Cards for the 2022 American League for Statis-Pro Baseball
Statis-Pro Baseball Cards - Not Normalized 2022 American League
Statis-Pro Baseball Cards - Normalized 2022 Americal League
Other Links to Statis-Pro Baseball Content
With one season, AL MVP Aaron Judge went from a very good player to having a legitimate shot at the Hall of Fame if all continues to go well. With all the good that happened for him - a shot at the Triple Crown, a final .311 batting average, 111 walks, 133 runs scored, and 131 RBIs to go with an American League record 62 Home Runs the one accomplishment he just missed, to me, would have been the most impressive. Judge finished with 391 total bases and narrowly avoided being the first AL player to top 400 bags in a year since Jim Rice had 406 in his big year in 1978. The NL has seen this threshold crossed several times in that interval, but the next AL 400 total base season will still have to wait, 44 years and counting.
With 62 HRs in 2022, Aaron Judge sits at 220 homeruns at the age of 30. When healthy 40 homers a year seems a cinch at Yankee Stadium, which is why I was glad when he re-signed with New York. Hitting in New York, Judge should pass 500 homeruns in seven years; 600 by age forty is a distinct possibility. If you play well in the outfield, as Judge does, and you hit 500 plus homeruns while playing in New York, acting as the Yankee Captain and, perhaps, possibly playing only as a member of the Yankees, you are going to the Hall of Fame. The Pantheon outcome may seem like a given for him regardless, but Judge had injury shortened partial seasons in 2018 and 2019, and the Covid-19 shortened season in 2020. He's lost a lot of time in his prime. Had he gone to LA, for instance, and batted .280 with 30-35 homers a year, I think he would have cut his Hall of Fame chances by 30 percent. Aaron Judge is a very, very thoughtful and intelligent player, and it's encouraging to see a man of his potential show the awareness he has of his possible place in baseball history.
For quite a few teams in the American League, 2022 was the Year of The Tank. Oakland (60-102), Kansas City (65-97), and the Rangers (68-94) were teams in full rebuilding mode, but it could be argued Detroit, Minnesota, the Angels and the Red Sox were also looking more at the future than the present. Oakland finished 14th in runs scored and 13th in ERA and was thirty games under .500 by July 11. During the season Oakland traded their best starter, Frankie Montas, and in this offseason they traded their best player, 2021 Gold Glove catcher Sean Murphy. Like a number of small-market teams, Oakland pins their hopes on a deep young bullpen and great defenders who might not swing the bat well, guys such as Tony Kemp (2B), Nick Allen (SS) and Cristian Pache (CF). This year, American League rosters had a lot of these inexpensive sub-.220 type hitters with great gloves.
The new structure of the League also promoted this tendency. In the 1970s teams would have fifteen or sixteen players and nine pitchers with four starters; modern baseball features two catchers, six infielders, five outfielders and thirteen pitchers with up to six starters. The roster limit of 13 position players, extending as it must to include a DH, imposes the need for two or three multi-position fielding stars to cover for injuries and pinch-hitting. Just about every team has at least one talented multi-position player like this, the prototype is the Yankees' DJ LeMahieu. who fields brilliantly at first, second and third base, but all teams try to find a guy who can play like this.
Kansas City pitchers Brady Singer (10-5, 3.23 ERA) and Scott Barlow (7-4 24 Saves, 2.18 ERA) with a couple plus defenders in C Salvador Perez and CF Michael A. Taylor, some good team speed (104 SB 3rd int the league), and a nifty young 20 HR / 30 SB player in rookie shortstop in Bobby Witt. Witt can raise his ceiling if he can improve his on base percentage and glovework, but since he was only age 22 and with 57 extra bases at shortstop, he likely has some good years ahead of him. The Royals had some good players to build around but lacked depth is the starting rotation.
The Tigers were not exactly tanking in 2022, in spite of their 96 losses, at least not on purpose. In the 2021 offseason they traded for defensive catcher Tucker Barnhart and signed Javy Baez to bolster their lineup, but nobody including "El Mago" could hit a lick in the first 64 games, as the Tigers started 24-40. Baez was often the most exciting player on both sides, as he finished in the rare 25-25 club- 25 walks and 25 errors. The Tigers had hoped to contend but their offense severely declined in spite of the ageless Miguel Cabrera, who tallied his 3000th hit and superb part timers in IF Harold Castro and C Eric Haase. The Tiger pitchers actually saved the season, with Tarik Skubal, Matt Manning, Gregory Soto and a rejuvenated Joe Jiminez leading the charge to an 11th place finish in ERA, with Detroit closing the season at 15-11 in the last month.
