Brayan Rocchio Is Among Leaders Of Impressive Defensive Stat

Cleveland Guardians shortstop Brayan Rocchio has stolen the spotlight this year with his excellent offensive play. He has hit .265/.326/.394 this year, with nine home runs, 15 stolen bases, a career-high 104 wRC+ and a team-leading 3.2 fWAR.

Basically, Rocchio has broken out and is now one of the best players on the Guardians, just a year after he spent most of the summer in Triple-A. It was that stint in Columbus, actually, the one that kickstarted his revival.

The offense is much improved compared to previous seasons, but let’s be real: Rocchio is a glove-first player. The defense is what creates most of his value.

In fact, Rocchio is among the leaders in Outs Above Average, a key defensive metric, in all of baseball, as researcher Thomas Nestico highlights.

“Outs Above Average Leaders – Shortstop: Brayan Rocchio: +12,” Nestico posted.

Outs Above Average Leaders – Shortstop pic.twitter.com/EV97peKhqT

— Thomas Nestico (@TJStats) July 29, 2026

Rocchio is second among MLB shortstops behind Bobby Witt Jr.’s +18 OAA, and he is fifth among players of all positions in the stat. Only Pete Crow-Armstrong, Witt, JJ Wetherholt, and Ceddanne Rafaela have a better OAA than the surging Guardians’ star.

OAA basically focuses on range and is measured in outs, whereas DRS, or Defensive Runs Saved, is measured in runs saved compared to the league average and also analyzes factors such as outfield/infield arm strength, throwing errors, and positioning adjustments in addition to range.

For what it’s worth, Rocchio’s DRS is 0. OAA is more accurate for outfielders, and the opposite is true for infielders, where DRS is king. In any case, we don’t need the two metrics to agree to say that Rocchio is an excellent defensive player because we watch him every day.

Few fielders boast his combination of awareness, quick hands, footwork, instincts, range, smarts, and ability to complete tough throws on the run. Defensively speaking, Rocchio’s bag of tricks is almost endless, and he has saved the Guardians on more than one occasion.

Now that his offense is better than league average and his defense has taken off, Rocchio is a complete player, one whose breakout has lifted the Guardians and helped them fight for a third straight division title. He has become quite an asset.