All the final 2022 fantasy baseball rankings for hitters are done. For those that skipped today’s title, this starts the top 20 starters for 2022 fantasy baseball. This is NOT for next year (caps for those who can’t read titles; supposedly it’s easier to read caps, I have my doubts). This is a recap. Will these affect next year’s rankings? Sure. Maybe. Maybe not. I don’t know. Not entirely. Yes, entirely. Like when you had a knee replacement, this is a recap! To recapitulate the recap, these rankings are from our Fantasy Baseball Player Rater. We’re (me’re) using it to fairly gauge our (my) preseason rankings. Anyway, here’s the top 20 starters for 2022 fantasy baseball and how they compared to where I originally ranked them:
1. Justin Verlander – You might think I see a guy who I ranked so far down in my rankings as a miss when they end up as the top starter, but I actually view it as affirmation of what I keep saying about punting top starters. It’s my daily affirmation: Pitchers are more volatile and harder to predict so stop drafting them so high. Unless you’re drafting them late while stoned, then continue to draft them high but late. Sorry for any confusion this might’ve brought to you. As for Justin Verlander’s season, prettttttttttt-tay, prettttttttttt-tay good. At 39, he returned from Tommy John surgery and had his best ERA of his career. Excuse me, of his Hall of Fame career. Verlander gained velocity on his fastball — at 39! He’s still throwing 95. No one will ever be Nolan Ryan, but this boy is built different than just about everyone else. It makes perfect sense for Verlander’s game plan this year to be most effective was to cut down on the strikeouts a little and throw less pitches per game, but executing it? This guy is truly like no other. Preseason Rank #58, 2022 Projections: 10-5/3.71/1.13/154 in 141 IP, Final Numbers: 18-4/1.75/0.83/185 in 175 IP
2. Sandy Alcantara – Went out there every fifth day and threw his heart out like Mola Ram was his pitching coach. 8+ innings start after start! Which is what I say, and, don’t take this the wrong way, when I say it’s so funny he still only had 228 2/3 IP. It’s like: The most durable pitcher in 2022 isn’t even on the first page when sorting by innings thrown per season of the last 20 or so years. It’s actually the 100th most innings thrown since 2000. A real workhorse for 2022, but no other year. Any hoo! Strikeouts were down this year. Ratios were king. I’m not sure if we’re just seeing a group of pitchers who all happen to be in that mindset or if this is a new trend. Lots of guys getting by without that elite strikeout rate, Sandy was the King of Ratios Were King. A King’s King. Preseason Rank #13, 2022 Projections: 12-9/3.08/1.05/195 in 201 IP, Final Numbers: 14-9/2.28/0.98/207 in 228 2/3 IP
3. Julio Urias – If Sandy was the King of Ratios Were King, then Urias was his Prince. Rudy and I had a long discussion about this over a chat, and won’t go into the whole thing, but it’s really hard to know if this is a new trend or a one and done thing like 2019 was for juiced balls. It was a generally bad year to roll dice on guys like Kopech or Clevinger, and a great year to go for a Gonsolin or Anderson. Not sure if homers go up, but BABIP should, and that might take down some of these Ratio Kings, and, uh, Princes. Any hoo! Urias, the Prince of Ratios Were King, is going to pass deGrom in career wins while being ten years his junior. Ah, to be good on a great team. Preseason Rank #16, 2022 Projections: 13-6/3.56/1.04/203 in 194 IP, Final Numbers: 17-7/2.16/0.96/166 in 175 IP
4. Alek Manoah – Sandwiched Manoah in my preseason rankings between Cease and McClanahanananananananan saying I should’ve wrote a sleeper for Manoah too. Only person I wanted more than Manoah was his mom, Mommah. Just thought of a good t-shirt, “Creepy for Cougars.” Will contact Rotowear. What’s weird about Manoah and others is their strikeouts were down but it’s not like Manoah is old. It’s like there was a league mandate that no one knew about. Welp, still loved Mommah and Manoah. Preseason Rank #24, 2022 Projections: 12-9/3.67/1.07/187 in 161 IP, Final Numbers: 16-7/2.24/0.99/180 in 196 2/3 IP
