2022 Fantasy Astrology Leaders
Having just spent the better part of the last month posting in-depth looks for all 12 Fantasy Astrology signs in 2022, I won’t recap a projected playoff bracket. Instead, since all MLB’s major award winners were announced as of yesterday, I’ll compare those real-life winners to the players who would take home the FABL versions of that hardware. Remember that I base my evaluations on fantasy points, rather than how a player’s sign performed in the standings – it just makes things easier and less subjective to rely on the numbers.
Last year, in 2021, Cancer Crab Shohei Ohtani won the American League MVP award, thanks to the greatest season from a two-way player we’ve seen since Babe Ruth. Between his pitching and batting stats, Ohtani totaled over 4,000 fantasy points: 4,008 to be exact, broken down into 2,515 points from the DH spot, and 1,493 points on the mound. This year, Ohtani was even better, totalling 4,331 points. He was also more evenly split between his two duties: 2,139 as a DH, and 2,192 as a starting pitcher. He became the only player in history to lead his team in both plate appearances and innings pitched in the same season. Remarkable stuff we’re seeing here, folks.
But it would be unfair to the rest of the league to give Ohtani a lock on the MVP award every season, based on his combined pitching and hitting points. Plus, in 2022, Taurus outfielder Aaron Judge had such a tremendous season at the plate, that he could arguably overshadow Ohtani’s two-way accomplishments. Not only did Judge set a new AL home run record with 62, but he was the first batter to put up a 3,000-point season since Albert Pujols in 2009 – he put up 3,185 points with a 20.3 points-per-game average. Plue, he played the majority of the season in center field – no small feat for a 6’7” 282lb absolute physical specimen. There’s no question he deserves the Negative Polarity MVP award.
Going down the list in terms of fantasy points, we have the two pitchers who won the real-life Cy Young Awards in their respective leads. Virgo Alcantara (2,636 / 82.4) of the Marlins took home the National League version of the award, while World Series champ Justin Verlander (2,595 / 92.7), a Pisces, won in the AL. However, both Virgo and Pisces are Negative signs, so only one can come out on top in the FABL setting, and I picked Alcantara based on his superior points total. Also, even though he had a lower points-per-game average than Verlander, that just means that Alcantara was more durable, getting into four more games. It’s very close, which is why I’m glad that both pitchers get some real-life recognition.
Both winners of the Positive Polarity’s big two awards are a step behind their Negative counterparts. The top pitcher is Libra ace Corbin Burnes (2,364 / 71.6), a first-time FABL winner, although he does have a real-life NL CYA under his belt. The top Positive batter is Sagittarius first baseman Pete Alonso (2,358 / 14.7), who showed that his power swing is not limited to Home Run Derby heroics. Interestingly, both of these players finished behind a handful of Negative runners-up who shared the same sign: Burnes was outpaced by a pair of Capricorn hurlers in Alek Manoah (2,400 / 77.4) and Dylan Cease (2,271 / 71.0). Meanwhile, Alonso couldn’t catch up to a trio of Virgo corner infielders: Paul Goldschmidt (2,508 / 16.6), Freddie Freeman (2,502 / 15.7), and Jose Ramirez (2,482 / 15.8). We have a similar grouping of signs BEHIND Burnes as well, as he's followed by a trio of Leo’s: Yu Darvish (2,276 / 75.9), Zac Gallen (2,276 / 73.4), and Julio Urias (2,268 / 73.2).
The awards for top relief pitchers have not been announced yet, but there’s no question that Pisces closer Emmanuel Clase (2,236 / 29.0) will take home the Mariano Rivera award in the American League, as the only relief pitcher in 2022 to break the 2,000-point threshold. It’s a much closer race over in the National League – which mirrors the race in the Positive Polarity, as Kenley Jansen (1,990 / 30.6) and Edwin Diaz (1,969 / 32.3) are neck-and-neck in terms of fantasy points. The smart money is on Diaz for the Trevor Hoffman honors, as he is generally considered more electric, and also just signed a record-setting free agent deal for relief pitchers. Going back to the Negative Pole, after first runner-up Jordan Romano (1,874 / 29.7), the next three NP relievers are Cancer Crabs: Daniel Bard (1,832 / 32.1), Ryan Helsley (1,747 / 32.4), and Camilo Doval (1,545 / 22.7).
Both real-life Rookie of the Year award winners play for Negative Polarity signs: Julio Rodriguez (1,919 / 14.5) is the Capricorn center fielder, while Michael Harris II (1,615 / 14.2) was frozen out of the Pisces outfield rotation, at least on a full-season fantasy point basis. Harris’s real-life Braves teammate Spencer Strider (1,791 / 57.8) pitches for Scorpio, another Negative sign, but that’s a moot point, because no rookie other than J-Rod outscored Gemini infielder Bobby Witt Jr. (1,854 / 12.4), who will pick up the Positive Polarity RoY trophy. Witt played both third base and shortstop for the Royals, and also served as the top-scoring batter for a very weak Gemini Twins squad.