Stat of the Week: Which of the 12 Playoff Teams Are Best Defensively

Fun facts: The last seven World Series winners have finished in the top 10 in Defensive Runs Saved, and 19 of the last 20 World Series participants have finished in the top 15 in Runs Saved. The 2022 Phillies are the exception to the latter.

Historical precedents can be bucked but those bode better for some teams than others as 12 teams enter the postseason in search of a World Series title. Seven of those teams rank in the top 10 in Runs Saved this season.

But we give equal time to the good and bad, so here's a quick preview of all 12 teams listed in order of how they rank in Runs Saved this season.

Cubs 116 (1st)

As we noted last week the Cubs have had one of the best defensive seasons in the history of Defensive Runs Saved. They may not have a positional leader, but they have five players ranked in the top five at their respective positions (Pete Crow-Armstrong, Seiya Suzuki, Alex Bregman, Ian Happ, and Shota Imanaga). They've gotten positive Runs Saved from every position except first base.

There is a sizable gap between the Cubs and the No. 2 team and a huge gap between the Cubs and the No. 3 team. If this postseason comes down to defensive play, we expect the Cubs to make the plays.

Rays 86 (2nd)

The Rays are a solid No. 2 with the strength of their team being shortstop Taylor Walls, who led the position in Runs Saved, and their outfield with Chandler Simpson in left field, Cedric Mullins in center, and Victor Mesa Jr. in right field, with Jonny DeLuca able to play center or right. Mesa ranks fourth among right fielders with 12 Runs Saved. Kudos in particular to Cedric Mullins who went from -14 Runs Saved in 2025 to 6 in 2026.

The biggest contributor for the team is their defensive positioning. They got more value from shift positioning than any team (shifts being any instance multiple fielders are positioned dramatically different from traditional positioning).

Red Sox 70 (3rd)

The Red Sox outfield has been the best in baseball defensively. Ceddanne Rafaela leads all center fielders in Runs Saved for the second straight year and Wilyer Abreu leads right fielders for the second time in three years and leading all players in Runs Saved overall. The infielder to watch is Caleb Durbin, who has been excellent at third base after being obtained in the offseason. He ranks third at the position with 13 Runs Saved.

The Red Sox have more holes than some of the other top defensive teams, but the outfield helps cover for some of those.

Braves 64 (4th)

If we ranked teams based on skill (removing defensive positioning from the Runs Saved equation) the Braves would bump up a couple of spots to second overall. They have some impressive players: first baseman Matt Olson ranked second at the position and Michael Harris II ranks fifth among center fielders. Mauricio Dubon has 6 Runs Saved and will be a contender for our multi-position Fielding Bible Award. The Braves don't have more than 12 Runs Saved at any position, so they don't have any league leaders, but they have positive Runs Saved everywhere but catcher, which is at -1.

Brewers 59 (5th)

The Brewers have ranked in the top six in Runs Saved in five of the last six years (the one year they didn't, they ranked 11th). This year's edition is great at second base, as Brice Turang easily leads the position with 23 Runs Saved, solid in left field with Jackson Chourio stepping up in a big way to rank second with 13 Runs Saved, and strong at third base where Joey Ortiz and David Hamilton have a combined 12 Runs Saved. The team ranks fifth in Runs Saved at the position.

Dodgers 40 (9th)

Andy Pages returned from the injured list just in time as he was definitely the team's most valuable defender this season. He ranked second among center fielders with 20 Runs Saved this season and tied for No. 1 among all outfielders in the outfield arm component of Runs Saved.

The Dodgers slipped considerably in the team Runs Saved rankings in his absence in the final five weeks of the season. They're still good overall with 2025 Fielding Bible Award winner Mookie Betts at shortstop the best of the other fielders. They've got some issues at the corner outfield spots with their two weakest defenders by Runs Saved this season being Kyle Tucker and Teoscar Hernández.

Padres 31 (10th)

First baseman Ty France went from barely making the Padres to having a career year as both a hitter and a fielder. France won an AL Gold Glove last season but statistically was much better in 2026, leading first basemen with Runs Saved and ending a two-year run of positional leadership by Matt Olson.

The other defensive player to watch is catcher Freddy Fermin, who, if he's not starting, will likely be a late-inning replacement when the Padres have the lead. He's one of the better catchers in the sport in defending the running game and preventing wild pitches by blocking balls in the dirt.

Yankees 27 (T-13th)

Cody Bellinger had his best defensive season since winning the right field and multi-position Fielding Bible Award in 2019. His 21 Runs Saved easily led all left fielders.

The Yankees have also gotten excellent defense from whomever they've put at shortstop this season, whether it's Jose Caballero or George Lombard or Anthony Volpe. They've combined for 22 Runs Saved, the most at the position. They also have a pretty good defensive catcher in Austin Wells, who is above-average at both framing pitches and blocking them, though he's not had a good season throwing out basestealers.

The Yankees do have some holes. They had negative Runs Saved at three of the four infield positions and ranked next-to-last with -13 Runs Saved in center field. There are things that can alleviate that but they might come at the cost of offense.

Guardians 15 (18th)

Steven Kwan has won three Fielding Bible Awards in the past and he may not get one this year, but that doesn't mean he's slipped in any way. He's played a stellar left field and center field, splitting time there almost evenly. He tied for third with 11 Runs Saved in left field and tied for seventh with 6 Runs Saved in center field.

The other potential gamechanger would be the 2025 Defensive Player of the Year, catcher Patrick Bailey, who ranked tied for sixth with 8 Runs Saved at the position this season. We suspect ABS challenges may have kept Bailey's Runs Saved total down a little bit this year, but he's still above average at getting extra strikes and at stopping stolen bases. He's also had a decidedly better year than the normally excellent receiver Austin Hedges, who has been the better hitter.

White Sox 1 (21st)

The White Sox are one of the weaker defensive teams in this postseason. If we factor out positioning their combined Runs Saved is -22 with double-digit negatives in left field and at catcher.

Tristan Peters, their rookie center fielder, is the best they've got. He totaled 5 Runs Saved in 2026. No one else currently on the team has more than 2. Center field and pitcher are the only positions at which the White Sox had a positive Runs Saved total in 2026.

Astros -13 (24th)

The Astros have been pretty rough defensively, particularly at second base where they continue to play Jose Altuve (-17 Runs Saved, tied for second-worst in MLB), who doesn't DH because that's often Yordan Alvarez's role. They do have a past Fielding Bible Award winner at first base in Christian Walker and a typically good catcher in Christian Vazquez.

The wild card would have been Daulton Varsho, whom they added in a trade at the deadline with the Blue Jays. Varsho is two years removed from winning Defensive Player of the Year. Shoulder surgery has taken away a throwing arm that had a lot of value but he still has above-average range for a center fielder. However, he's not near what he was at his best and a wrist injury has him out at least through the Wild Card round.

Phillies -49 (29th)

The Phillies rank 29th in Defensive Runs Saved but that comes with an asterisk. The day after the trade deadline they had -43 Runs Saved for the season.

For much of the time post-trade deadline the defense was better. The moves of Bryce Harper to right field, Alec Bohm to first base and Bryson Stott to third base to accommodate Luis Arraez seemed to be working. When Ken Rosenthal wrote about them on September 22, they were -37 for the season with 6 Runs Saved since the moves. Then they pulled a -12 Runs Saved in the final week and lost Arraez to a sprained ankle.

Meanwhile their biggest defensive issue this season, Trea Turner, remains at shortstop. His -17 Runs Saved there were worst in MLB this season.

Their best defensive player this season has been Derek Hill, who could start or come off the bench as a late-inning replacement. Hill ranks tied for fourth in Runs Saved with 15 Runs Saved in center field the last two seasons despite ranking 48th in innings played there.

Most Defensive Runs Saved - 2026 Playoff Teams

Overall Rank/Team	Runs Saved
1. Cubs	116
2. Rays	86
3. Red Sox	70
4. Braves	64
5. Brewers	59
9. Dodgers	40
10. Padres	31
T13. Yankees	27
18. Guardians	15
21. White Sox	1
24. Astros	-13
29. Phillies	-49