Scott Sandulli

School may be out, but the mid-term reviews are looming large for Major League Baseball. 2022 has been nothing short of spectacular thus far and as the All-Star festivities begin in Los Angeles next week, teams will use their four days off to evaluate how they want the rest of their season and beyond to play out. The only way you can do that is to look at what your team has done to this point and consider who or what was responsible for it. That being said, let’s look at how each team has performed this season and grade them based on their success given the circumstances they have faced. In this piece specifically, the AL East is subjected to criticism.

Baltimore Orioles (46-46): A-

Believe it or not, the Baltimore Orioles don’t suck. In fact, as of this writing, they have won their last ten games. Having eclipsed triple-digit losses in every full season since 2018, Baltimore’s current 81-win pace is an important step in the team’s rebuilding process.

The fruits of the O’s farm have begun to ripen this season as former No. 1 overall pick Adley Rutschmann finally received his call to the show in May and while he’s still finding himself offensively, Rutschmann has been the defensive ace many expected. First baseman Ryan Mountcastle and outfielder Austin Hays have been nothing short of impressive with the sticks and Trey Mancini’s first-half performance could return a very nice package should Baltimore move him at the trade deadline.

The key to Baltimore’s awakening this season has been an outstanding bullpen group as Felix Bautista, Jorge Lopez, Cionel Perez, and Dillon Tate all sport sub-3 ERA’s in 30+ games each. While the rotation is still coming along, Baltimore’s offense and relief pitching have kept them competitive into the all star break and if they can use their overperformers to garner some nice assets at the trade deadline, Baltimore could be a .500 team in 2022 and set themselves up for real success in 2023 with top prospects Gunnar Henderson and Grayson Rodriguez nearing the call to the show.

Boston Red Sox (48-45): B+

If it weren’t for a 10-19 start to the season, Boston would be in contention for a perfect score and find themselves much closer to catching New York in the division standings. Although April and early May were discouraging, the Red Sox have seemingly found their 2021 form and are back to their winning ways. Like last year, hitting hasn’t been an issue with a trio of all-stars in Rafael Devers, Xander Bogaerts, and J.D. Martinez all hitting at a .300 clip with an average OPS of nearly .900. The big offseason addition of Trevor Story has been boom or bust for Boston as the second baseman leads the team in both RBIs and strikeouts. In the absence of staff ace Chris Sale for nearly all of the first half, Boston’s arms have stepped up big time. After an electric postseason, Nick Pivetta has picked up where he left off in October to lead the team in innings, strikeouts, and opponent batting average. Not to be outdone, Nathan Eovaldi and Michael Wacha have been huge behind him with Wacha posting an elite 2.69 ERA and Eovaldi leading the squad in WHIP with 1.10, not to mention the continued reliability of Rich Hill before he injured his leg. The bullpen has been solid behind the rotation with Tanner Houck, Garrett Whitlock, Jake Diekman, and Matt Strahm rotating as the team’s go-to guys in the late innings. If the big three with the bats can get a little more help in the second half (which Alex Verdugo has been providing lately), keep an eye on Boston to make some more October noise.

New York Yankees (64-28): A+

If you’re on pace to break the record for wins in a season, I’d say that qualifies for an A+. The Bronx Bombers have had quite a run in the first three months of the season and it’s been an all-around effort. The lineup has done what it does and led the league in runs, home runs, RBIs, and slugging percentage. Aaron Judge has put together an MVP-level performance thus far with 30 long balls to lead all sluggers in the game, and the fan voting for the 2022 MLB All Star Game. Joining Judge in Hollywood will be the other half of the modern-day bash brothers in Giancarlo Stanton, whose 22 dingers rank eighth in the bigs, and little-known catcher Jose Trevino, who has come out of nowhere to hit .261 with a .747 OPS in 58 games for New York. Anthony Rizzo and DJ Lemahieu have found success in their usual fortes with Lemahieu trailing just Judge for the team lead in hits and Rizzo right there with Stanton at 22 home runs. The real story of the Yankees' unrivaled success though has been a band of lights-out arms. Gerrit Cole is pitching to his pay stub with a stellar 3.05 ERA to go with 135 strikeouts. Luis Severino, in his first healthy season since 2018, has picked up where he left off with 95 punch-outs of his own in 86 innings. While Nestor Cortes and Jameson Taillon have also had all-star worthy campaigns, it’s the Yankees bullpen that has truly been shining. Clay Holmes, Michael King and Wandy Peralta have all emerged from the woodwork to hold opponents to under a .200 batting average against each, slamming the door late in games. While Aroldis Chapman isn’t who he once was, left-hander Lucas Luetge has been the go-to southpaw in his stead, allowing just one home run in 30 innings of work. If this team stays healthy, it would take the most epic collapse in baseball history for them to not clinch their second division title in the last four years.

