NEWSLETTER
With forty-some games in the books, we’re through the first quarter of the 2022 season. That means it’s time to take a spin around the league to see how everyone has performed to this point.
AL West
Astros (28-16)
Justin Verlander has been excellent in his age-39 season, and he’s anchoring a superb starting rotation that has propelled the Astros through the first quarter of the season. Houston’s 2.85 ERA ranks second in baseball. The offense has been equally as good for Houston, with their 9.2 fWAR tied for tops in baseball with the Mets and Dodgers. Despite all that, they’re clinging to a narrow lead over the Angels in the AL West after the season’s first quarter. Fortunately for them, their pitching will outlast the Angels as the season marches on.
Grade: A
Angels (27-17)
Mike Trout. Shohei Ohtani. Two of the game’s biggest stars in the same uniform. All we need now is to see them on the biggest stage. Fortunately, with one quarter in the books, it looks like we’ve got a shot at seeing that come to fruition. Los Angeles trails the Houston Astros by a narrow margin in the AL West, and even if they can’t catch the Astros in the division, it seems like they’ll be in the mix for a Wild Card berth this fall.
Grade: A
Rangers (18-23)
The Rangers went on a record spending spree after losing 102 games last season, with the blockbuster signings of All-Star middle infielders Corey Seager and Marcus Semien to long-term deals accounting for the bulk of the more than half-billion dollars committed to new players, but the early returns are not great. Marcus Semien is hitting .177 with a 38 wRC+ through his first 40 games in Texas, and the Rangers are under .500 and nearly 10 games out of first place in the AL West. Yikes.
Grade: D+
Mariners (18-26)
The Mariners are one of the most disappointing teams in baseball through the first quarter of the season. Despite all the talent on their roster, the M’s are one lousy series away from looking up at the Oakland A’s in the AL West standings, which is confounding. Some of Seattle’s issues lie in underachieving, and some lies in their terrible bullpen. The second quarter of the season will be telling for Seattle.
Grade C-
A’s (18-27)
The A’s don’t have the worst record in baseball, but there might not be a team in worse shape than Oakland long-term. After years of competitive baseball, the roster was stripped down, the fans aren’t coming to games, and their future in Oakland is very much in the air. It’s a tough time to be an A’s fan right now.
Grade: F
NL West
Dodgers (29-13):
Despite slow starts for Mookie Betts and Cody Bellinger and another injury to Clayton Kershaw, the Los Angeles Dodgers are on pace to win 100-plus games. Their roster is so good and deep that they can weather injury and underperforming superstars, and no one bats an eye about them. The Dodgers are gonna Dodger.
Grade: A
Padres (28-15):
What a difference a year makes. San Diego’s failed attempt to live up to massive hype and expectations had them the punch line of baseball following the 2021 season. Not any more! Manny Machado is playing like an MVP, Joe Musgrove and Sean Manea have been darn good, Taylor Rodgers has 16 saves, and the Padres find themselves just 1.5 games behind the machine that is the Los Angeles Dodgers after forty-some games.
Grade: A
Giants (23-19):
Everyone knows that repeating the success that the Giants achieved last season when they won 107 games would be near impossible. Still, the Giants have underperformed expectations, even the tapered and realistic expectations. San Francisco has lost seven of their last ten games and find themselves trailing both the Padres and Dodgers in the NL West standings and just ahead of the Diamondbacks. I still see San Francisco being legitimate Postseason contenders when the dust settles, especially if Carlos Rodón and Mike Yastrzemski continue to play the way they have this season.
Grade: C+
Diamondbacks (23-22):
The Diamondbacks might be one of the best surprises this season. After losing 110 games last season, no one was looking at Arizona to do much of anything this year. And while they’re nowhere near flirting with contention, they’ve been a nice early-season story. Zac Gallen has allowed five earned runs in seven starts this season, Alek Thomas has been terrific since making his MLB debut earlier this month, Daulton Varsho is doing it all, and the D-Backs are a game above .500. Arizona can’t compete in one of the best divisions in baseball, but they’re a fun watch thus far.
Grade: B
Rockies (20-22):
Germán Marquez and Kyle Freeland have been terrible. Kris Bryant is on the IL and hasn’t been good when on the field. They also have to play the Dodgers, Diamondbacks, and Giants a bunch. Tough sailing for Colorado. Although, I would like to thank C.J. Cron for his valiant contributions to my fantasy baseball team this season.
