2022 Expanded Points Totals
In order to determine winners each year in the Fantasy Astrology Baseball League, I compare the fantasy point totals for each sign’s “starting roster.” I can’t say “starting lineup” because, in addition to one player for each position on the field (plus DH), I also include the top five starting pitchers and top three relief arms. This method results in a sample of 17 players per sign that determine who represents their elemental divisions in the postseason final four tournament.
I’ll go more in-depth on each sign’s 2022 performance as the offseason drags on, but my established method has determined that Virgo (in the Earth Division) was the top fantasy scoring sign this past season. The Flowers were the only sign to reach the 30,000-point threshold, even when following strict positional eligibility rules (rather than the looser interpretation that I prefer to use). While Pisces (Water) was close behind and Libra won the Air Division, the top overall Positive sign is a matter of some debate.
Basically, if you’re willing to cheat a couple of Aries excess corner infield sluggers into more demanding defensive positions – moves that could be justified based on their past career and minor league experience – then the Rams take the Fire Division by a margin of about 700 points. But following positional eligibility rules to the letter puts Sagittarius on top, in both the Fire Division and the entire Positive Polarity. Also, while this fact has no bearing on the end-of-season point totals, it’s interesting to note that the Archers also won the weekly head-to-head championship… against Virgo.
But since this is the current MLB season, I decided to take a deeper look at the numbers of ALL the notable players on each sign, rather than just the top 17 on the starting roster. I spent this last week calculating fantasy points for every player with at least 100 plate appearances or 20 innings pitched in 2022, and came up with some expanded totals. The below chart shows not only the totals from my “official” starting rosters (on the far left), but the TOTAL points scored by all qualified players from each sign, the number of Players that scored those points, and also a breakdown of Pitching and Batting points:
Unsurprisingly, Virgo remains at the top, thanks to a league-best pitching staff – led by Sandy Alcantara and Gerrit Cole – and the third-best offense in the league. Sagittarius was not far behind Virgo in the pitching department, explaining why they finished as the top Positive sign. Interestingly enough, Aries, their Fire Division competition, finished in the bottom quarter of the league, indicating a very top-heavy roster. Finishing in third place among pitchers are the Capricorn Goats, although an offensive attack that was second from the bottom ensured them a second division finish.
But finishing second overall in terms of total points from qualified batters are my home-sign Cancer Crabs, thanks to one of the most lopsided player pools you’ll ever see. Cancer batters dominated at the plate, scoring a whopping 50,000-plus points. Only three other signs broke 40k, and none of them even reached 41,000. However, the Decapods pitching staff was dead last in the league, finishing a little more than 100 points behind the lowly Scorpio. It’s a shame that Cancer couldn’t muster enough hurlers to support Shohei Ohtani in his historic season – the only time a player has ever led his team in both plate appearances and innings pitched in the same season.