100 Facts About the 2022 MLB Season

With another Major League Baseball season in the books, it is time for a flurry of retrospectives, detailed analyses, and thoughtful pieces breaking down what worked and didn’t work across the league in 2022.

This is not one of those pieces.

Instead, we will look at some things that are objectively correct about this past season without any depth of thinking at all. What follows is a list of undeniable truths. These are facts and there are 100 of them.

But before we get to the main event, here are a few visual moments from this past season that should serve nicely to whet the collective palate:

The moment MLB No. 1 prospect Adley Rutschman’s dream came true ❤️

Goosebumps 🙏

(via @Orioles)https://t.co/l4Iod4w5tB

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 21, 2022

Jerar Encarnacion shared a special moment with family after hitting a game-winning grand slam in his MLB debut pic.twitter.com/cr9L0L2qiI

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) June 20, 2022

On the next episode of CSI: Mariners 🕵️ pic.twitter.com/wtIQDQkW0x

— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) July 9, 2022

Steven Kwan is so committed to getting on base that he literally takes a base with him everywhere he goes.

Did the flight attendant give him a funny look? Sure, but did she hit a bases-clearing 3-run triple in her fourth MLB game after a record-setting weekend? No, she did not. pic.twitter.com/qNG30kZaEP

— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) April 12, 2022

Isan Díaz’s dad was being interviewed when his son hit his first career MLB dinger. What an amazing moment. pic.twitter.com/KFvC7Naqpm

— Baseball Lifestyle™ (@BsbLifestyle__) May 31, 2022

José Cuas was released by the Brewers after struggling to convert to a pitcher.

He left baseball and took a job at FedEx in Brooklyn.

His younger brother never gave up on him. He played catch with his brother every night.

Today, José made his MLB debut. pic.twitter.com/REHd8Jdxoe

— Danny Vietti (@DannyVietti) May 31, 2022

Freddie Freeman's first at bat in his return to Atlanta was a moment 👏

🎥 @MLBpic.twitter.com/zYXa6ztMg0

— Everything Georgia (@GAFollowers) June 24, 2022

The moment Albert Pujols joined the 700 Home Run Club!

(via @MLB)pic.twitter.com/RLUAg9pgNA

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) September 24, 2022

And, finally, our last hors d’oeuvre:

Funny moment with Spencer Torkelson. Reporters asked him if there’s any advice he had for his friend Kody Clemens who will make his MLB debut tonight.

“I mean, his dad is Roger Clemens. So I’m not sure what else I could tell him.”

— Tony Garcia | Detroit Free Press (@RealTonyGarcia) May 31, 2022

Hungry for more? Well then buckle up, buttercup, because here come…

 

100 Facts

 