5. Shohei Ohtani – Never thought Ohtani could have a full season as a hitter and pitcher. That alone, and I can’t emphasis this enough even after pausing to say I can’t emphasis it enough, is incredible. Just qualifying for the batting and ERA title in the same season is insane. That shouldn’t be possible, even if it was like Kevin Newman-esque at-bats and Patrick Corbin-type innings. I’m saying to you, the sheer volume of Ohtani we got shouldn’t even be possible even if he was bad at hitting and pitching. And he’s not! He’s like a top 30 hitter and top 5 pitcher. He went 34/11 while nearly leading the majors in strikeouts! As crazy as Nolan Ryan was, as mentioned in Verlander’s blurb, Ohtani will be remembered as similarly absurd. Enjoy it now, while you can. Preseason Rank #35 (for just his pitching), 2022 Projections: 97/36/90/.254/19 in 511 ABs, 10-8/3.59/1.11/141 in 122 IP, Final Numbers: 90/34/95/.273/11 in 586 ABs; 15-6/2.33/1.01/219 in 166 IP
6. Dylan Cease – Wrote a sleeper for Cease, and after saying so much about the royal court of Ratios Were King, I will say Cease was a throwback to previous years when strikeouts still dominated. Strikeouts being down in the NL seems to make sense because they added the DH, but strikeouts were more down in the AL, which isn’t intuitive at all, unless I’m missing something, and, if I am, please, tell me. Preseason Rank #23, 2022 Projections: 15-6/3.58/1.12/241 in 184 IP, Final Numbers: 14-8/2.20/1.11/227 in 184 IP
7. Yu Darvish – PETA’s at my door I’ve beaten the dead horse so much about Ks being down, so let’s now turn our eyes to some of these WHIPs. Darvish has a 11-year track record, and was a 1.10 WHIP pitcher. He just recorded his career low in WHIP by a lot, if you throw out 2020. If you include 2020, then it was still a career low. BABIPs were goofy low everywhere. I guess it’s due to the dead ball. It’s the only thing that makes any sense. Every fly ball was a can of corn. Preseason Rank #34, 2022 Projections: 12-9/3.89/1.11/196 in 171 IP, Final Numbers: 16-8/3.10/0.95/197 in 194 2/3 IP
8. Carlos Rodon – Okay, rather than talk about generalized pitching takeaways. Rodon surprised me; I thought his 2021 September was going to lead to April surgery. Was about as out as one person could be. Mea culpa, as they say in Latin America. There were a few guys here I was out on: Urias, Verlander, and Darvish. Then, I was in on Sandy at drafts, but quickly out in a very early Friday Sell. I don’t point this out to tell you how dumb I am; I mean, I am, but I tell you this because across a lot of leagues I had the best pitching in those leagues. Manoah, Cease and McClanahananananananan on the same teams was kinda all you needed. You don’t need to draft pitching early, or get all your picks right. You need, like, three pitchers on your team to work out. Three out of the 80-something pitchers drafted in most leagues! Preseason Rank #40, 2022 Projections: 8-4/3.67/1.17/154 in 115 IP, Final Numbers: 14-8/2.88/1.03/237 in 178 IP
9. Zac Gallen – Back again with a guy who lost Ks, gained an insane amount of BABIP luck and shot to the moon in value. Gonna have to check this when I start doing my preseason rankings, but I wonder if the BABIPs on fly balls for certain guys went down. There’s also the humidors everywhere. Lots of moving pieces, unfortunately. Makes isolating numbers harder. Robert Stack walks onto stage, “Are you a number? And are you feeling isolated?” Preseason Rank #62, 2022 Projections: 8-13/3.81/1.27/179 in 161 IP, Final Numbers: 12-4/2.54/0.91/192 in 184 IP
10. Corbin Burnes – I don’t believe in ranking rankings. Think it’s crap, tee be aitch, but why I keep doing well at ranking starters is because of this: Everyone ranks the top starters in the top 12 overall; I rank them way after everyone else, and they always end up disappointing. It’s invariable. Never seen nothing like it. No one learns anything. Starters are the most fickle for so many reasons previously mentioned over the years, and people keep going back to the “Drafting starters in the top 12 overall” well. Let’s put it this way, if you drafted a 1st baseman in the top 12 overall, and they ended up as the 10th best 1st baseman, you’d prolly lose your league, and you’d be pissed. With starters? People will still draft Burnes in the top 15 overall. I’m not saying pitchers don’t end the year in the top 20 overall, but look at the starters above here! You could’ve had all of them after 20th overall, except Ohtani, and that was more about his hitting. Preseason Rank #1, 2022 Projections: 17-6/2.51/0.93/264 in 191 IP, Final Numbers: 12-8/2.94/0.97/243 in 202 IP
