As baseball ramps toward the postseason there are three teams that stand out as some of the three best in the MLB.
The Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros, and New York Mets all own a winning percentage better than 60 percent. Here is a look at any key players and pitchers that drive these teams success in 2022.
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Los Angeles Dodgers
Key hitters
The Dodgers own one of the most stacked lineups in baseball as the top four hitters are batting at or above .260 before Friday’s game.
Gavin Lux is also having a career year as his average hovers around .290 with an on-base percentage in the .370 range. This represents a huge jump in last season’s .242 batting average and .328 OBP. A late acquisition of Joey Gallo from the New York Yankees proved worth the risk so far for LA as he is hitting in the .250s, far from his average with the Bronx Bombers of .159.
Key pitchers
Two big seasons from Tyler Anderson and Tony Gonsolin give the Dodgers an edge of the competition in 2022.
While Trevor Bauer is out indefinitely, and Dusitn May just returned from Tommy John surgery, the Dodgers got contributions from Anderson and Gonsolin that provided more than enough relief.
Anderson owns a 13-2 record with a 2.73 ERA before his start on Friday against Miami. Before this career resurgence, the lefty struggled every season with more losses than wins in his career. The only season Anderson owned a winning record was in 2020 as he went 4-3 with a 4.37 ERA for the San Francisco Giants.
As for Tony Gonsolin, the 16-1 record with a 2.10 ERA is one of the best seasons in modern baseball. His strikoeuts per nine (K/9) is around the usual eight. His 10.51 K/9 in 2021 shows that Gonsolin may improve later in the year or next season.His velocity is not amazing, his fastball averages 93.1 MPH, his ability to mix pitches and velocity well may explain his success.
Houston Astros
Key hitters
Alex Bregaman dipped in production for 2021 as he mustered 12 homers and 55 RBIs as injuries plagued him throughout the season. Playing more games in 2022 already, Bregman owns a .267 average with 19 homers and 75 RBIs before the weekend series. Yordan Alvarez is hitting better than he did previously as his average of almost. 300 is close to 30 points higher than 2021.
Key Pitchers
Justin Verlander is in the midst of another Cy Young season with his 16-3 record and 1.87 ERA are some of his best numbers in his career. Another key to the Astros success is that three of its’ pitchers own a sub 3.00 ERA. Despite a 7-8 record, Christian Javier holds a 2.88 ERA entering the late push of August. Framber Valdez is the third pitcher as he owns a 2.72 ERA in 2022 and a 12-4 record.
New York Mets
Key hitters
What may be the biggest change is not an acquisition, but a player performing significantly In better, who is Francisco Lindor. In his first season in NY, Lindor batted an abysmal .230 with 20 homers and 63 RBIs. This was a far cry from his production in Cleveland. In 2022, Lindor may be piecing it together as his average hovers around .270. He already eclipsed his homeruns and RBIs from 2021, as he has 21 and 85, respectively. What is even better is he has another 37 games left. Lindor turning things around is probably the biggest help the Mets got in 2022.
Key ptichers
This does not need to be incredibly long. The Mets signed Max Scherzer in the offseaosn. The future Hall-of-Fame pitcher is 9-3 with a 2.33 ERA this season. While his K/9 in 2022 is one of his lowest in his career, it still sits around 10.6 K/9.
New York also activated Jacob deGrom in early August as he made his season debut. He is 2-1 with a 2.31 ERA in four starts. He shows no signs of slowing down or being off in this small sample as it took him little time to get into baseball shape.