Photo: Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire

We just started a series on our website in which we’ll be asking the question for all 30 teams: Is this a good defensive team heading into 2025?

You can find the articles here.

But which teams have the best defensive reputations?

To answer that, we noted each team’s average rank in Defensive Runs Saved over the last four seasons.  

Two teams tied for the best average ranking: The Brewers and the Dodgers.

The Brewers are the only team to rank in the top 6 in Runs Saved in each of the last four seasons. They placed 6th in 2021 and 2022, 2nd in 2023, and 4th in 2024.

They’re in strong position to do that again. The have four very good defensive outfielders (though Blake Perkins is hurt at the moment), and a Platinum Glove winner at second base in Brice Turang, who led the position in Runs Saved last season.

The Dodgers have ranked in the top 10 in each of the last four seasons. They’ve finished 10th in 2021, 2nd in 2022, and 3rd in both 2023 and 2024.

The Dodgers’ success last season was more rooted in the positioning of their players than defensive skill. One of their other biggest strengths is their defensive versatility, with several prominent players (Mookie Betts and Tommy Edman among them) able to play multiple positions.

Rounding out the top 5 in average rank are the Blue Jays, Guardians, Cardinals, and Rangers, with the latter two teams tied for 5th.

The Blue Jays are the two-time reigning season leaders in Runs Saved and though Daulton Varsho may play the field less often due to season-ending rotator cuff surgery last season, they added another Platinum Glove winner, second baseman Andrés Giménez.

The Guardians ranked 3rd in Runs Saved in 2022 and 2nd in 2024, but lost Giménez. They still have a terrific left fielder, Steven Kwan, an impressive young shortstop, Brayan Rocchio, and an improving catcher, Bo Naylor. The Guardians take their defensive play seriously. Both their Triple-A and Double-A affiliates led their respective leagues in Runs Saved last season.

The Cardinals ranked 1st in 2021 and 5th in 2022, but have slipped to 20th and 13th the last two seasons. The Rangers have three finishes in the top 11, including a 2nd-place standing in 2021.

Five teams finished with an average rank of 25 or worse. They were the Phillies, Nationals, A’s, Reds, and White Sox.

Below are the full team rankings:

Average Rank in Defensive Runs Saved

Last 4 MLB Seasons