11. Shane McClanahan – Wrote a sleeper for McClanahananananananan. Oh, and on the BABIPs with the dead ball? There’s also the shift, and it’s leaving next year! Haha, what a mess. The biggest takeaway from all this is don’t trust pitching projections or rankings. If someone tells you these pitchers should be drafted in the top 25 overall, question them a lot. With that said, McClanahananananananan, like Cease, he held his strikeouts and was more like what we expected for at least 85% of the year, until he clearly tired. Preseason Rank #25, 2022 Projections: 14-8/3.43/1.17/189 in 163 IP, Final Numbers: 12-8/2.54/0.93/194 in 166 1/3 IP
12. Tony Gonsolin – Okay, with all that said above, if you had Gonsolin this year, you were living right. Not sure what you did in a former life — Mother Teresa? — but this was payback. Payback for a lifetime of good deeds was a good pitcher on your fantasy team? Yes. I’m sorry, but that’s how that works. That being karma. Preseason Rank #81, 2022 Projections: 9-6/3.76/1.28/143 in 131 IP, Final Numbers: 16-1/2.14/0.87/119 in 130 1/3 IP
13. Max Fried – If I don’t start breezing through some of these guys, you’re gonna be like, “Hol’ up, you wrote 3,000 words about what pitchers already did? Dude, find a new hobby.” One thing I’ll say on Fried and others listed here, I sure did nail the projected innings! Preseason Rank #21, 2022 Projections: 13-8/3.36/1.08/181 in 185 IP, Final Numbers: 14-7/2.48/1.01/170 in 185 1/3 IP
14. Gerrit Cole – Wins on good teams will be better than wins on bad teams. The Yanks were a good team but Cole had his worse wins since on the Pirates, so, okay, good talk. Preseason Rank #2, 2022 Projections: 17-7/2.73/0.99/271 in 204 IP, Final Numbers: 13-8/3.50/1.02/257 in 200 2/3 IP
15. Kyle Wright – If the Braves promote someone in April or announce someone in March as about to enter their lineup or rotation, don’t walk, run to your waiver wire and pick them up. Though, jokes aside, I’m not sure how many more guys they can promote and stick on their team since they’ve given ten-year contracts to just about everyone. Do the Braves have any room for a rookie this year? Tell me they do and I will now draft every possible fill-in in the 50th round of every early Draft Champions draft. Any hoo! Wright won 21 games and threw 180 1/3 IP. Ha! Yeah, pitching is predictable. Sure! Embrace it’s randomness, young Jedi. Preseason Unranked, Final Numbers: 21-5/3.19/1.16/174 in 180 1/3 IP
16. Max Scherzer – Just had a random thought: I might actually be able to draft Scherzer again next year after being unable to for roughly ten years. Yay me! Preseason Rank #3, 2022 Projections: 16-5/2.71/0.91/228 in 172 IP, Final Numbers: 11-5/2.29/0.91/173 in 145 1/3 IP
17. Cristian Javier – You know that meme from Futurama with Fry waving money saying, “Take my money?” Okay, that, but waving money for Cristian Javier. His numbers are gorgeous and the Astros, without any cheating that anyone knows about so I’m sure it’s not happening, have nothing but fantastic pitchers. Javier’s K/9 of 11.7 could work with his old walk rate of 4.7, but he’s lowered that to 3.2 and I’m making the heart sign in front of my heart. Please give me more. Preseason Rank #73, 2022 Projections: 7-3/3.41/1.16/149 in 119 IP, Final Numbers: 11-9/2.54/0.95/194 in 148 2/3 IP
18. Nestor Cortes – Coolwhip gave you a Nestor Cortes sleeper way back in January of this year, which was posted on my birthday. Hey, me and Nestor Cortes’s sleeper are both Capricorns. Too bad it wasn’t posted in August, I’m better with Leos. Go to Coolwhip’s sleeper now, because he absolutely nailed it. Preseason Rank #102, 2022 Projections: 7-6/4.09/1.14/144 in 131 IP, Final Numbers: 12-4/2.44/0.92/163 in 158 1/3 IP
19. Shane Bieber – Epitome of 2022. Insane ratios, declining velocity and strikeouts and a low BABIP for him. Shane, are you trying to make me a *pinkie to mouth* Belieber? Preseason Rank #17, 2022 Projections: 9-3/3.09/1.01/187 in 146 IP, Final Numbers: 13-8/2.88/1.04/198 in 200 IP
20. Tyler Anderson – What a perfect way to end the top 20 starters, an unranked guy who had a sub-7 K/9 and won 15 with insanely great ratios. Just as everyone predicted! Preseason Unranked, Final Numbers: 15-5/2.57/1.00/138 in 178 2/3 IP
What is your deal with Julio Urias? Every year you run him down, say he won’t be that good, you’re not picking him on your teams, and every year he proves you wrong. You’re always low on him, lower than anyone else, for some unknown reason. Yet when he kicks your ass every year, you come back with some backhanded jab by saying something like “Ah, to be good on a great team.”
How about just admitting he’s a hell of a lot better than you believe or want him to be? Would that be too hard or is your ego just too big? I don’t get it. The kid puts up one great season after another and you find ways to shit on him.
Here is the SP’s final Player Rater rank, ADP & number of leagues in the final week of RCL drafts:
POS (RANK) STARTERS ADP (LEAGUES)
1 ( 15 ) Justin Verlander 97 ( 16 )
2 ( 25 ) Sandy Alcantara 51 ( 16 )
3 ( 28 ) Julio Urias 40 ( 16 )
4 ( 30 ) Alek Manoah 86 ( 16 )
5 ( 32 ) Shohei Ohtani 4 ( 16 )
6 ( 36 ) Dylan Cease 80 ( 16 )
7 ( 37 ) Yu Darvish 100 ( 16 )
8 ( 38 ) Carlos Rodon 109 ( 16 )
9 ( 40 ) Zac Gallen 166 ( 16 )
10 ( 41 ) Corbin Burnes 14 ( 16 )
11 ( 44 ) Shane McClanahan 95 ( 16 )
12 ( 49 ) Tony Gonsolin 247 ( 13 )
13 ( 53 ) Max Fried 71 ( 16 )
14 ( 54 ) Gerrit Cole 12 ( 16 )
15 ( 55 ) Kyle Wright ND ( 0 )
16 ( 57 ) Max Scherzer 28 ( 16 )
17 ( 60 ) Cristian Javier 265 ( 10 )
18 ( 61 ) Nestor Cortes 281 ( 1 )
19 ( 62 ) Shane Bieber 36 ( 16 )
20 ( 64 ) Tyler Anderson ND ( 0 )
21 ( 66 ) Spencer Strider ND ( 0 )
22 ( 69 ) Triston McKenzie 232 ( 15 )
23 ( 71 ) Aaron Nola 42 ( 16 )
24 ( 74 ) Framber Valdez 135 ( 16 )
25 ( 84 ) Brandon Woodruff 25 ( 16 )
26 ( 87 ) Zack Wheeler 43 ( 16 )
27 ( 88 ) Logan Webb 66 ( 16 )
28 ( 95 ) Clayton Kershaw 141 ( 16 )
29 ( 98 ) Chris Bassitt 119 ( 16 )
30 ( 101 ) Miles Mikolas ND ( 0 )
31 ( 106 ) Joe Musgrove 72 ( 16 )
32 ( 110 ) Logan Gilbert 155 ( 16 )
33 ( 111 ) Luis Garcia 142 ( 16 )
34 ( 115 ) Merrill Kelly ND ( 0 )
35 ( 118 ) Kevin Gausman 56 ( 16 )
36 ( 119 ) Drew Rasmussen 243 ( 14 )
37 ( 121 ) Jeffrey Springs ND ( 0 )
38 ( 122 ) Robbie Ray 45 ( 16 )
39 ( 123 ) Joe Ryan 181 ( 16 )
40 ( 125 ) Luis Castillo 114 ( 16 )
41 ( 133 ) Martin Perez ND ( 0 )
42 ( 140 ) Ross Stripling ND ( 0 )
43 ( 141 ) Jameson Taillon 285 ( 3 )
44 ( 143 ) Brady Singer ND ( 0 )
45 ( 147 ) Cal Quantrill 264 ( 11 )
46 ( 150 ) Jordan Montgomery 186 ( 16 )
47 ( 162 ) Pablo Lopez 143 ( 16 )
48 ( 163 ) Jose Urquidy 220 ( 16 )
49 ( 167 ) Blake Snell 128 ( 16 )
50 ( 171 ) Michael Wacha ND ( 0 )
Nice! Yeah, top 40 will finish tomorrow, I gave myself a few days off…very naughty!
POS (RANK) STARTERS ADP (LEAGUES)
51 ( 173 ) Carlos Carrasco 278 ( 12 )
52 ( 181 ) Taijuan Walker 231 ( 1 )
53 ( 182 ) Jacob deGrom 102 ( 16 )
54 ( 184 ) Sonny Gray 157 ( 16 )
55 ( 192 ) George Kirby 56 ( 16 )
56 ( 199 ) Charlie Morton 80 ( 16 )
57 ( 207 ) Eric Lauer 296 ( 1 )
58 ( 216 ) Jose Quintana ND ( 0 )
59 ( 217 ) Ranger Suarez 171 ( 16 )
60 ( 219 ) Luis Severino 182 ( 15 )
61 ( 222 ) Lance Lynn 122 ( 16 )
62 ( 223 ) Adam Wainwright 212 ( 16 )
63 ( 224 ) Marcus Stroman 161 ( 16 )
64 ( 225 ) Tarik Skubal 192 ( 16 )
65 ( 227 ) Jon Gray 211 ( 15 )
66 ( 230 ) Keegan Thompson ND ( 0 )
67 ( 232 ) Andrew Heaney ND ( 0 )
68 ( 236 ) Corey Kluber 284 ( 2 )
69 ( 242 ) Edward Cabrera ND ( 0 )
70 ( 248 ) Patrick Sandoval 178 ( 16 )
71 ( 254 ) Reid Detmers 248 ( 4 )
72 ( 255 ) Cole Irvin ND ( 0 )
73 ( 261 ) Drew Smyly ND ( 0 )
74 ( 266 ) Dean Kremer ND ( 0 )
75 ( 267 ) Chase De Jong ND ( 0 )
76 ( 269 ) Jesus Luzardo 232 ( 15 )
77 ( 270 ) Alex Cobb 239 ( 14 )
78 ( 271 ) Noah Syndergaard 184 ( 16 )
79 ( 274 ) Jose Suarez ND ( 0 )
80 ( 276 ) Garrett Whitlock 250 ( 16 )
81 ( 280 ) Freddy Peralta 48 ( 16 )
82 ( 281 ) David Peterson ND ( 0 )
83 ( 285 ) Johnny Cueto ND ( 0 )
84 ( 287 ) Nick Lodolo 270 ( 7 )
85 ( 288 ) Michael Kopech 147 ( 16 )
87 ( 299 ) Tyler Mahle 123 ( 16 )
89 ( 301 ) Nick Pivetta 272 ( 3 )
90 ( 303 ) Frankie Montas 84 ( 16 )
94 ( 313 ) Chris Flexen 280 ( 1 )
96 ( 318 ) Mike Clevinger 197 ( 16 )
97 ( 322 ) Hunter Greene 261 ( 14 )
98 ( 323 ) Alex Wood 226 ( 16 )
101 ( 340 ) Lance McCullers Jr. 260 ( 11 )
106 ( 347 ) Nathan Eovaldi 118 ( 16 )
111 ( 364 ) Marco Gonzales 286 ( 7 )
113 ( 372 ) Lucas Giolito 38 ( 16 )
116 ( 375 ) Kyle Gibson 268 ( 2 )
121 ( 400 ) Walker Buehler 19 ( 16 )
122 ( 401 ) Bailey Ober 243 ( 15 )
124 ( 409 ) Zach Eflin 285 ( 3 )
Crazy how many busts there were in these lists…some absolute land mines
CORRECTION: George Kirby was undrafted, not 56 ADP as I have here.
