With another regular season in the books and the postseason finally here, it’s time for my annual All-MLB team, which features my picks for the best players at each position. The thing that stood out was the fact that there was only one player from this position. last year’s team — the amazing Shohei Ohtani — made the cut for a second year in a row. Wow, talk about turnover! This just speaks to all the talent that is our great game.
As I do every year, I also included my choices for top manager/general manager and owner. But let’s start with the players, a group highlighted by Aaron Judge (spoiler alert!Justin Verlander, Paul Goldschmidt. Here’s my 2022 All MLB team. Please let me know what I did wrong in the comments.
Baseball Reference provides the WAR statistics.
Players
Catcher: J.T. Realmuto, Phillies
WAR: 6.5 OPS+: 129
Realmuto became only the second catcher in major-league history to hit at least 20 home runs and steal at least 20 bases in a season, joining Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez, who did it 1999. Realmuto was successful on 21 of 22 stolen-base attempts, and wasn’t thrown out until Game 160. He was a.276/.342/.478 hitter with 26 doubles, five Triples, 22 homers, and 84 RBIs. He is the best at catching would-be thieves, scoring 30 out of 68 and a 44% caught stealing rate. Realmuto was second with 24 homers, 87 RBIs, and a 4.1 WAR. Will Smith (Dodgers), came in close second.
First base: Paul Goldschmidt, Cardinals
WAR: 7.8 OPS+: 180
Paul Goldschmidt slugged.317/.404/.578, with 41 doubles and 35 home runs. He also had 115 RBIs. I think he’ll also win the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards for NL first basemen.
