Who will be the 24 best from this point forward?
• 6 min read
We’ve reached the quarter-way point of the 2022 season, making now a perfect time to take stock of how the top of the player pool has changed. And how better to represent it than by redrafting the first two rounds?
When I say “redrafting,” it’s not with the intent of replaying the first quarter of the season. What’s done is done, and we don’t get to relive it. Our focus is the rest of the season, the final three-quarters. And while the first quarter might offer clues as to how the final three will go, things are sure to change.
It’s why, to some, these updates won’t be drastic enough. They’ll wonder why Taylor Ward or Tommy Edman isn’t featured prominently. But as good as those two have been so far, I don’t believe they have it in them to sustain top-24 production all season long. It doesn’t mean they have nothing to offer. It’s just that it’s a high bar to meet.
Meanwhile, some underachieving studs deserve the continued benefit of the doubt. Their data remains strong and their track records sparkling. I’ll grant that it’s harder to know what’s real amid all the talk of humidors and deadened baseballs, so we can’t play oblivious and trust everything to work itself out. Suffice it to say, though, that for all the underachievers depicted here, the quality of contact remains high even if the production doesn’t.
One adjustment you’ll notice right off the bat is the devaluing of pitchers as a whole. Turns out offense is what’s in the shortest supply, what with the deadened balls and all.
