Ray’s Ramblings: Wrapping Up the Regular Season

The regular season is over. An exciting post season awaits us, but let’s start our review of what happened during a whacky and wild fantasy bsaeball season in 2022.

LEAGUE/TEAM RESULTS

The Rockies…

For the first time in 30 years as a franchise, the #Rockies did not hit a grand slam homer.
— Patrick Saunders (@psaundersdp) October 5, 2022

There was a lot of winning… but losing too.

There were four 100-loss teams this season for the 4th time in #MLB history, but the third time since 2019.
There were four 100-win teams, the second time in #MLB history, with the other in 2019.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) October 6, 2022

The Dodgers did some things…

#Dodgers win 6-1. 111 wins is tied with 1954 Indians for 4th-most in MLB history. First NL team to lead MLB in runs scored and fewest runs allowed since 1944 Cardinals. 10th team in MLB history with a run differential over 300.
It has been a historic year, people.
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) October 5, 2022

and check out this amazement…

The Dodgers have now led the NL in runs scored (most) AND runs allowed (fewest) in 5 straight seasons

That's the longest such streak by a team leading its league in both categories, breaking a tie at 4 with the 1936-39 Yankees
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) October 6, 2022

The Mariners…

Mariners done for the day. Castillo to start tomorrow as we knew, Ray in game 2, Gilbert game 3 with the possibility of switching things up depending on what happens Fri. although I have heard it is unlikely they will do that. Roster will be released between 9 and 10 ET Fri.
— Shannon Drayer (@shannondrayer) October 6, 2022

The White Sox have been astoundingly even this year.

This season, the White Sox have been:

1-1
6-6
13-13
14-14
15-15
16-16
17-17
18-18
19-19
20-20
21-21
22-22
23-23
33-33
45-45
46-46
48-48
49-49
50-50
51-51
56-56
63-63
66-66
67-67
68-68
76-76
80-80
81-81
— Christopher Kamka (@ckamka) October 5, 2022

OHTANI FOR MVP!

Shohei Ohtani continues to make history.

#Angels Shohei Ohtani is now officially the first player to ever qualify for the league leaders as both a hitter and a pitcher in the same season
— Matt Birch (@MattBirch12) October 5, 2022

and…

"Number of games played" is part of the rules of the MVP ballots.

Nobody has ever played more than Ohtani in one season.

157 games as a hitter + 28 pitching starts. He'll rank in the Top 10 in the AL in plate appearances AND qualify for the pitching leaderboards!
— Matt Birch (@MattBirch12) October 5, 2022

and…

2022 Shohei Ohtani:

219 strikeouts as pitcher, 6th-most in @MLB

34 HR as batter, T-11th-most in MLB

He's the 1st player to finish top-15 in MLB in both categories in a season since the mound was moved to its current distance in 1893
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) October 5, 2022

More…

Ohtani finished his season 15-9 with a 2.33 ERA and 219 strikeouts in 166 innings. He also hit .273/.356/.519 with 34 homers, 30 doubles, 11 stolen bases and 95 RBIs in 157 games. Among AL pitchers, Ohtani finished the year third in strikeouts (219), fourth in ERA (2.33) and tied for fourth in wins (15), while among AL hitters, Ohtani ranked fourth in homers and fifth in OPS.

Kyle Schwarber hit a lot of home runs.

Kyle Schwarber finished the season with an NL-leading 46 homers. First Phillies player to lead the league in homers since Ryan Howard (48) in 2008.
— Todd Zolecki (@ToddZolecki) October 5, 2022

HITTING

Freddie Freeman and Trea Turner, the second duo to ever pull off the following treat.

This year the @Dodgers' Freddie Freeman & Trea Turner each finished with:

– 190+ hits
– 100+ RBI
– 35+ 2B
– 20+ HR
– 10+ SB
– multiple 12+ game hit streaks

The only other duo in MLB history to do all of those in the same season was Babe Ruth & Bob Meusel for the 1921 Yankees.
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) October 6, 2022

Paul Goldschmidt went .317/.404/.578 for a .981 OPS. He’s gone .300/.400/.500 four times and had another season with a .396 OBP to just miss, not to mention two other years where he hit .297. For his career he’s right about on it as well with a .295/.391/.527 slash line. Historically speaking, that is a HOF level slash line.