1. On April 15, a $38 million player walked in the winning run, giving the win to a $37 million dollar team.
2. Julio Rodríguez hit a total of 82 dingers in the Home Run Derby.
3. Juan Soto hit a total of 53.
4. Juan Soto won the Home Run Derby.
5. Soto was the only player with a BB% over 20%.
6. Sandy Alcantara threw the most innings in baseball with 228.2.
7. Sandy Alcantara also faced the most batters overall with 886.
8. League-wide, 11.4% of fly balls were home runs.
9. The hardest hit ball was by Oneil Cruz and it had an EV of 122.4 mph.
10. Paul Goldschmidt increased his wRC+ by 40 points (137 to 177).
11. Only 3 of the top 10 hitters in fWAR were from the American League.
12. 2 of those 3 were from the Houston Astros.
13. The third was Aaron Judge.
14. Judge accumulated 11.4 fWAR.
15. It’s the most fWAR garnered by any one player in the last ten years.
16. Alek Manoah wears the same underwear every time he pitches.
17. He does wash it.
18. Only two pitchers got more than 40 saves: Emmanuel Clase (42) and Kenley Jansen (41).
19. A.J. Minter was the only pitcher with more than 30 holds (34).
20. One pitcher had an ERA below 2: Justin Verlander.
21. His xERA was 2.66, his FIP was 2.49, and his xFIP was 3.23.
22. Julio Urías stranded the most runners with an 86.6 LOB%.
23. Kyle Gibson and Germán Márquez stranded runners less than 70% of the time, the worst two percentages among qualifiers.
24. The distance between Aaron Judge and the second-place player in fWAR is the same as the difference between second-place and 50th (4.0 fWAR).
25. Since 1980, only one player has accumulated more fWAR than Judge this season.
26. It was Barry Bonds (01, 02, 04).
27. Aaron Judge had a WRC+ of 207.
28. Since 1980, only one player has accumulated a higher WRC+ than Aaron Judge this season.
29. It is Barry Bonds (01, 02, 03, 04).
30. Four pitchers had a swinging strike rate of 15% or higher: Kevin Gausman, Shane McClanahan, Corbin Burnes, and Dylan Cease.
31. Corbin Burnes gave up the least contact (as a percentage).
32. Adam Wainwright gave up the most.
33. Kevin Gausman got the most swings at pitches outside of the strike zone.
34. Marco Gonzalez gave up the most contact on pitches outside of the strike zone.
35. The Cleveland Guardians had the highest Contact% in MLB at 80.8%.
36. League average LD% was 19.9%.
37. 64 qualified hitters had an above-average LD%.
38. Tommy Pham and Joc Pederson got into an on-field fight before a game over fantasy football.
39. The Rays lost a combined no-hitter in the 10th inning against the Boston Red Sox when Bobby Dalbec hit a triple.
40. Then the Rays won the game on a Kevin Kiermaier walk-off home run.
41. Just 13 pitchers threw at least 3000 pitches.
42. Corbin Burnes had the most balls (1202).
43. Sandy Alcantara threw the most strikes (2231).
44. Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s GB% went up, FB% went down, BB% went down, and IFFB% went up.
45. Luis Arraez had a K% of just 7.1%.
46. Arraez also had a contact% of 94.1%.
47. Since 1980, only five players have had a higher contact%.
48. Two players had a GB% greater than 50% and a wRC+ over 130: Brandon Nimmo and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
49. Christian Yelich led the league in GB% at 58.6%.
50. His wRC+ was 111.
51. Of the 11 players who hit .300 or better, 2 had an fWAR of 3.0 or less: Andrew Benintendi and Nathaniel Lowe.
52. There were 58 balks league-wide.
53. No pitcher had more than two except for Richard Bleier (MIA) and Will Smith (ATL/HOU) who each had 3.
54. Taylor Rogers led the league in blown saves with 10.
55. Alek Manoah had the highest FB% (62%).
56. Corbin Burnes and Gerrit Cole threw exactly the same number of league-leading regular season pitches at 3,274.
57. Kyle Schwarber has stolen 22 bases in his career and 10 of them came in 2022.
58. He also broke 40 home runs in a season for the first time in his career with 46.
59. Two players had an IFFB% over 15% and a wRC+ over 150: Manny Machado and Nolan Arenado.
60. Javier Báez chased the most pitches outside the strike zone (48.7% O-Swing%).
61. At 18.7%, Luke Voit had the highest swinging strike rate in the league.
62. Just behind Luke Voit at 18.6% was…Javier Báez.
63. Two players had contact% over 90%: Steven Kwan and Luis Arraez.
64. Two teams struck out more than 25% of the time: the Los Angles Angels and the Pittsburgh Pirates.
65. The New York Yankees were 4th in MLB in HardHit% at 41.7%.
66. At 44%, the team with the highest HardHit% was the Blue Jays.
67. There were 2,767 100+mph pitches thrown.
68. There were three regular-season no-hitters; two were combined.
69. The other was accomplished by Reid Detmers on May 10.
70. The Cincinnati Reds threw 24,868 pitches, more than any other MLB team this past season.
71. Shane McClanahan was the CSW% leader at 32.8%.
72. The batter with the lowest CSW% was Jeff McNeil.
73. Charlie Morton hit the most batters (18).
74. Justin Verlander had the highest IFFB% (19.7%).
75. Kyle Wright was the only pitcher with more than 20 wins (21).
76. Kyle Wright gave up the hardest-hit ball in 2022.
77. Triston McKenzie had the lowest GB% in the league.
78. Framber Valdez induced ground balls 2 out of every 3 times and led the league in GB%.
79. Adam Wainwright, at 21.1%, had the highest called strike rate.
80. Joe Musgrove had the fewest swings against pitches in the strike zone (61.4%).
81. There were a total of 5,215 home runs.
82. There were a league-wide 2,487 steals.
83. Excluding the shortened 2020 season, that ranks as the 6th lowest in a season since 1980.
84. Marcus Semien had the most plate appearances of any player with 724.
85. 14.4% of flyballs hit off of the Washington Nationals were home runs.
86. The Tampa Bay Rays induced the most infield fly balls (12.6%).
87. Bryson Stott became the first player ever to get on base 4 times in the same game against Max Scherzer.
88. The Colorado Rockies yielded the highest HardHit% in the league at 41.8%.
89. On May 15, Albert Pujols made his first appearance…as a pitcher.
90. Hunter Renfroe got a hit on a ball with an exit velocity of 24.5 miles per hour.
91. Joey Votto made an on-field TikTok with a young fan.
92. On July 17, Jeter homered against the New York Yankees.
93. José Ramírez had 48 RBI through the first 43 games and finished with 126.
94. Julio Urías stranded the most runners with an 86.6 LOB%.
95. Jeremy Peña is the first rookie hitter to win World Series MVP.
96. The Dodgers got on base 1/3 of the time.
97. Aaron Nola had the most fWAR among pitchers at 6.2.
98. He also had the highest first-strike percentage in baseball at 70.1%.
99. Gerrit Cole led MLB with 257 strikeouts.
100. Jorge Mateo stole the most bases in the bigs (35).

 

There are so many other truths from 2022; objective data that can tell a story about what happened, what didn’t happen, what could’ve been, or what should’ve been. We can use them to argue, analyze, discuss, or otherwise talk about this, the most magnificent of games. We will undoubtedly use it to make predictions about next year and to enjoy baseball, either real or fantasy, or both.

Some facts matter and others don’t.

I hope you enjoy your journey in deciding which is which.

 

Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Doug Carlin (@Bdougals on Twitter)