Grade: D
AL Central
Twins (27-16):
After a massively disappointing 2021 campaign, the Twins refused to concede the division to the White Sox in 2022, and they went out and improved their roster. They landed Carlos Correa on a massive free-agent deal, traded for Gary Sanchez, and have been the beneficiaries of a healthy Byron Buxton this season. Buxton has 11 home runs and a 144 wRC+ through 123 plate appearances for the Twins this season. The pitching is shaky at best, so despite a 5.5-game lead in the division right now, the Twins aren’t a lock to return to the Postseason. The White Sox will get healthy, and they’ll make a surge. Does Minnesota have enough to withstand it?
Grade: B+
White Sox (21-21):
What a mess. The reigning AL Central Champions were expected to run away with the division this season, but they’re licking their wounds after a 16-3 loss to the Boston Red Sox and sitting at .500. Injuries have undoubtedly played a part in their troublesome start. Eloy Jiménez, Lance Lynn, Yoán Moncada, Joe Kelly, A.J. Pollock, etc. They’ve been banged up to open the season. Still, the healthy portion of the roster has severely underperformed for the most part, and the White Sox are searching for answers after the first quarter of the season.
Offensively, only Tim Anderson (176), Andrew Vaughn (142), Luis Robert (123), and Jose Abreu (106) have a wRC+ over league average, the bullpen ranks 24th, and the defense ranks second to last in fWAR this season. I want to say that the talent is there for the White Sox to make a run when they’re healthy, but … is it?
Grade: C-
Guardians (18-21):
Losers of six of their last nine, the Guardians don’t have much to be excited about outside Jose Ramirez and his monster 182 wRC+. Ramirez is locked up long-term to a team-friendly deal, and Cleveland still has Shane Bieber leading a young, up-and-coming starting rotation, so they’ll keep runs off the board enough to be competitive this season, and they’ll get some offense of their own from Ramirez. Third place seems about right for a club that can best be described as mediocre after one-quarter of the season.
Grade: C
Tigers (14-28):
Detroit will be a problem for the AL Central in the not-too-distant future, but that day simply isn’t here. The Tigers’ -1.7 fWAR at the dish is reflective of their 14-28 record and their -50 run differential. Spencer Torkelson, Casey Mize, Tarik Skubal, and more give Detroit fans reason to be optimistic about the future despite 2022 looking like another losing season.
Grade: D
Royals (14-28):
The Royals’ record doesn’t inspire you, but they’ve got some fun things for fans to look forward to and a bright future. Bobby Witt Jr. tops that list by a country mile. The Royals allowed Witt to break camp with the team, and the 21-year-old top prospect scuffled in April but has been much better in May with five home runs and a 119 wRC+. The Royals also have arguably the best City Connect jerseys in baseball, so at least fans can flock to the team shop and buy up some sharp Witt jerseys.
Grade: D
NL Central
Brewers (27-16):
The Brewers are playing perfect baseball right now. We knew the pitching would be there. Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, and Eric Lauer are racking up strikeouts at an insane clip. The Brewers not only lead MLB in K/9, but they’re also the only team with a K/9 north of 10 (10.19). Their 3.36 ERA is ranked seventh, and they’re allowing the fourth-fewest HR/9 as a team. The pleasant surprise for Milwaukee this season has been the offense. The Brewers are ranked fourth in the NL in OPS+ and seventh in MLB in runs scored.
Grade: A
Cardinals (24-19):
Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado are playing excellent baseball, Tommy Edman is having a career year, and Jack Flaherty is nearing a return to action. The Cardinals actually look like a team that can do some damage this season. They’re a few games behind the Brewers at the season’s quarter-mark, but Milwaukee shouldn’t get too comfortable atop the central.
Grade: B+
Cubs (18-24):
The Cubs have some fascinating pieces that are (and will be) making their way to Chicago shortly, and while they’re not good right now, there’s plenty of reason for optimism beyond 2022. Despite the standings painting the Cubs in a poor light, they’ve had their fair share of things to root for this season. Seiya Suzuki’s hot start has faded but not before he wowed Cubs fans for three weeks to open the season and won the NL Rookie of the Month honor. The new name to watch on the Northside? Christopher Morel. The 22-year-old rookie is slashing .304/.407/.565 with a pair of home runs and a 174 wRC+ in his first seven games with the Cubs.
They’re not good, but they’re fun to watch more often than not.
Grade: C
Pirates (17-25):
The Pirates have forgotten what sport they play this season while putting up scores more reminiscent of their neighbors over at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh. Against the Cubs alone, the Pirates have lost games by final scores of 21-0, 9-0, and 7-0. They’re last in baseball in run differential, and they’re just comically bad. But they were supposed to be bad, and they’re not as bad as the Reds and just slightly worse than the Cubs, which saved them from an “F.”