The Rangers (68-94) smacked 198 HRs, good for 4th in the league, and totaled 128 stolen bases, topping the AL. Texas had seven players in double figures for dingers and five players in double figures for steals, the start of potentially a nice future lineup. C Jonah Heim, 1B Nathaniel Lowe, 2B Marcus Siemen, and SS Corey Seager formed the core of an infield much better than one would expect for a team with only 68 wins. Starter Martin Perez finished 12-8 with a 2.89 ERA, but the rest of the starters fared poorly; you know it's a tough year on the mound when a team takes a chance on Dallas Keuchel who is sporting a "Porsche" ERA line (9.20) in a year when his cutter is no longer cutting. The Rangers could use help in the outfield, the bullpen and at least two starters but their rebuild is off to a decent start.
How did the Angels win only 73 games while rostering two of the game's best players, Shohei Ohtani (9.6 WAR) and Mike Trout (6.3 WAR)? They also had another good player in rightfielder Taylor Ward (0.281, 23 HR) and second starter Patrick Sandoval (2.91 ERA). Ohtani finished 15-8 with a 2.33 ERA and he fanned 219 batters, while at the dish he spanked 70 HR (34 HR), scored 90 runs, and drove in 95 RBI. Ohtani simultaneously finished 4th in the league in Home Runs and also 4th in the Cy Young balloting as the league's best pitcher, a remarkable feat. The problem is the Angels started four players who batted less than .230, and their bench was almost completely below replacement level. The Angels finished 6th in the League in ERA in spite of a lack of a proper stopper, but the team slumped to 623 runs scored (13th in the League).
Shohei Ohtani
Two "Fallen Contenders" each finished 78-84, the Minnesota Twins, who won the AL Central as recently as 2020, and the Boston Red Sox, who had played in the ALCS in 2021. Both had met the same fate in their respective seasons, perishing at the hands of the Houston Astros.
On Sept. 4, 2022, the Twins held a share of first place in the American League Central. On 9/23/2022, they fell out of the division race altogether. It had been a stunning fall from the top for the club that held at least a share of first place in the division for all but one day from April 24 to Aug. 8, with the Twins maintaining throughout the struggles of the late summer that once their key players were able to come back healthy, and once they played to their potential, they’d be ready for a real push to the playoffs. After losing 4-2 to the Angels on that Friday night, they had now dropped five in a row, eight of their previous nine, and 17 of their past 23. A little over a week prior, they controlled their destiny as they headed to Cleveland for a five-game series with a four-game deficit. But they lost seven of eight to the Guardians during that stretch, and by late September, they were out of the Central race. Down the stretch they finished 11-23. The Twins featured a productive infield of 1B Jose Miranda (.268, 15 HR), 2B Jorge Polanco (.347 OBP, 16 HR), SS Carlos Correa (.291, 22 HR) and Gio Urshela (.285, 13 HR), and DH Luis Arreaz pipped Arron Judge for the batting crown at .316. Joe Ryan won 13 games (3.55 ERA and Sonny Gray finished 8-5, but the team suffered from Emilio Pagan's fall from grace, as he blew 7 saves and finished 4-6 (albeit with 9 saves) and a 4.43 ERA in his return to the American League. The big loss for the Twins was All-World CF Byron Buxton, who battled injuries all year long and could only play 60 games in the outfield. Buxton swatted 28 home runs in 92 games but his brittleness is concerning enough that even though he is a five-tool type player the Twins brought in Michael A. Taylor, a second brilliant centerfielder in this offseason to back him up.
