2022 World Series Teams

The first ever baseball project I embarked on was back in the summer of 2001. It was a simple Word document, listing the fantasy points for the starting lineup of each team in the league. Each lineup was arranged by position, since it was long before Baseball Reference would add a page for batting orders. In fact, all the stats were from the 2000 season, because it was long before B-R did midseason updates. My, how far we’ve come…

I’ve continued this tradition up through the present, and also extended it reverse-chronologically, to go along with the work I’ve done on this blog. Over the years that I’ve been doing this, I’ve enhanced my lists in various ways, including adding year-appropriate team logos, rearranging the lineups to reflect batting orders, and factoring in multi-positional eligibility. But my latest enhancement includes color-coding the lines of players who “started” for their Fantasy Astrology lineups.

Just before the 2022 World Series, I published these new versions for the Astros and the Phillies, the two teams involved in the Fall Classic. But given what’s going on with Twitter now, and also just in the interest of posterity, I thought I’d revisit those lineups here. Remember, every player on every team is available in the player pool of one of the 12 FABL signs, but I only highlighted the ones who played significant roles in the previous fantasy season. 

Leadoff hitter Jose Altuve would bat first and play second base for the Taurus Bulls. It would be interesting to have Altuve and Aaron Judge in the same lineup, not just because of the height differential, but also because of MVP Award controversy dating back to 2017. Of course, there’s no denying that Judge wholeheartedly deserved the award this year, when he broke 3,000 fantasy points and set a new AL home run record. Rookie sensation Jeremy Pena is pretty far down the shortstop depth chart for the Virgo Flowers, slotting behind Carlos Correa and Willy Adames - not to mention Marcus Semien and Andres Gimenez at second base. While he hits third for the Astros, Yordan Alvarez would likely bat cleanup for the Cancer Crabs, whose top three include Trea Turner, Shohei Ohtani, and Manny Machado. Ohtani’s presence in the DH spot would also push Alvarez to a full-time left fielder.

Believe it or not, cleanup hitter Alex Bregman wouldn’t even have a spot in the Aries Rams starting lineup, with Nolan Arenado and Austin Riley handling third base and DH. I suppose A-Breg could supplant Isiah Kiner-Falefa if he were willing to move back to shortstop. Kyle Tucker was far and away the best hitter on the 2022 Capricorn Goats, although I’m sure Fernando Tatis Jr. will have something to say about that, if/when he returns from his wrist injury and PED suspension. Even with his modest fantasy point total of less than 1,200, Yuli Gurriel still finished second in a historically weak Gemini Twins offense. The only batter to outscore him: rookie infielder Bobby Witt Jr.

Framber Valdez pitched the most innings on Houston’s staff, even though he was out-pitched by Justin Verlander in terms of fantasy points. Valdez does, however, serve as the ace of the Scorpio Stingers. Justin Verlander’s triumphant return from Tommy John Surgery victim to Cy Young Award contender at age 39 is nothing short of astonishing. The Pisces Fish rode Verlander’s excellence to a first place finish in the 2022 Water Division. Jose Urquidy is part of a huge influx of rookies into the Taurus Bulls starting rotation over the last three years, which also includes Shane McClanahan, Tony Gonsolin, and Logan Gilbert. Of the three players named Luis Garcia in the majors, the Astros starting pitcher had the best 2022 season. An important part of the Sagittarius Archers rotation, Luis H. outpitched the Padres reliever (Luis A.) and the Nationals infielder (Luis V.)

Cristian Javier is much more important to the fantasy astrology Aries Rams, where he is the top-scoring starting pitcher, than he is to the real-life Astros, who have used him in the bullpen at times during the 2022 postseason. Speaking of the bullpen, Ryan Pressly has the spin rate and track record to close games for the Sagittarius Archers, a sign famous for their high-leverage relievers. (Mariano Rivera and Lee Smith, anyone?) Rafael Montero stepped up and took over the Houston closer role when Pressly was down with an injury, and he serves as a very impressive setup option for top Libra Scales reliever Kenley Jansen. Because of how saves are valued, a fantasy bullpen should be made up of only bona fide closers, so Bryan Abreu’s inclusion on the Taurus Bulls starting roster” isn’t ideal. But Abreu has proved a shutdown high leverage option in the 2022 postseason.

Kyle Schwarber led the National League in home runs from the leadoff spot, so that’s where he would bat for the Pisces Fish. While Schwarbs is one of five Pisces players in the Phillies lineup, only three of them made the starting lineup for the Fish. Rhys Hoskins would be pushed to the designated hitter role in said Fish lineup, due to the presence of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on the roster. He could be a candidate to platoon with lefty-swinging Rowdy Tellez. Injuries kept Bryce Harper from scoring enough full-season fantasy points to qualify for the Libra Scales starting lineup, but he performed well enough when healthy to be the sign’s most impactful designated hitter.

Is J.T. Realmuto the best catcher in baseball right now? He moved up to the three spot in the batting order for the postseason, but in the regular season, he was commonly sandwiched between two fellow Pisces Fish: Nick Castellanos and Jean Segura. Alec Bohm finished just ten (10) fantasy points behind Yandy Diaz for the Leo Lions starting third base job. And they can’t even platoon with each other, because they both bat right-handed.

While the Gemini Twins had a historically bad offense, their pitching staff continued to impress. Aaron Nola accrued the second-highest innings total of any pitcher in 2022 (behind Virgo ace Sandy Alcantara), and led Gemini in fantasy points. After starting his career as a reliever, Ranger Suarez has stepped up as a stabilizing force in the Virgo Flowers starting rotation. Although it’s good to know he can still come out of the pen, as he did in the deciding game of the NLCS. While Aaron Nola was the nominal ace of the Gemini Twins, Zack Wheeler has gotten the Game 1 nods by the Phillies this postseason. However, it’s likely even Wheeler would be passed up by the likes of Jacob deGrom and Shane Bieber in an All-Gemini rotation. Philadelphia’s fantasy astrology-relevant pitchers in 2022 were limited to two signs: Nola and Wheeler are Geminis, while Suarez and midseason acquisition Noah Syndergaard pitch for the Virgo Flowers.