Tampa Bay Rays (51-41): B+

Every year, the injury bug finds someone to bite. Unfortunately for the Rays, stinging tails can’t keep away the epidemic of the IL, as Tampa’s 16 players currently assigned to the list is the most of any team in baseball. Ace Tyler Glasnow has not and likely will not return in 2022, alongside doubts of top arm prospect Luis Patiño returning this season as well. Key everyday position players in Kevin Kiermaier, Manuel Margot, Brandon Lowe, Mike Zunino, and young phenom Wander Franco are all on the sidelines with no timetables for return. The bullpen has been absolutely decimated with Nick Anderson, J.P. Feyereisen, Jeffrey Springs, Yonny Chirinos, Pete Fairbanks and Josh Fleming all on the shelf.

However, Kevin Cash’s group has not only been able to adapt to all they have lost in this first half, but overcome it to hold second place in the division and the top wild card spot in the American League. It starts in the rotation where Shane McClanahan has exploded in his sophomore season to become arguably the best pitcher in the American League, setting the bar in thie bigs for ERA (1.71), strikeouts (147), WHIP (0.80), and OBA (.176). Corey Kluber has turned back the clock with a nice 3.58 ERA while Drew Rasmussen has been crazy efficient, surrendering just one home run in 66.2 innings.

The bullpen has held up under the circumstances with team stalwarts in Andrew Kitteridge and Colin Poche sharing the team lead in saves while Jason Adam has become the newest Tampa Bay breakout with a daunting .151 OBA in 39 appearances.

The lineup has been in and out thus far, but consistency has been found in Yandy Diaz, who is currently third in the majors in OBP and Randy Arozarena who leads the team in hits, home runs and RBIs. The pleasant surprises of Isaac Paredes and Ji-Man Choi offensively have lessened the blows of Franco, Lowe and Margot for now but if the Rays don’t get some help on offense either from within or elsewhere at the end of the month, one has to wonder what they can do against the top arms of the AL. How Tampa has stayed in it considering all they’ve lost gives them some brownie points, but middling in arguably baseball’s most stacked division may not be the greatest route back to the playoffs.

Toronto Blue Jays (50-43): C

Like a couple of other teams in the league, Toronto was expected to build upon an exciting 2021 and not only reach the playoffs this year, but possibly even the division crown with them into October. While the Yankees did their part in spoiling that, the Blue Jays joined the growing list of squads that haven’t done themselves any favors. Entering July 13th, they had lost eight of their last ten and nine of 12 in July, despite all-stars aplenty on the team. As a result of individual success not translating to the team, manager Charlie Montoyo was canned. While the squad has underperformed collectively, the Blue Jays lineup has been as advertised with all-star caliber seasons coming from Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette, George Springer, Alejandro Kirk, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., and Santiago Espinal. Leading the majors in team batting average, the bats have done more than enough to make Toronto a contender. But the arms have not.

Alek Manoah and Kevin Gausman are perhaps the lone bright spots this season on the mound up north. The pair of all-stars are both holders of sub 3 ERA’s and are among the top 30 pitchers in strikeouts this season. But that’s where the fun ends. Jose Berrios has been downright awful in 2022 the dropoff of Yusei Kikuchi makes things even worse. In the bullpen, Jordan Romano has put together a solid season with 19 saves but bridging the gap between the starters and their newfound closer has been more than a headache for the Jays.

This team feels like both the Cardinals and Padres teams of last year as Toronto was filled with talent and expected for success this season. However, those two teams took very different paths in September of last year. There’s still plenty of time for Toronto to right the ship here. But in a division where everyone is above .500 and in the playoff hunt, the concern certainly is there for what was supposed to be a terrific season for Canada’s team.