Byron Buxton - A Very Dangerous Player When Healthy
For the Red Sox, after finishing two games from the World Series in 2021, multiple times throughout the next season key players underperformed and injuries throughout the roster derailed their season. After compiling a 23–27 record through the end of May, the team went 20–6 during June, only to fall back under .500 in the second half of July. Injuries to multiple players and roster challenges, including a lack of offensive production at the first base position, hampered the team. On July 22, the Red Sox suffered a historic 28–5 home loss to the Toronto Blue Jays. The 28 runs set a new Red Sox franchise record for the most runs ever allowed in a single game. The team went 8–19 during July, falling into last place in the AL East and ending the month with a 51–52 record.
The Bosox Defense Failed to Take Wing in July
Still, there were some bright spots in the Fenway firmament. When healthy, Trevor Story at second joined Xander Bogarts at shortstop (.307, 15 HR, 84 R) and Rafael Devers (.295, 27 HR, 88 RBI) at third to provide a solid infield combination. Ageless J.D. Martinez swatted 60 extra base hits in 139 games at DH, good enough to make an All-Star appearance. Michael Wacha anchored an indifferent starting corps with an 11-2 record and 3.32 ERA; the Sox were left to ponder what might have been if Chris Sale (5 IP) and Nathan Eovaldi (109 IP) had been healthy. Tanner Houck, John Schreiber and Garret Whitlock showed promise in a crowded bullpen, but could not take the place of 2021 closer Matt Barnes, who stumbled to 0-4 with only 8 saves.
The Chicago White Sox had won 93 games and the AL Central in 2021 behind a stout five-man rotation of Lucas Giolito (11-9, 3.53 ERA, 201 K), Dylan Cease (13-7, 3.91 ERA, 226 K), Dallas Keuchel (9-9, 5.28 ERA), Lance Lynn (11-6, 2.69 ERA), and Carlos Rodon (13-5, 2.37 ERA, 185 K) and bullpen ace Liam Hendriks (2.54 ERA, 38 saves). As a group the starters were 57-36. Of this group Cease followed 2021 with a 14-8, 2.20 ERA, 227 K season that placed him second in the 2022 Cy Young voting, and Hendriks saved 37 games, but Lynn and Giolito finished 19-16 and Johnny Cueto, brought in to replace Rodon, pitched decently but could only manage an 8-10 record. SS Tim Anderson batted .301 and stole 13 bases but could only play in half the team's games; 1B Jose Abreu (.304, 85 R) saw his 2021 home runs cut in half to 15, and C Yasmany Gandal batted only .202 with 5 HR after hitting .240 with 23 HR in 2021. One nifty surprise was the return to form of DH Eloy Jiminez, who batted .295 and bashed 16 HR in half a season's work at DH, but as a team the White Sox scored 110 fewer runs than in 2021 and allowed 81 more, and their 81-81 finish cost Tony LaRussa his job.
A case could be made for White Sox Ace Dylan Cease as the AL's best pitcher
The Baltimore Orioles (83-79) had the misfortune of playing in the American league's toughest division, or perhaps their young and emerging lineup might have cracked the playoffs. Talented fielders such as C Adley Rutschman, SS Jorge Mateo, Gold Glove 3B Ramon Urias, and outfielders Austin Hays and Cedrick Mullins all could also swing the bat, and RF Anthony Santander hit 33 HR and drove in 89 runs. All of these players were 28 or less years old, and every position had a player who hit HR in double figures in 2022. Jorge Lopez (1.68 ERA, 19 saves) and Felix Bautista (2.19, 15 saves) could nail down the late innings, but the rotation was a work in progress, with only Jordan Lyles (12-11, 4.42 ERA winning in double figures. Still, the Orioles 31 game improvement brought the city of Baltimore their first winning season since 2016.