Boy did Jose Iglesias have one strange season.

2022 José Iglesias:

.264 batting average at home
.315 on the road

+.051 road BA vs home!!

That is the largest difference between road & home BA by a Rockies player in a season (min 450 PA)@CespedesBBQ 1st brought this to my attention on 7/11!! baseball!
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) October 6, 2022

Not bad Mr. Lindor.

Francisco Lindor’s 2022 season is over:

.270/.339/.449, 98 R, 25 2B, 5 3B, 26 HR, 107 RBI, 16 SB

He will finish top 10 in fWAR among MLB players.
— Mike Mayer (@mikemayer22) October 6, 2022

Jeff McNeil did indeed win the NL batting crown over Freddie Freeman.McNeil hit .465 his final 10-games. From The Athletic. “McNeil was hitting under .300 as recently as the trade deadline on August 2. He was 30 points behind Freeman at that point. Since then, he’s batting .369 over 57 games.”

In addition to winning the batting title (it's now official), McNeil finishes with the sixth-highest average in Mets history.

1. J. Olerud, .354 (1998)
2. C. Jones, .340 (1969)
3. J. Reyes, .337 (2011)
4. L. Johnson, .333 (1996)
5. D. Magadan, .328 (1990)
6. McNeil, .326 (2022)
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) October 5, 2022

The Orioles did a good amount of running this season.

On their way to steal your base.

• Jorge Mateo (35) and Cedric Mullins (34) are the first pair of teammates to lead their league in stolen bases since 1992.
• They are the first pair of O's teammates to lead the league in team history. pic.twitter.com/JPfg0J0RMF
— Birdland Insider (@BirdlandInsider) October 5, 2022

What a career Mr. Pujols.

https://twitter.com/hgomez27/status/1577801454861144067

Here’s another one too.

Albert Pujols of the @Cardinals led the NL in home runs after the All-Star break this year with 18.

He's the first player in MLB history to lead his league in homers after the break in his final season. pic.twitter.com/CPBJf5kMX4
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) October 6, 2022

Julio Rodriguez and Bobby Witt had two special rookie seasons.

Both Julio Rodríguez of the @Mariners and Bobby Witt Jr. of the @Royals finished the season with 75+ RBI & 25+ stolen bases.

It is the first time since RBI became an official stat in 1920 that two different rookies have accomplished that feat in the same season.
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) October 5, 2022

Juan Soto finished the year at .242/.401/.452 for a .853 OPS. He entered the year batting .301 with a .981 OPS so yeah, it was a truly poor season for him, yet he still had a .401 OBP. As bad as he was in 2022 though, he was even worst with the Padres where the numbers were, straight up, not good: .236/.388/.390 for a .778 OPS. Will be fascinating to see what he does in the postseason.

Since we are talking Padres…

Fernando Tatis, who will miss 32 games next season with his PED suspension, will have played 130 of 324 games the last two years or 40 percent of the games. One season of 25 homers, 55 RBI and 65 runs scored… yet he is two years in to that $337 million contract.

Mike Trout did it, hitting his 40^th homer, and made some history along the way.

40+ HR seasons with fewer than 120 games played:

Matt Williams 1994
Ken Griffey Jr. 1994
JD Martinez 2017
Mike Trout 2022
— Jeremy Frank (@MLBRandomStats) October 5, 2022

Andrew Vaughn led the White Sox in homers but…

Andrew Vaughn's 17 home runs are the lowest for a White Sox team leader since Iván Calderon led the Sox with 14 in 1989.
— Christopher Kamka (@ckamka) October 6, 2022

Stephen Voit started, and ended, his career in style.

Stephen Vogt is the 10th player to debut in the Expansion Era (1961) to have a HR for his first AND last career hit, with the last coming 10+ seasons after the 1st

h/t @EliasSports

He joins: ⬇️
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) October 6, 2022

Got $340,000 laying around?