Makes sense
POS (RANK) STARTERS ADP (LEAGUES)
124 ( 409 ) Zach Eflin 285 ( 3 )
130 ( 424 ) Josiah Gray 282 ( 8 )
132 ( 430 ) Mitch Keller 271 ( 2 )
136 ( 440 ) Steven Matz 261 ( 12 )
137 ( 441 ) Sean Manaea 109 ( 16 )
140 ( 448 ) Eduardo Rodriguez 145 ( 16 )
141 ( 452 ) Aaron Civale 248 ( 14 )
146 ( 469 ) Ian Anderson 157 ( 16 )
149 ( 483 ) Tylor Megill 264 ( 2 )
151 ( 485 ) Jose Berrios 63 ( 16 )
159 ( 502 ) James Kaprielian 243 ( 1 )
170 ( 533 ) Jordan Hicks 257 ( 4 )
172 ( 536 ) MacKenzie Gore 280 ( 2 )
174 ( 539 ) Kyle Hendricks 258 ( 10 )
178 ( 546 ) Aaron Ashby 258 ( 15 )
179 ( 547 ) Zack Greinke 286 ( 7 )
182 ( 560 ) Luis Cessa 274 ( 2 )
186 ( 568 ) Yusei Kikuchi 272 ( 7 )
187 ( 569 ) Zach Plesac 291 ( 3 )
196 ( 592 ) Shane Baz 226 ( 15 )
200 ( 598 ) Chris Sale 201 ( 16 )
213 ( 617 ) John Means 212 ( 16 )
223 ( 633 ) Hyun Jin Ryu 211 ( 16 )
227 ( 639 ) Jack Flaherty 239 ( 15 )
250 ( 689 ) Casey Mize 233 ( 14 )
263 ( 719 ) Elieser Hernandez 254 ( 1 )
268 ( 731 ) Stephen Strasburg 287 ( 6 )
272 ( 738 ) Trevor Rogers 94 ( 16 )
289 ( 795 ) Huascar Ynoa 236 ( 14 )
294 ( 818 ) Anthony DeSclafani 221 ( 16 )
301 ( 852 ) Luis Patino 275 ( 7 )
326 (1217) Patrick Corbin 262 ( 3 )
XX ( XX ) Trevor Bauer 245 ( 16 )
Hahaha I saw Bauer and laughed…totally forgot about him…Corbin: wooooooooof! This is great, Vin! Thanks! I’ll finish my top 40 tomorrow…forgot about so many of these guys…ynoa? No, I don’t ynoa anymore
Yeah, we tried to catch lightning with Bauer and Flaherty and Sale.
Ha, I decided you must not be doing the top 40, so figured I’d post. Could have waited 1 more day.
Ha, no worries…I gave myself an extra day off like the Astros and Phils
Hey Grey! Thanks for all the advise through the season. Made the playoffs in all three of my h2h leagues and finished second in my RCL league (beating the razzball writer). No flags but still had a lot of fun this year. Going into the next season, I have two keeper league and while keepers don’t lock for quite some time, I was hoping you could let give me your early take on which guys you like best. Thanks so much!
League 1 (keep 6): 14 team auction h2h 6×6 with OBP, TB, QS, SVHLD, and K/BB. 2023 keeper $ will be the average of previous $ paid and auction calculator projected value. Previous $ paid included ($1 for in-season pick ups).
Hitters: J Rodriguez ($1), Tatis ($17), Mullins ($11), Jung ($1), Semien ($17), Pena ($7), McCarthy ($1), Melendez ($1), Hoskins ($19)
Pitchers: Alcantara ($13), McClanahan ($7), Manoah ($7), Ray ($21), May ($1), Musgrove ($22), Wright ($1)
League 2 (keep 6 forever): 12 team points league
Hitters: Tucker, Witt Jr, Harris II, Carroll, Henderson, O Cruz, Reynolds, W Smith, Olson, B Lowe, Schwarber
Pitchers: Nola, Woodruff, Strider, May, Gallen, McKenzie, Springs
Congrats on finishing well! Sorry no dubs… 1. Jul-Rod, Tatis, Semien, Sandy, Shane, then Manoah or Mullins…Prolly the arm since you have QS
2. Tucker, Witt, Nola, Woodruff, Strider, Harris…hate losing Cruz, Olson, Schwarber and May tho
Y dondez esta Woodruff? Et ou est Woodruff? E dov’è Woodruff? Kaj kie estas Woodruff?
C’est la vie?
*takes a bow for Nestor*
The top 3 in ADP: Burnes at 10, Cole at 14, and Scherzer 16 hahaha. How delightfully chaotic this year.
I think on every team I had at least 2 of Gonsolin, Cortes, Javier, and Wright. In my home league, I had all 4 of those lol (lets not talk about my hitter luck).