Adley Rutschman
The Tampa Bay Rays won the AL East and the AL Pennant in 2020 and 100 games and the AL East in 2021 using the same tried and true formula in their ballpark - timely hitting, superb fielding and talented pitching, with four good starters backed by a deep and quality bullpen. 2022 was no exception, although the results on the field reflected the impact of injuries on the roster. The team's top two home run hitters, Mike Zunino and Brandon Lowe were sidelined by injuries, and the team also lost 2021's most dynamic all-around player, Wander Franco. Pitchers Nick Anderson, Yonny Chirinos, Tyler Glasnow, Brendan McKay, Jaleen Beeks, Colin Poche, Ryan Thompson, Shane Baz, Chris Mazza, JP Feyereisen and Pete Fairbanks all missed significant time. The team lost 928 player days to injury, but still won 86 games (versus 76 losses) because they still could do what they've always done well - capitalize on other team's mistakes. They snagged Isaac Paredes, a 23 year-old infielder who had been unproductive with the Detroit Tigers, and while his .205 batting average was nothing to write home about his 20 HR in only 111 games sure helped the Rays' lineup up after the team lost Brandon Lowe. They also received a useful replacement outfielder from Arizona in David Peralta and a brilliant defender in CF Jose Siri from the Astros. Their starters were dangerous- if two-time Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber had an off year at 10-10, 4.34 ERA the team still featured lefty Shane McClanahan (12-8, 2.54 ERA), Drew Rasmussen (11-7, 2.84 ERA) and Jeffrey Springs (9-5, 2.46 ERA). Their pitching and resilience always makes the Rays dangerous in the playoffs, and so they were in the wildcard round, with a 1.23 ERA in 22 innings pitched. That was not enough, however, as they were defeated by perhaps the one team constructed to do so in the American League.
That team, the AL Central Champion Cleveland Guardians (92-70), beat the Rays 2-0 in the wild card round 2-1 in Game 1 and 1-0 in 15 innings in Game 2. This outcome was absolutely indicative of each team's pitching and fielding depth and toughness. If the Rays were usually the American League's preeminent defensive squad it was the Guardians' turn in 2022. Cleveland put P Shane Bieber, 2B Andre Gimenez, and outfielders Steven Kwan and Myles Straw on the Gold Glove team, but C Austin Hedges would not have been out of place on the list and SS Amed Rosario was perhaps the team's most improved player. This talented lineup featured five players in double figures in home runs, led by Jose Ramirez's 29 HRs and 126 RBI (and 20 steals); and five players with 18 or more stolen bases, led by Myles Straw's 21. Straw was caught only once; the team on the whole stole 119 bases (2nd in the AL) and was caught only 27 times. Bieber (13-8, 2.88 ERA, 198 K), Triston McKenzie (11-11, 2.96 ERA, 190K), Cal Quantrill (15-5, 3.38 ERA) and hard throwing right hander Aaron Civale, who dropped from 12-5 in 2021 to 5-6 in 2022 all rotated ace starter duties, while the bullpen featured the unhittable Emmanuel Clase, who saved a league leading 42 games while allowing a .167 batting average. Trevor Stephan and Sam Henges also backstopped Clase, whose 2022 ERA was only .1 runs/ 9 innings lower than his career ERA. Cleveland's win over Tampa put them on a collision course with New York at the divisional level, and they took the powerful Yankees all the way to the fifth game before home runs by Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge finally stopped them.
Not much dropped between Steven Kwan and Miles Straw in Cleveland in 2022
The other feel-good story for 2022 in the American League belonged to the long-suffering Seattle Mariners, and their fans. Fans of "Dorktown", the YouTube channel that features Jon Bois will remember the Mariners annual pratfalls; the team had not made the playoffs since 2001, the year they set the AL record for wins but lost to the Yankees in the ALCS. That was probably their last best chance to make it to the World Series. The 2021 Mariners won 90 games, but no bananas, as New York and Boston each won 92 to take the Wild Card spots. This year's team experienced the highs and lows of a thrilling pennant race- a 9-18 May ended any hopes for the West Division, and on June 21 they stood 30-39. They promptly won 8 of 10, lost a game, and won 14 in a row to make the playoffs a possibility. A 4-9 stretch in late September brought back nightmares of past season el-foldos, but the Mariners won 7 of 9 down the stretch, including four walk-offs. Seattle finished 14th in the AL in hitting at .230, but they did have eight players in double figures in homeruns (led by 21-year old ROY centerfielder Julio Rodriguez, who hit 28 HR and batted .284, and Eugenio Suarez, who hit 31 HR and led the team with 87 RBI) and totaled 197 dingers. All that home run hitting helped, but pitchers Robbie Ray, Logan Gilbert and mid-season NL acquisition Louis Castillo also appreciated the glovework of shortstop J.P. Crawford and a tough bullpen led by Paul Sewald (20 saves), Pen Murfee, Andres Munoz, and Erik Swanson, who finished a combined 19-14 with an ERA less than 3.00.
