Who's Hot, Who's Not: Showing Yankees' Juan Soto Some Glove Love

For this week's edition of Newsweek's Who's Hot, Who's Not in MLB, we take a closer look at the often-overlooked art of defense. The first four weeks of 2024 have already delivered their fair share of highlights – and lowlights – from some surprising corners of the baseball universe.

Remember: keep your eye on the ball.

Who's Hot

1. Juan Soto, Yankees: Whether or not he lands the largest contract in baseball history, it's become clear Soto's value goes beyond his bat. His four outfield assists lead all MLB outfielders. Soto's hitting has been typically superb (a .319 batting average, five homers, 22 RBIs) for the Yankees, making him an early MVP candidate.
2. Daulton Varsho, Blue Jays: While Soto's glove has been solid, Varsho's has been superlative, leading all major league outfielders in Outs Above Average and every other advanced Statcast metric. He's also got more home runs than Soto (6 through Wednesday) and is making highlight reels with catches like these:

3. Gabriel Moreno, Diamondbacks: Arizona acquired Moreno in a 1-for-1 swap for Varsho two years ago, before rules designed to increase base-stealing took effect. Now? Only seven runners have attempted to steal a base against Moreno this season and four have been caught. He's the only starting catcher in MLB throwing out runners above a 50 percent clip.
4. Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers: Ohtani's elbow isn't allowing him to do his two-way act, but his bat has been more than enough to justify his worth to the Dodgers. He is slashing .371/.433/.695 in his last seven games. His 118.7-mph home run Tuesday in D.C. was the fastest-hit ball in the team's Statcast-era history.

5. Ezequiel Tovar, Rockies: No major league shortstop has had more fielding chances than Tovar, and until Wednesday he had not committed an error. The 22-year-old signed a seven-year contract extension prior to the season and has improved markedly on offense too, slashing .302/.352/.458. The future at shortstop looks bright in Denver.

Who's Not

1. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Blue Jays: The second-generation star has been a replacement-level player on both sides of the ball. But Guerrero's down season at the plate (.219 average, .330 slugging) is acceptable compared to his work in the field, where he made a critical error Tuesday. Not only did his inexplicable dropped throw at first base allow the Kansas City Royals to extend the fifth inning, it turned the Jays' 2-0 lead into an eventual loss:

2. Luis Rengifo, Angels: In spite of his versatility, the Angels' utility player has been a below-replacement level fielder this season — even setting aside his error in Sunday's game in Cincinnati. His missed grounder extended the sixth inning of a scoreless game, leading to a 3-0 Reds win. He's still looking for his first home run of 2024 after hitting 16 last year.

3. Oneil Cruz, Pirates: The lithe shortstop is hitting the ball hard when he makes contact (48 percent hard-hit rate) but his 36 percent strikeout rate and poor defense at shortstop has made him an essentially replacement-level player in his first 25 games. Gaffes like this dropped fly ball are hard to watch, part of his MLB-high five errors.

4. Jose Abreu, Astros: If his three errors at first base aren't bad enough, Abreu's .065 batting average (4 for 62, 17 strikeouts) suggests his 11th major league season could be his last. The Astros still owe Abreu, 37, $39 million between this year and next, but a 7-18 record could test their patience.

5. Nick Castellanos, Phillies: The 32-year-old outfielder — never known for his glove — has actually played a solid if unspectacular right field for the Phillies. But he's hitting .174 and still looking for his first home run of 2024 after hitting 29 last year.