Grade: D
Reds (12-30):
The first quarter of the season has been ugly in Cincinnati. There’s not much more to say for the Reds at this point. A sell-off leading up to the season has taken the Reds from Wild Card contenders to bona fide cellar dwellers. A better stretch of baseball lately has the Reds safe (for now) from being on pace for one of the worst finishes in baseball history, but they’re still on pace to lose 100-plus games this season.
Joey Votto’s age-38 season has been the worst of his career through 38 games for the future Hall of Famer. Cincinnati hitters have a cumulative 0.4 fWAR (29th), and the pitchers are just a tick better at 0.5 (30th). It’s been bad all the way around, with very little reason to believe that things will get better.
Grade: F-
AL East
Yankees (30-13):
The Yankees have been far and away the best team in baseball in the first quarter of the season. Aaron Judge bet on himself before the season when he turned down a seven-year, $213.5 million extension off from the Yankees, and all he’s done since is slash .318/.389/.676 while leading baseball with 17 home runs in 39 games. Judge and the Yankees are top five in MLB in both fWAR and wRC+, and their re-worked offense looks like it can fuel a deep run into October for New York this fall.
Grade: A+
Rays (25-17):
The Tampa Bay Rays have been playing solid baseball and still trail the Yankees by five games in the AL East, which shows how good the Yankees have been to start the season. Shane McClanahan is pitching like a Cy Young candidate, the Tampa Bay bullpen looks excellent per usual, and an inspired campaign by Kevin Kiermaier (116 wRC+) has the Rays hanging tough with the white-hot Yankees.
Grade: A-
Blue Jays (23-20):
Toronto has been good. Not as good as they should be on paper, though. Their lineup is far more talented than it’s shown in the first quarter of the season. Still, they’re not in a position to wait much longer for it to come around if they hope to chase down the Yankees at some point this season after coming into the season as the favorites in the AL East, by many people’s logic. All in all, it’s been an underwhelming start for a very talented team.
Grade: C
Red Sox (20-22):
The Red Sox are probably right where they should be in the standings playing in a gauntlet of a division. Still, they’re much better than their laughable start would indicate. After they stumbled out of the gates, they’ve recently gotten hot. After starting 10-19, they’ve won 10 of their last 16 since May 9, and they’re riding high after a 16-3 beatdown of the White Sox in Chicago on Tuesday night. Even with their recent surge, the Red Sox are 9.5 games out of first as we get ready to flip the calendar to June.
Grade: C-
Orioles (18-26):
Hey, they’ve got Adley Rutschman!
Grade: D
NL East
Mets (29-16):
Everything is coming up roses for the New York Mets this season. Well, except for the injuries to their two best pitchers. Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer are likely sidelined until August, but the investment in depth arms like Chris Bassitt, Taijuan Walker, and Carlos Carrasco is paying dividends and helping the Mets continue their winning ways. New York is 8.0 games up on the reigning World Series champions, giving them some wiggle room to play with while they wait for their two aces to get into action next month.
Grade: A
Braves (20-23):
This isn’t exactly the start to the season that the defending World Series Champions were hoping for. However, there’s still plenty of time for them to get back into the thick of things in the NL East if they can take advantage of the Mets playing .500-ish ball while deGrom and Scherzer are sidelined. Ronald Acuña Jr is back, and Kyle Wright is pitching his rear end off, but the Braves are running out of time to shake off their title hangover. If they can’t make up some substantial ground in the next five or six weeks, they can kiss their dreams of another World Series goodbye.
Grade: C-
Phillies (20-23):
Perhaps no one has fallen victim to the deadened baseball harder than the Philadelphia Phillies. The Phillies looked like a team that could have a scary offense coming into the season, but things simply haven’t gone according to plan for them in 2022. Philly ranks in the middle of the pack in wRC+ and fWAR at the dish, and their 3.95 ERA ranks 18th in baseball. They’re just a very blah team to this point. There’s time to snap out of it, but I wouldn’t bet on it.
Grade: C-
Marlins (18-23):
The Marlins continue to do Marlins’ things. A roster with gaping holes, no preseason expectations … and poof! The Marlins find themselves in the shouting distance of an NL Wild Card spot this season. Just like they drew it up, I’m sure they’ll tell you.
Grade: C+
Nationals (14-30):
The fall from grace for the 2019 World Series champions is here in full effect. Juan Soto has become the topic of trade discussions everywhere. Will it happen … who knows. But, a Juan Soto return sure would be quite the jumpstart to the impending Nats rebuild.
Grade: F
***
All standings and statistics are current as of the afternoon of May 25, 2022.