Jon Bois and Alex Rubenstein's classic "Dorktown" explored the exorcised Ghosts of Seattle's Baseball Past
The Mariners opponent in the Wild Card round was the AL East's second-best team, the Toronto Blue Jays. A powerful and talented lineup, Toronto topped the American League in batting, on-base percentage slugging, and total bases, smashing 200 HR and 307 doubles and finishing a narrow second in runs scored. First baseman Vladmir Guerrero, Jr swatted 32 HR and drove in 97 HR and won his first Gold Glove, while his partner on the other corner Matt Chapman also won a Gold Glove and hit 27 HR with 68 walks. Centerfielder George Springer and rightfielder Teoscar Hernandez each hit 25 HRs and shortstop Dante Bichette hit .290 with 24 HRs. The powerful lineup supported a troika of three solid pitchers, including ace Alex Manoah (16-7, 2.24 ERA, 190 K), Kevin Gausman (12-10, 3.35 ERA) and Ross Stripling (10-4, 3.01 ERA), with Jordan Romero closing 36 saves out of the bullpen (2.11 ERA). Toronto had a lot of the qualities of a championship team, so it was a bit of a surprise when Seattle's Castillo shut out the Jays' Manoah and his team in Game 1. The Blue Jays seemed to have righted the ship in Game Two, as C Alejandro Kirk and 2B Santiago Espinal each hit absolute moonballs off Mariner starter Robbie Ray; Toronto led 8-1 after 5 innings. This was the last good moment of the game (and the season) for the Blue Jays, as the Mariners immediately struck for 4 runs in the sixth against Gausmann and his replacement, Tim Mayza, including a 3 run big fly from Carlos Santana.
Vladimir Guerrero, Jr.
Trailing 9-6 in the eighth, Crawford drilled a game-tying bases-clearing double with the bases loaded off Romero, and Adam Frazier doubled in the game winner off Romero for Seattle an inning later. It was a tremendous playoff coup for Seattle, and it earned them a trip to the Divisional Series against the Houston Astros. That game washed away many postseason sins for the Dorktowners. But miracles can happen against anyone but the 2022 Astros, and while Seattle pushed them to 18 innings in Game Three, the series outcome was a 3-0 sweep for Houston, and an ALCS matchup with the Yankees.
The Yankees were three teams in 2022. Early in the season they looked like the best team in baseball, and they stood 52-18 on June 23rd having beaten Houston 7-6. But cracks started appearing in the lineup and in the bullpen, as the Yanks lost reliever Chad Green, outfielder Joey Gallo, and versatile infielder D.J. Lemahieu within a span of weeks of each other in May, and then shut down lefty closer Aroldis Chapman due to tendonitis and right-handed reliever Jonathan Loaisiga for shoulder inflammation. The Yankees had been a deep and talented team, and they continued to struggle along, albeit not at their prior .700-plus pace. Once Giancarlo Stanton landed on the DL, though, the losing trickle turned into a rout. New York whipped Boston 13-2 on July 17 at 64-28 to land at the All-Star Game comfortably in first place, but they promptly started 7-12 after the All-Star break to put the '78 Red Sox level Fear Of God into the Bronx faithful. At first no move seemed to work - they traded for .300 hitter and all-star left fielder Andrew Benintendi in late July (at this point only Judge was an all-around starter in the outfield) only to lose him in early September; they traded for Oakland hard-luck pitcher Frankie Montas only to see him post a 1-3 record with a BMW coupe level ERA (6.35) in New York; and Matt Carpenter, who actually hit better than Judge in 47 games of limited duty, was lost for the regular season on August 8th with a foot injury and endured a terrible postseason.
It was a move that was widely panned at the time that saved the Yankees' Third Season. After the Montas trade they traded Jordan Montgomery to the Cardinals for the then-injured Gold Glove centerfielder Harrison Bader. While Bader was in a walking boot in mid-season, Montgomery's fastball looked like Bufferin in St. Louis, which made the deal look like a bad trade. But by late August New York was trying anyone who was healthy in the outfield, and once Giancarlo Stanton came back from the DL and Bader was available to move Judge back to right, the Yankees established their playoff identity. Bader hit an even .300 with 5 HR in the playoff against Cleveland and Houston. At times during the postseason, Bader was one of the few New Yorkers who showed signs of life at the plate.