Nestor! Was such a good call… bravo, coolwhip! I wish I listened more…yeah, I had insane pitching too, don’t mention Adalberto and Tatis
Picked up KWright early and kept him over Morton after a bad first month. Then traded Wright after a terrible start for Cole in early August. Really hurt me rest of the way. Guy was consistent. Thanks Grey
Yeah, nicely done! No problem
It’s too bad Ohtani (and Trout) are wasting the best years of their baseball careers languishing in Anaheim on such a bad team. Let’s see the commish step in and force a trade of both of them to a more competitive team. But yeah, 586 at bats while pitching 166 innings in the same year is a pretty incredible feat regardless of what Ohtani’s actual numbers were (which were great you noted).
Yeah, I wish just so they were easier to watch — stupid blackouts!
Are you not able to see many Angels games in So Cal? Been awhile since I lived down there so don’t recall the TV arrangements.
Ha, nope! I can watch on FS1, but I prefer to stream which isn’t an option for Angels or Dodgers
Jays can’t be streamed in all of Canada. All the games are on Sportsnet which just about everybody has, but if you gave up on cable you’re out of luck.
That’s so ridiculous…blackout restrictions are by far the worst thing about MLB
haha. That’s a tough list to compile.
Urias and woodruff are the only top 20 pitchers going back in the pot for auction next year in my keeper league. Guessing they both go $30-40.
Do you like a trade for Scherzer at $36 prefer Urias or woodruff for around the same price?
I have a lot of low cost players like Webb, Javier, etc. and want an anchor.
Woodruff
Man, oh, man. I’ve waited so long, and finally my dreams have come true. At long last I, as well as everyone else, will get to watch the team with the 11th best record in baseball play in the World Series. Another Manfred masterstroke.
Hahahaha
I traded Manoah after his 4-0 start for B Lowe and Morton FML. Thankfully it didn’t matter to the standings as my team finished with a 2.97 ERA even with Davis Martin giving up 9 ERs on the final day. I also picked up Gonsolin preseason and dropped him after his first start for Bard…
No need to draft pitchers early like you said. Every year there’s always someone learning a new pitch, making some adjustment, or just selling their soul to Lucifer.
Yeah, exactly! Almost forgot about that Davis Martin start…almost!
Here are all the pitchers with 10 or more saves along with the ones projected for 10+ saves preseason:
SAVES Name (PROJECTED)
42 Emmanuel Clase ( 32 )
41 Kenley Jansen ( 35 )
37 Liam Hendriks ( 39 )
36 Josh Hader ( 38 )
36 Jordan Romano ( 28 )
34 Daniel Bard ( 6 )
33 Ryan Pressly ( 31 )
32 Edwin Diaz ( 35 )
31 Taylor Rogers ( 27 )
30 Gregory Soto ( 21 )
27 Camilo Doval ( 6 )
24 Scott Barlow ( 28 )
23 Jorge Lopez ( 12 )
22 Craig Kimbrel ( 35 )
20 Paul Sewald ( 9 )
20 David Robertson ( 5 )
20 Tanner Scott ( 2 )
19 David Bednar ( 12 )
18 Mark Melancon ( 32 )
17 Raisel Iglesias ( 35 )
15 Devin Williams ( 4 )
14 Giovanny Gallegos ( 15 )
13 Joe Barlow ( 19 )
12 Corey Knebel ( 19 )
12 Tanner Rainey ( 4 )
11 Lou Trivino ( 23 )
11 Kyle Finnegan ( 24 )
10 Dylan Floro ( 4 )
10 Ian Kennedy ( 5 )
9 Aroldis Chapman ( 36 )
8 Matt Barnes ( 12 )
5 Andrew Kittredge ( 14 )
4 Alex Colome ( 15 )
3 Jake McGee ( 25 )
2 Drew Steckenrider ( 17 )
2 Cole Sulser ( 12 )
2 Chris Stratton ( 10 )
2 Mychal Givens ( 12 )
1 Lucas Sims ( 15 )
It really is a game of quantity for teams now vs having one guy…days of one guy are going away
I had a league where I had 3-4 closers and won Saves. I had a league where I was running out 6 closers regularly and finished 2nd in the category. Also, I think it was a strange year where non-committee guys hit huge save droughts. See Edwin Diaz in the last 3 weeks or so of the season.
Yeah, it’s such a hard thing to predict
And getting harder
Yeah absolutely
Let’s also talk about the padres. First the good news, tatis will only miss 20 games next year since they slayed the dragon and advanced to the NLCS. Now the bad…they got hader for one reason and how do they not use him during the most critical part of the game yesterday to face the heart of the order? That loss yesterday is 100% on Melvin.
Great stuff Grey. When dollar values for ratios are calculated, are they a function of IP? For example, is a 1.00 WHIP over 200 IP worth more than a 1.00 WHIP over 100 innings?
Thanks for all of the hard work and entertainment
Yes, absolutely — No problem
Framber Valdez was 15th in a 6×6 with QS league. He was actually higher until he had two bad starts late in the year.
Totally! Great year from him, he looks so solid in the playoffs too!
Tatis or Soto for dynasty?
Damn, that’s tough…I think I’m going back on Tatis, unless it’s an OBP league
I’m assuming you’d go Soto > Vlad, yeah?
Nah, but close
Since you don’t do RPs, I figured I’d add this list here. It shows final Player Rater rank, ADP & number of leagues in the final week of RCL drafts, along with your overall preseason rank.
