2022 Wild Card Round Recap
It’s a little ironic, isn’t it? It’s the start of the postseason, when excitement for baseball has reached a fever pitch… and I can’t even be bothered to blog about it, because I’m too busy plugging the season-ending numbers into my patented astrology database! But now, with a first pass done – and with my suspicions confirmed that Virgo was in fact the top-scoring sign in 2022 – I’m taking a break to recap the first ever Wild Card round matchups.
To do this, I’m relying on MLB.com’s FastCast highlight videos. The videos from the three days of the Wild Card round included approximately 45 highlights, of which players from each sign were represented at least once. Sagittarius, the winners of the recent head-to-head league championship matchup over Virgo, came in first with seven, topped by brilliant outings from starters Luis Castillo for the Mariners in Game 1, and Joe Musgrove for the Padres in Game 3, the latter of which included an embarrassing mid-game ear exam. Three other signs (Cancer, Leo, and Scorpio) tied for second place with five each, with Aquarius, predictably enough, bringing up the rear with just one highlight: George Kirby’s save in the crazy Game 2 of the Seattle/Toronto series.
Continuing with pitching, three Gemini hurlers turned in amazing performances. Shane Bieber tossed seven innings for the Guardians in Game 1 against the Rays, Aaron Nola pitched 6 2/3 shutout frames for the Phillies in Game 2 against the Cardinals, and Jacob deGrom struck out eight for the Mets, to stave off elimination in Game 2 versus the Padres. Speaking of the Mets, I was completely baffled by their decision not to go with their ace in Game 1. I mean, Buck Showalter is a Gemini! Shouldn’t he want to stick up for his sign-mate? I mean, in his defense, Max Scherzer is one of the toughest competitors in the game, and the other two Leos who pitched in this round – Yu Darvish for San Diego and Triston McKenzie for Cleveland – were lights out.
Some Gemini-on-Gemini love, right there. ♊️
Capricorn finished last place in the Earth Division, and yet Goats batters were involved in some of the highest-leverage plays of the first round. Bottom of the 15th inning in a scoreless Game 2: rookie Oscar Gonzalez hits a home run to send the Guardians to the next round. Bases loaded, Seattle on the verge of a historic comeback from a seven-run deficit: JP Crawford gets a bloop hit to score three runs and tie the game. Again bases loaded in a winner-take-all Game 3 and the chance to draw first blood: catcher Austin Nola grounds a two-run single to give San Diego a lead they would never relinquish.
Virgo third baseman Jose Ramirez was responsible for two of his sign’s three highlights: a go-ahead home run in Game 1 and a sparkling defensive play in Game 2. (The other Virgo highlight was Rays starter Tyler Glasnow’s five-inning stint in his team’s losing effort.) Libras brought the power, with three home runs between Teoscar Hernandez and Bryce Harper. Cancer Crabs third baseman Manny Machado had a couple of clutch RBI’s, including a home run that would chase Scherzer from Game 1. And although Scorpio center fielder Trent Grisham hit home runs in back to back games against former Cy Young winners (Scherzer and deGrom), the only highlights of his to make it to FastCast fame were an RBI single and a stellar catch in center field, both in Game 3.