Focusing now on what went right, well, you start with Judge, who successfully chased the American League home run record all season, and he held together the top of the lineup, batting anywhere from leadoff to third. Smooth fielding first baseman Anthony Rizzo was second on the team with 32 HR and 77 runs scored, and trusty second baseman Gleyber Torres hit 24 HR with 76 RBI. Catcher Jose Trevino won his first Gold Glove and held down the backstop spot. Stanton hit only .211 but hit 31 HR in only 110 games; the Yankees led the AL in runs scored (807) and home runs (254). This lineup supported a great starting rotation, with Gerrit Cole (13-8, 3.50 ERA, a league-leading 257 K) and "Nasty" Nestor Cortes (12-4, 2.44 ERA) as headliners, Jameson Taillon went 14-5, and Luis Severino, while restricted somewhat, finished 7-3 with a 3.18 ERA. In Chapman's absence, Clay Holmes (20 SV, 2.54 ERA) led a talented bullpen with the nifty Wandy Peralta (56 G 2.72 ERA) filling in nicely. New York finished 20-9 in the last month to win the East handily, and then dispatched the playoff-built Cleveland Guardians in the Divisonal round. But miracles can happen against anyone but the 2022 Astros; the Yankee interior defense and team offense both unraveled in the ALCS, and NY got swept 4-0.
Gerrit Cole, Ace for Hire, topped Ron Guidry's NY 1978 season strikeout record with 257
Unless you are from Houston, odds are the Astros are not your favorite team; they just have too much history. This is a shame- they have won their Division in five of the last six years; they made it to six straight ALCS, won four of them, and 2022 was their second World Series Champion. They won 106 games in 2022 and they were clearly the best team in the American League. If New York had four good starters the Astros did them one and a half better, with five men winning in double figures - Framber Valdez (17-6, 2.82 ERA), Justin Verlander (18-4, 1.75 ERA), Jose Urquidy (13-8), Luis Garcia (15-8), and Christian Javier (11-9, 2.54 ERA), with injured Lance McCullers, Jr. (4-2, 2.27 ERA) and his wicked curveball googly waiting in the wings for the post-season. Valdez won 17 and led the league in innings pitched while finishing fifth in what might have been a classic Cy Young campaign in years past, but teammate Verlander won the ERA crown, and another Cy Young, his third, finishing at 1.75, and might have had a shot at twenty wins had a late season calf injury not cost him six weeks of the season between late August and mid-September. Only eleven men have won three or more Cy Young Awards. With Ryan Pressly (33 SV, 2.98 ERA) and Rafael Montero (14 SV, 2.37 ERA) headlining a talented bullpen the Astros led the American League handily with a 2.90 ERA.
With that much pitching they didn't need to hit much to win, but hit they did, finishing third in the AL in runs scored and second with 214 homeruns. Houston was the only team to place two men on the Silver Slugger team, ageless second baseman Jose Altuve, who hit .300 with 28 HR, stole 18 bases while being caught exactly once, and scored 103 runs, and DH Yordan Alvarez, who was even better, batting .307 with 37 HR while driving in 97 runs. They were backed by Gold Glove right fielder Kyle Tucker's 30 HR, 25 SB and 107 RBI, and 3B Alex Bregman's 23 HR and 93 RBI. Even the shortstop, Jeremy Pena, got into the act, hitting 22 HR and winning the Gold Glove at only 24, and then following these contributions with an ALCS MVP and a World Series MVP award in the same season. Only eight men have done this in Major League history, the last had been Livian Hernandez, who was also a rookie when he turned the trick for the Marlins in 1997.
The heart and soul of the Astros, Jose Altuve is a tiny time pill that keeps going off every October
In the first postseason matchup between the Astros and the Phillies since 1980, the Astros won the World Championship in six games, and they established themselves as one of the greatest teams of this generation if not all time. The Phillies themselves had to run a National League gauntlet of tremendous teams to get to the Fall Classic, but miracles can happen against anyone but the 2022 Astros. One does not have to like this fact to accept it.
Enjoy the 2022 American League.
Fred Bobberts
Initial Publication Date 1/30/2023
Chandler, AZ
