AL West’s cold and hot gamers

The Houston Astros have reigned as champions of the American League’s Western Division for all however one of many previous six years — and so they’re my option to win once more in 2023.

Their dominance is obvious in a fast scan of the division’s best gamers, the 2022 leaders in total base worth. (If you happen to’re fuzzy, click on right here for an evidence of OBV.)

Twelve AL West gamers posted OBVs higher than 50 final season, indicating that they both reached at the very least 51 bases greater than the everyday big-league hitter or allowed at the very least 51 bases lower than the common pitcher.

A majority of those stalwarts — seven of 12 — performed for the Astros. The others had been scattered across the division: three with the Los Angeles Angels, one apiece with the Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers, and none with the Oakland Athletics.

The belief right here is that the gamers with the perfect total base values in 2022 will enter the approaching season with optimistic vibes and powerful momentum. So let’s have a look under on the 10 leaders within the AL West, in addition to the ten gamers who shall be attempting to rebound from years they might somewhat neglect.

If you happen to missed my studies of an analogous vein for the American League’s different divisions, click on right here for a participant rundown for the AL East and right here for the AL Central. You too can discover detailed OBV breakdowns for all 30 big-league golf equipment within the newly printed Baseball’s Best (and Worst) 2023 Yearbook.

A brand new installment will arrive in your e mail every Tuesday and Friday morning

Solely 9 major-league batters posted base values within the triple digits final yr, indicating that they reached at the very least 100 bases greater than regular. Certainly one of these star hitters was the multitalented Angel, Shohei Ohtani.

Ohtani additionally pitches, after all, and he does it at an equally excessive stage. He was one in all 14 pitchers in 2022 who saved their opponents’ base totals at the very least 80 under regular.

The precise values for Ohtani had been 102 bases as a batter and 84 as a pitcher, yielding an OBV of 186, simply the perfect within the AL West.

The divisional runners-up had been a pair of Astros, designated hitter/left fielder Yordan Alvarez (OBV of 152) and pitcher Justin Verlander (127).

Verlander, after all, is not going to be returning to Houston this yr. He’s transferring on to the New York Mets as a free agent. However the different 9 members of the division’s prime 10, together with 5 Astros, shall be coming again to the identical groups:

1. Shohei Ohtani, Angels, 186 OBV
2. Yordan Alvarez, Astros, 152
3. Justin Verlander, Astros, 127
4. Mike Trout, Angels, 126
5. Jose Altuve, Astros, 123
6. Framber Valdez, Astros, 85
7. Julio Rodriguez, Mariners, 83
8. Alex Bregman, Astros, 70
9. Kyle Tucker, Astros, 69
10. Nathaniel Lowe, Rangers, 65

A whole rundown of 2022 stats — and a glance forward on the season to return

Learn more about the book

The Athletics traded hard-hitting first baseman Matt Olson to the Atlanta Braves final March, receiving a package deal of younger prospects in return.

Amongst them was 23-year-old Cristian Pache, whom the A’s instantly put in in middle area. The early returns weren’t promising. Pache batted .166 with three homers in 91 video games, posting a depressing OBV of minus-60, the worst determine within the division.

One other Oakland rookie, pitcher Adam Oller, was a single step higher at minus-59. He went 2-8 with a 6.30 ERA.

Listed under are the AL West’s 10 worst total base values from a yr in the past. A minimum of 4 of these gamers is not going to be returning to their squads in 2023.

Second baseman Adam Frazier left Seattle as a free agent, signing with the Baltimore Orioles. Pitcher Zach Logue was picked up by the Detroit Tigers after Oakland put him on waivers. Texas proper fielder Kole Calhoun, at this writing, stays an unsigned free agent. And second baseman Abraham Toro of the Mariners was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers.