Review: Top-40 Rookies in 2022

Way back in Januay we tried to predict the unpredictable - the top-40 rookies for the coming season in fantasy baseball. Here is a review of that list wtih comment. Remember, playing the rookie game is something we all love to do each year, but the returns are far from certain. RANKPLAYERTEAMPOSCOMMENTS1Bobby Witt Jr.KCSS/OFWas a…

Ray Flowers

October 21, 2022

Way back in Januay we tried to predict the unpredictable – the top-40 rookies for the coming season in fantasy baseball. Here is a review of that list wtih comment. Remember, playing the rookie game is something we all love to do each year, but the returns are far from certain.

RANK	PLAYER	TEAM	POS	COMMENTS
1	Bobby Witt Jr.	KC	SS/OF	Was a dynamite fantasy performer with his .254-20-80-82-30.
2	Seiya Suzuki	FA	OF	Was decent at .262-14-46-54-9, but he wasn’t drafted to be decent.
3	Julio Rodriguez	SEA	OF	Was spectacular going .284-28-75-84-25 and was rewarded with a massive contract.
4	Shane Baz	TB	RHP	Made six starts, suffered multiple injuries, and ended the year with TJ surgery.
5	Josh Lowe	TB	OF	Less than 200 PAs in the bigs but went .315/.402/.556 at Triple-A.
6	Spencer Torkelson	DET	1B/3B	Had eight homers and a .604 OPS. Was straight up – awful.
7	Oneil Cruz	PIT	SS	Future is so bright. Went 17/11 in 87 games. Next year will be fun.
8	Adley Rutschman	BAL	C	As good as advertised. Hit 13 homers, 35 doubles and posted a .806 OPS.
9	Joe Ryan	MIN	RHP	Was darn good going 13-8 with a 3.55 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 151 Ks in 147 innings.
10	Hunter Greene	CIN	RHP	Throws 100 mph and might have figured it out late. Had 164 Ks in 125.2 IP.
11	Jarren Duran	BOS	OF	Went 10/18 in 68 Triple-A games. Went 3/7 in 58 big league games.
12	C.J. Abrams	SD	SS	Hit .303 in Sept. but that .604 OPS on the year was terrible.
13	Riley Greene	OF	DET	Solid MLB start, but in the end that .682 OPS wasn’t anything to get excited about.
14	MacKenzie Gore	SD	LHP	Started great. Got hurt. Was traded to WAS. In total, 1.47 WHIP in 16 outings.
15	Vidal Brujan	TB	2B/OF	Didn’t hit in 2021. Didn’t hit in 2022. Through 62 big league games – .487 OPS.
16	Seth Beer	ARI	1B	Didn’t hit in 38 games with a .521 OPS. Just never established himself.
17	Cristian Pache	OAK	OF	Just 23 years of age, but a .439 OPS in 115 big-league games has his future in doubt.
18	Grayson Rodriguez	BAL	RHP	Made 17 starts around injuries and – dominated going 2.62 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 13.0 K/9.
19	Jeremy Pena	SS	HOU	Overall had a darn solid season going .253-22-63-72-11. A .289 OBP is concerning.
20	Reid Detmers	LAA	LHP	Had 122 Ks over 129 IP with 1.21 WHIP. Strong season for the lefty.
21	Nick Lodolo	CIN	LHP	Often dominated and racked up a 30% K-rate for 131 punchouts over 103.1 innings.
22	Joey Bart	SF	C	Had 11 homers with a .660 OPS and 38.5 K-rate. He’s Mike Zunino.
23	Triston Casas	BOS	1B	The slugger hit .195 in the bigs but posted a .889 OPS in minors. Only 95 PAs with Sox.
24	Cade Cavalli	WAS	RHP	Made 1 start in bigs, got hurt, that was it. Had a 1.18 WHIP and a K per inning in minors.
25	Nolan Gorman	STL	2B	In 89 games had 14 homers but a .721 OPS and 33 K-rate. Just blah.
26	Max Meyer	MIA	RHP	Arm issues eventually led to Tommy John surgery.
27	Edward Cabrera	MIA	RHP	Made 14 starts with a K per inning, an 11% BB-rate and nine HBP. Huge arm.
28	Nick Pratto	KC	1B	Played 49 games with Royals with a 36 percent K-rate while batting .184.
29	Kyle Isbel	KC	OF	Over 278 PAs he went .211/.264/.340 with nine steals in 15 steal attempts.
30	Brennen Davis	CHC	OF	Back surgery limited him to 53 games with a .597 OPS.
31	Alek Thomas	ARI	OF	Had some nice outings, but overall .231-8-39-45-4 in 411 at-bats was disappointing.
32	Austin Martin	MIN	SS/OF	Didn’t happen last year, and got worse this year with two HRs and a .685 OPS in 92 games.
33	Khalil Lee	OF	NYM	Hit .214 with 10/15. Also struck out 150 times with a .699 OPS.
34	JJ Bleday	MIA	OF	Hit, if we can call it that, .167/.277/.309 for Miami over 65 games.
35	MJ Melendez	KC	C	Hit just .217 with a .706 OPS but went 18-62-57 over 534 PAs.
36	Emerson Hancock	SEA	RHP	Made 21 starts at AA with a 2.42 K/BB, 8.4 K/9 and 1.20 WHIP. Somewhat disappointing.
37	Jake McCarthy	ARI	OF	Borderline league winner with his second half running. Went .283-8-43-53-23 over just 99 games.
38	Jordan Groshans	TOR	SS	Hit .301 in the minors for MIA after being acquired. Hit .262 in 17 big league games.
39	Luis Campusano	SD	C	Had just 50 PAs in the bigs. Can really hit though with .906 OPS at AAA last year and .846 this yr.
40	Sixto Sanchez	MIA	RHP	Shoulder surgery ended his season. He’s thrown zero official innings the last TWO years.

Review: Top-40 Rookies in 2022

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