FINAL RELIEVERS ADP (LEAGUES) TOP 500
35 Emmanuel Clase 81 ( 16 ) 70
52 Ryan Helsley ND ( 0 ) XX
58 Edwin Diaz 88 ( 16 ) 71
72 Daniel Bard ND ( 0 ) 407
73 Jordan Romano 104 ( 16 ) 116
75 Kenley Jansen 107 ( 16 ) 111
86 Liam Hendriks 47 ( 16 ) 51
99 Scott Barlow 145 ( 16 ) 138
116 Camilo Doval 183 ( 16 ) 280
124 Ryan Pressly 96 ( 16 ) 109
126 Devin Williams 247 ( 15 ) 262
128 Paul Sewald 231 ( 15 ) 273
131 Clay Holmes ND ( 0 ) XX
145 Felix Bautista ND ( 0 ) XX
149 Evan Phillips ND ( 0 ) XX
158 Alexis Diaz ND ( 0 ) XX
160 Taylor Rogers 129 ( 16 ) 121
165 David Robertson 257 ( 3 ) 311
168 Jorge Lopez ND ( 0 ) 308
177 Rafael Montero ND ( 0 ) XX
178 A.J. Minter ND ( 0 ) XX
179 Josh Hader 47 ( 16 ) 52
187 Brock Burke ND ( 0 ) XX
195 Raisel Iglesias 71 ( 16 ) 68
196 Gregory Soto 176 ( 16 ) 207
198 Jason Adam ND ( 0 ) XX
202 Craig Kimbrel 118 ( 16 ) 113
206 David Bednar 208 ( 16 ) 252
212 Adam Cimber ND ( 0 ) XX
214 Giovanny Gallegos 124 ( 16 ) 223
215 Jhoan Duran ND ( 0 ) XX
228 Seranthony Dominguez ND ( 0 ) XX
233 Kyle Finnegan 244 ( 11 ) 228
234 John Schreiber ND ( 0 ) XX
238 Jimmy Herget ND ( 0 ) XX
243 Adam Ottavino ND ( 0 ) XX
251 Andres Munoz 284 ( 2 ) XX
256 Griffin Jax ND ( 0 ) XX
257 Matt Moore ND ( 0 ) XX
259 Anthony Bass ND ( 0 ) XX
262 Michael King ND ( 0 ) XX
264 Cionel Perez ND ( 0 ) XX
268 Trevor Stephan ND ( 0 ) XX
272 Hector Neris 273 ( 2 ) 494
273 Reynaldo Lopez 299 ( 1 ) 268
278 Dillon Tate 264 ( 3 ) 413
284 Alex Vesia ND ( 0 ) 468
286 Bryan Abreu ND ( 0 ) XX
292 Tanner Scott ND ( 0 ) 495
297 Diego Castillo 246 ( 8 ) 370
This is awesome! Thanks, Vin! I will say with RPs I wonder if they’re even easier to cut bait from than other positions, bc it’s clear when they’re not closing…For instance, Clay Holmes was great, then he was injured and cuttable..>Also, a guy like Alexis Diaz might’ve only been on a team for a short period of time, not collecting all that value
Have to agree with those points.
I picked up Diaz a few times. If you picked him up after his first save May 17th and held him, you could have collected 6 wins and 9 saves with 62 Ks and a 2.33 ERA. But, his next saves were June 12 and July 12, so probably dropped him with 0 saves. But, if you picked him up August 30 after his 6th save, you would have collected 3 wins and 4 saves, 16 Ks in 14 1/3, and a 1.88 ERA. Some tams you get saves luck and wins luck, and others, not so much.
How many different pitchers would you guess recorded saves in 2022?
Gonna guess 85
85 is close if the question was, “How many pitchers recorded exactly 1 save?”
20+: 18
10-19: 17
2-9: 95
1 Save: 92
222 different pitchers had a save.
222! WOW…That’s shocking…They’re are a lot more random saves than I thought…Guess bc I disregard most of those “random reliever goes 3 IP and gets a save”
Yeah, a few different situations like extra innings and injuries. But it is still hard to fathom as that is an average of more than 7 per team.
That is shocking, seriously
Yeah, totally! It really does matter when you grab a guy…I grabbed Holmes the week before he became closer, and he got saves almost immediately on my team…If I had grabbed him two weeks before, I might’ve dropped him before it ever happened
The reverse of that is a guy like Hader. He is ranked the 22nd best reliever in that list, but most of us Hader owners avoided at least half of his blowup month … I probably missed 60% of his earned runs given up, but got essentially all of his saves, so I bet he was still a top 5 reliever in terms of value for me.
If you had the good fortune to sit or drop him, not sure how you would’ve known for so many of his blown saves tho
He’s a witch!!
I took over a team with Hader and I kept him all the way, got all his 36 saves and all his 5.22 ERA.
Surprised I didn’t drop him on August 28 when his ERA was up to 6.52 and miss out on an 0.79 ERA in 11 1/3 with 7 saves the rest of the way.
Yeah, that’s the problem with a big time closer…how do you cut bait on that? Also, it’s not good if you did, as you said
Hader actually only had 4 blown saves. He had 5 blowup appearances with at least 3 ERs — two of those came in an 8 appearance stretch where he gave up at least one earned run in 6 of those appearances. It was almost impossible to have him sat for that stretch but he crashed there so hard it was obvious to sit him until he was fixed, so it was easy to miss the next 3 blowups (plus SD announced he was being given a “break” from the closer role). And then when he started K’ing guys again and got put back in as the closer, it was not that hard to figure out to get him back in the lineup. You might have missed just 4 or 5 saves if you were paying attention at all, but around half his earned runs.
