2026 NL East Positional Rankings: Left Field

Another day, another NL East positional ranking. Today, we’ll be tackling the division’s left fielders.

Check out MMO’s previous NL East rankings below:

• First Base
• Second Base
• Third Base
• Catcher
• Bullpen
• Starting Rotation
• Right Field
• Center Field
• Manager

We’ll only have shortstop after this!

The NL East is filled with a few veteran outfielders, two burgeoning youngsters, and a bona fide superstar. Check out the rankings!

No. 5: Jurickson Profar, ATL

Jurickson Profar missed 80 games of the 2025 season after testing positive for banned substances, giving a sour start to his three-year, $42 million contract the Braves handed him after a career year in 2024.

The 32-year-old appeared in just four games for Atlanta before his ban, tallying three singles in 16 plate appearances. When he returned in early July, Profar found moderate success, hitting .248/.358/.446 with 14 homers, 16 doubles and 43 RBIs. He continued to maintain command of the strike zone with a 12.9% walk rate percentage (90th percentile) and 15.9% strikeout percentage (88th percentile).

However, his numbers dropped in almost every category from 2024, and he was a below-average fielder (-6 OAA, eighth percentile). That, plus his suspension, puts him at No. 5.

No. 4: Kyle Stowers, MIA

The MMO editors went back and forth on No. 4 and No. 3 for a while. While Kyle Stowers was excellent in 2025 with a .288/.368/.544/.912 line, he only has one year under his belt compared to Philadelphia’s Marsh, who has shown more consistency in his tenured career.

Stowers, acquired with Connor Norby from the Orioles for Trevor Rogers in 2024, enjoyed an All-Star year in Miami in 2025. He was seventh best in all of baseball in barrel percentage (19%), 13th in xSLG (.537), and 15th best in xwOBA (.375). The 28-year-old posted a 3.9 fWAR in 2025, the second-best fWAR in the NL East among outfielders after Juan Soto (5.7 fWAR).

He finished his All-Star campaign with 25 homers, 21 doubles and 73 RBIs across 117 games, missing time late in the season with an oblique sprain. However, pre-All-Star break, Stowers hit .293/.368/.543, and mashed 19 of his homers in that span. While known for his bat, he posted slightly below-average numbers in the field -3 OAA, but made up for his poor defense at times with a strong arm (88th percentile in strength).

Of concern for Stowers was his high BABIP (.356), meaning Stowers might have found some luck at the plate. While there’s no denying Stowers potential, he slots in at No. 4 due to the small sample size.

No. 3: Brandon Marsh, PHI

The crux of Brandon Marsh‘s game throughout his career has been staying healthy. He has never played more than 135 games (though he’s been used as a platoon guy at points), and has dealt with mostly leg injuries throughout his big league career. With the departure of Nick Castellanos (and the addition of Adolis García), Marsh might see an opportunity to see time as an everyday player. He’ll have to improve against southpaws (.213 career BA against lefties, .197 in 2025).

He’s posted 100+ wRC+ seasons since joining the Phillies in 2022, and has been an above-average contact hitter (.280/.342/.443 line in 2025). He has some pop (11 HR in 2025), but provides most of his talents on the field and on base. Marsh has a net-zero OAA and arm strength ranking, but ranked in the 73rd percentile in sprint speed for 2025.

While he can hit for average, the veteran struggled in the final stretch of the 2025 season, hitting just .211/.286/.316 across his final seven games. He’s never been much of a factor for the Phillies come October, owning a .214/.281/.369 (78 wRC+) line in 36 postseason games.

No. 2: James Wood, WSH

The 23-year-old James Wood was nothing short of spectacular in his first full season in the big leagues. To no surprise, his Baseball Savant page is a sea of crimson red, a telling sign for Wood’s strong 2025 numbers. Not only did he rank in the top percentile in exit velocity (118.0 mph), but he ranked in the 98th percentile in hard-hit percentage (56.3%), and ranked better in bat speed (76.0 mph) than Shohei Ohtani and walk rate percentage (12.3%) than Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Wood finished the 2025 campaign a first-time All-Star, hitting .256/.350/.475 with a 127 wRC+ across 157 games. He smacked 31 home runs and drove in 94, putting his elite bat-to-ball skills on display. While his defense leaves much to be desired (-7 OAA), he makes up for it at the plate. However, of concern for Wood is his strikeout percentage. He landed in the second percentile (32.1%) in 2025, striking out the most in baseball with 221 (20 more than the second-place Riley Greene). That, combined with a sky-high .350 BABIP, is something to watch as Wood’s game evolves.

In the end, Wood has proven thus far the ability to stay healthy and poses a major offensive threat in the NL East.

No. 1: Juan Soto, NYM

We previously ranked Juan Soto as the best right fielder in the NL East. Well, after David Stearns announced Soto would shift to the opposite corner in the outfield, he’s still the best, and it’s not even close.

Soto finished third in NL MVP voting behind Shohei Ohtani and Kyle Schwarber on what many considered a “down” year in his first tango in Queens. A down year, he did not have. Soto ranked in the top percentile in xwOBA (.429), chase percentage (15.9%) and walk percentage (17.8%) while landing in the 96th percentiles or better in xSLG (.608), average exit velocity (93.8 mph), xBA (.288), barrel percentage (18.1%) and hard-hit percentage (55.3%).

Did we mention he stole a career-high 38 bases?

It’s no secret Soto was not a star outfielder in right (-12 OAA). However, with the shift to left, Soto has the opportunity to return to an OAA closer to average.

That said, right field is now open for either Carson Benge (60-grade arm, per MLB), Brett Baty (one major league inning in LF), Tyrone Taylor (+3 OAA in center, 2025), or MJ Melendez (-6 OAA in LF, 2024).

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