PITCHING

The Cubs’ bullpen did some things this year.

Cubs bullpen has set a new franchise record with 715 strikeouts this season, surpassing the mark set by last year's bullpen.

That strikeout total leads all MLB bullpens, 40 more strikeouts than the second-most (Twins).
— Meghan Montemurro (@M_Montemurro) October 5, 2022

Clayton Kershaw…

#Dodgers Clayton Kershaw passed 2800 career strikeouts today. He is one of only 6 players in MLB history to have 2800-plus strikeouts with one team
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) October 5, 2022

Erasmo Ramirez did some nice work this year.

Erasmo Ramirez finished the season with 80 2/3 relief innings pitched, most in the NL, and he finished with a 2.46 ERA in those outings. Talk about an unexpected, and pleasant, performance.
— Mark Zuckerman (@MarkZuckerman) October 6, 2022

Spender Strider (oblique) is moving in the right direction.

The news that people want to hear: Strider felt real good today, Snitker said, day after his flat-ground throwing session. They'll ramp it up, and there's a real chance he'll be ready for NLDS, though they won't know more until he throws off the mound, which will likely be soon.
— David O'Brien (@DOBrienATL) October 6, 2022

2026 MLB Umpire Report – Wednesday’s Strike Zone

If you have followed me in the past, you know I identify the best plays of the day for DFS, seasonal, and now strikeout props based on who is working home plate that day. The article will be a little different this year, as Swish Analytics no longer provides the stats I once used. Instead, I am focusing on home plate umpire tendencies, current strikeout props, and team strikeout rates against right-handed and left-handed pitching to identify the best opportunities available. We will highlight pitchers worth targeting in seasonal fantasy baseball formats, point out strong DFS plays, and identify strikeout props that may present value. If a game is not listed, there was no significant umpire edge worth targeting… You need a subscription to access this content. Choose from the following: VIP Memberships – Seasonal Annual Season-long content, draft guide, rankings, podcasts, and Discord access. $109.99 VIP Memberships – Gaming Monthly Top picks, tools, futures insights, and 24/7 access to the betting Discord. $59.99 VIP Memberships – DFS Monthly Daily projections, cheat sheets, rankings, optimizer, and full Discord access. $59.99 VIP Memberships – VIP Monthly Includes all plans: Seasonal, Daily, and Betting, plus exclusive tools and Discord. $99.99 NFL Memberships – NFL (All-In) $499.99 Already a member? Sign in.

Jun 17, 2026

The Red Zone

Armando Marsal discusses red zone usage by the numbers and points out some of the highest usage players in this part of the field from the 2022 season. You need a subscription to access this content. Choose from the following: VIP Memberships – Seasonal Annual Season-long content, draft guide, rankings, podcasts, and Discord access. $109.99 VIP Memberships – VIP Monthly Includes all plans: Seasonal, Daily, and Betting, plus exclusive tools and Discord. $99.99 NFL Memberships – NFL (All-In) $499.99 Already a member? Sign in.

Jun 17, 2026

NFL Roster Coach | 6/16 (7 PM EST)

Join your hosts Armando Marsal, Russell Clay, Tyler Buecher, & Rich Maletto as they cover everything you need to win this week in seasonal fantasy football!

Jun 16, 2026

2026 MLB Umpire Report – Tuesday’s Strike Zone

Jun 16, 2026

2026 MLB Umpire Report – Sunday’s Strike Zone

Jun 14, 2026

2026 MLB Planner: Week 13

Here is a look at the week ahead for Major League Baseball to help you configure your lineups. Note that with the way teams handle their pitching staffs in the 21st century, that that data posted in this piece can change at any moment, so be aware that you should still do some checking on Read More! You need a subscription to access this content. Choose from the following: VIP Memberships – Seasonal Annual Season-long content, draft guide, rankings, podcasts, and Discord access. $109.99 VIP Memberships – VIP Monthly Includes all plans: Seasonal, Daily, and Betting, plus exclusive tools and Discord. $99.99 NFL Memberships – NFL (All-In) $499.99 Already a member? Sign in.