Gotcha, that seems to make sense…there definitely was a time to bench him until he looked better
Now, in the first NFBC, 7! RPs went in the top 50! Yet, as you write, only 1 finished there last year. Looks like there will be some very disappointed Closer drafters if this initial draft of the 2023 season is any indication
I understand, because it is so frustrating constantly chasing saves. But it is just too unpredictable.
Have to consider those drafts are prolly Draft Champions, right? So no waivers
Oh, that would make a difference.
People love to go back to the RP well…I saw Hader drafted pretty high like they totally forgot what he did last year
FINAL RELIEVERS ADP (LEAGUES) TOP 500
298 Tanner Houck 190 ( 16 ) XX
310 Collin McHugh 262 ( 2 ) 376
315 Robert Suarez 201 ( 15 ) 314
324 J.P. Feyereisen 286 ( 1 ) XX
326 Mychal Givens 274 ( 4 ) 293
367 Joe Barlow 216 ( 16 ) 253
396 Corey Knebel 150 ( 16 ) 240
414 Emilio Pagan 291 ( 4 ) 282
437 Chris Stratton 216 ( 2 ) 292
442 Brusdar Graterol 296 ( 1 ) XX
449 Michael Fulmer 252 ( 2 ) 384
450 Dylan Floro 239 ( 13 ) 329
459 Daniel Hudson 222 ( 3 ) 406
464 Tanner Rainey 245 ( 6 ) 367
478 Mark Melancon 167 ( 16 ) 163
501 Andrew Kittredge 186 ( 16 ) 270
507 Brad Hand 278 ( 1 ) XX
531 Aroldis Chapman 92 ( 16 ) 69
580 Rowan Wick 249 ( 14 ) 348
588 Lou Trivino 189 ( 16 ) 177
615 Ian Kennedy 279 ( 2 ) 365
649 Anthony Bender 239 ( 13 ) 318
676 Tyler Rogers 281 ( 1 ) 478
692 Jake Diekman 299 ( 1 ) 301
699 Hunter Strickland 277 ( 2 ) XX
707 Matt Brash 271 ( 10 ) XX
718 Will Smith 262 ( 10 ) 303
749 Chad Green 258 ( 5 ) 300
752 Jonathan Loaisiga 275 ( 8 ) 286
766 Blake Treinen 223 ( 14 ) 342
817 Matt Barnes 182 ( 16 ) 242
847 Pierce Johnson 268 ( 4 ) 287
867 Ken Giles 269 ( 10 ) 404
916 Spencer Patton 256 ( 5 ) 450
928 Josh Staumont 295 ( 3 ) 344
950 Lucas Sims 233 ( 14 ) 247
951 Art Warren 246 ( 14 ) 358
955 Cole Sulser 238 ( 8 ) 290
1045 Paul Fry 256 ( 1 ) XX
1046 Dinelson Lamet 265 ( 9 ) 438
1058 Drew Steckenrider 249 ( 11 ) 271
1080 Alex Colome 234 ( 13 ) 281
1088 Jake McGee 175 ( 16 ) 195
1095 Reiver Sanmartin 280 ( 1 ) XX
thats incredible. 26 of the top 50 relievers were undrafted! 8 of the top 20! thanks for doing that work Vin!
No problem! Yeah, if you’re quick on the waiver wire or good at anticipating changes, you can pile up the saves.
Of course, it works the other way, too. You can end up at the bottom when you thought you were set for saves.
Should be able to find at least one or two decent ones
Yeah, I totally messed up in Original Recipe and finished with 14 saves. Cutthroat competition for saves, and of course I made some bad decisions. An abandoned team with 0 closers had no saves, so I was able to score 2 points!
Ha, yeah, been there before…Sometimes in those situations, it’s almost better to go for a guy like Montero and hope he takes over
SAGNOF! As mentioned in the post, I had Bard, Holmes and Helsely in one league where I drafted none of them
Love this! So many undrafted RPs
Grey!!!
Awesome!!
a. Great list and kudos to those who drafted and/or picked them up during the MLB22 season. Howsever, this is a re-enactment of 22 and I can see some of these guys either going for surgery (Biebs and Rodon) or underperforming (Wright and Anderson). One never knows. Some parks play naturally like HRs are suppressed like Dodger stadium and Kaufman. This shouldn’t be confused with the humidor effect and even worse home stadiums where players suck as being the reason for 0 home runs. Tough call, man. Actually, home runs were way up at Dodger stadium, which is weird.
b. George Carlin quote of the day for October 24, 2022
And what can we do to silence these Christian athletes who thank Jesus whenever they win, never mention his name when they lose? Not a word. You never hear them say “Jesus made me drop the ball.” “The good Lord tripped me up behind the line of scrimmage.” According to these guys, Jesus is undefeated, meanwhile these assholes are in last place. Must be another one of those “miracles.”
Back in Town (1996)
Cheers,
Ante
Thanks! A. Yeah, Dodger Stadium became a home run park about five years ago