three months of the season. He also doesn’t offer much defensively—1 Defensive Runs Saved and 6th percentile Outs Above Average—so the bat needs to do a lot of heavy lifting. We just need to see a full season of consistent offensive production from Wood to believe he’s one of the five best left fielders in baseball.
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7. Wyatt Langford, Texas Rangers
Wyatt Langford finished 2025 with the second-most Defensive Runs Saved (12) among left fielders despite only playing 841 innings at that spot. He put himself in elite company defensively, with his 10 Outs Above Average placing him in the 96th percentile among outfielders. That excellence in the field also came with 22 home runs and a .775 OPS at the plate in just his second season. If Langford can become the hitter over a full season that we saw in the final three months of 2025— .824 OPS, 31 RBI, 11 steals and 9 home runs—we’re looking at a top-four player at his position.
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8. Jackson Chourio, Milwaukee Brewers
After playing center field a majority of the time last season, the Milwaukee Brewers will be deploying Jackson Chourio in left field this year. It’s the best thing for the 22-year-old outfielder. Since making his MLB debut as a 20-year-old, Chourio has put up 42 home runs with 43 steals, a .272 batting average and a .781 OPS across his first two seasons. There’s still inconsistency and adjustments that have to be made, as evidenced by a .728 OPS from March through June (355 at-bats) followed by a stellar July (1.008 OPS and 17 RBI). Chourio is already a 20-20 player, and if he can take that next step forward and stay healthy, he could be a 30-20 guy quickly.
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9. Ian Happ, Chicago Cubs
As one of the best MLB left fielders right now, Ian Happ will have himself quite a free-agent market following the 2026 campaign. He’s coming off his third consecutive season with 70-plus RBI, 30-plus doubles and 20-plus home runs, and he boasts a .779 OPS during that three-season run. In addition to the above-average production with the bat, Happ had the fifth-most Defensive Runs Saved (nine) in 2025 and he has 17 DRS in left over the last two seasons. The consistency both as a fielder and hitter is why he’s averaging nearly 4 bWAR per season since 2022 with the Chicago Cubs.
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10. Steven Kwan, Cleveland Guardians
Steven Kwan is so good defensively in left field—22 Defensive Runs Saved (first among all MLB players), 100th percentile Arm Value (seven) and 90th percentile Outs Above Average (five)—that the Cleveland Guardians will try him in center field at times this season. Unfortunately, Kwan’s production at the plate in 2024 (.793 OPS) now seems a bit fluky. He’s posted a slugging percentage under .375 in two of the last three seasons, and his .724 OPS is ranked 48th among outfielders with 1,000-plus plate appearances in the last three seasons. Kwan doesn’t make a lot of hard contact either—1st percentile Hard-Hit rate and 4th percentile Barrel rate—so Gold Glove defense and a solid batting average are the only real value he provides.
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