X-factors for 10 teams that missed playoffs in ’22
Spring Training is quick approaching, bringing with it renewed hope for each MLB workforce.
Each season, there are usually just a few groups that flip round their fortunes and attain the postseason after falling quick the earlier yr. In reality, half of the entrants within the 2022 postseason didn’t make the playoffs in 2021.
The 10 groups under are affordable candidates to make that turnaround in 2023, but it surely’s arduous to think about them doing so except sure X-factors come by means of. Here are 10 gamers who have to ship in a giant method to ensure that their golf equipment to have an opportunity to return to the playoffs in 2023.
Entering the fourth season of his seven-year, $245 million cope with the membership, Rendon has performed simply 157 video games in an Angels uniform, hitting .252 with 20 homers, a .779 OPS and three.2 bWAR. In his closing three years with the Nationals, the third baseman averaged 143 video games performed, 28 homers, 106 RBIs and 6.1 bWAR per season whereas slashing .310/.397/.556.
Brewers: Christian Yelich, OF
After a two-year run throughout which he almost pulled off back-to-back NL MVP Awards and put up a .327/.415/.631 slash with 80 homers and a 170 wRC+, Yelich has been a barely above common bat over the previous three seasons (108 wRC+). Yelich stays a disciplined hitter who often produces arduous contact, rating within the ninetieth percentile in hard-hit price and the 94th percentile in stroll price final season, however he’s now not launching the ball like he did in 2018-19. The 31-year-old performed 154 video games final season however solely had 43 extra-base hits (14 homers) with a .383 slugging proportion, as he notched one among MLB’s highest ground-ball charges (59.1%).
Though the energy of Milwaukee’s pitching workers means it doesn’t want MVP Yeli again to make the playoffs in 2023, he’s going to have to supply extra manufacturing than he did final yr.
Chicago could also be dramatically improved on the defensive finish and will have a stable rotation, however to make the postseason, the membership will doubtless want at the least one among its regulars to emerge as an elite bat. Bellinger has been there earlier than, successful the NL MVP Award in 2019, however he has a protracted method to go to regain that stature. Suzuki looks as if a greater guess to do it after recording 14 homers and a 116 wRC+ over 111 video games as a rookie in 2022. The 28-year-old was a five-time All-Star in Japan, and he confirmed flashes of excellence whereas battling accidents for the Cubs a yr in the past.
D-backs: Ketel Marte, 2B
With Zac Gallen coming off a Cy Young-caliber 2022 season and MLB Pipeline’s No. 2 total prospect Corbin Carroll set for his first full season, there’s a whole lot of pleasure surrounding the D-backs. But even for those who assume each of these gamers will make a big effect in 2023, it’s going to take much more for Arizona to emerge with a postseason berth.
The workforce is relying on Marte to be the linchpin of its lineup, as he was in 2019, when he hit .329 with 32 homers, a .981 OPS and a 150 wRC+, ending fourth within the NL MVP race. The 29-year-old has by no means reached the 15-homer mark in some other season, although he did hit .318 with 14 dwelling runs and a .909 OPS over 90 video games in 2021, earlier than slipping to a .240 common with 12 dingers and a .727 OPS throughout 137 video games final season.
Giants: Michael Conforto, OF
After arising quick within the Aaron Judge sweepstakes and strolling away from a cope with Carlos Correa, the Giants will enter the 2023 season with an offense that has a ton of high-floor gamers however lacks a celebrity. Steamer initiatives 11 Giants to accrue at the least 250 plate appearances and document a wRC+ of 100 (representing the MLB common) or higher in 2023, however none with a wRC+ over 117.
Conforto might elevate San Francisco’s offensive ceiling if he can recapture the shape he confirmed throughout 2017-20, when he registered a 133 wRC+ and hit 97 dwelling runs over 467 video games. The outfielder had a down yr in 2021 (106 wRC+) earlier than lacking all of final season whereas recovering from proper shoulder surgical procedure.
The Orioles acquired a pair of veteran arms in Kyle Gibson and Cole Irvin this offseason, however their finest likelihood so as to add a real ace lies with Rodriguez (Pipeline’s No. 7 total prospect), a right-hander with a deep repertoire and plus command. Rodriguez is anticipated to obtain the chance to make Baltimore’s rotation out of Spring Training, and the O’s are relying on him to take the chance and run with it.
Rangers: Marcus Semien, 2B
Signed to a seven-year, $175 million contract after the 2021 season, Semien led the Rangers’ in bWAR (5.9) whereas rating second on the workforce in fWAR (4.2) final yr, however the second baseman’s elite protection performed a giant half in inflating these figures. His offense, alternatively, left one thing to be desired. While Semien did have 26 homers and 25 steals, he additionally slashed .248/.304/.429 with a 107 wRC+, spending the whole yr digging himself out of a statistical gap after a frigid begin to the season.
Texas’ rotation is way improved after the membership spent the offseason bolstering its expertise on that aspect of the ball, however its lineup stays skinny, with Steamer projecting solely three Rangers regulars to have a wRC+ over 104. The Rangers will probably be rather more formidable if Semien has a season nearer to 2021 (45 homers, 131 wRC+).
Red Sox: Chris Sale, SP
Coming off a last-place end in 2022, the Red Sox had a whole lot of turnover this offseason, but it surely stays to be seen whether or not it can lead to important enchancment. Justin Turner, Masataka Yoshida, Adam Duvall, Adalberto Mondesi, Corey Kluber, Kenley Jansen and Chris Martin are in, however Xander Bogaerts, J.D. Martinez, Nathan Eovaldi and Matt Barnes are out, and Trevor Story would possibly miss a lot of the season after present process proper elbow surgical procedure.
Sale is the most important variable for Boston. The left-hander has missed a lot of the previous three years as a result of a litany of accidents, making simply 11 begins. He hasn’t thrown greater than 158 innings in a season since 2017, and he’ll must show he nonetheless has the stuff to persistently dominate opposing hitters. But if he could make a wholesome return, the 33-year-old might give the Red Sox the ace they’ve been missing since they gained the World Series in 2018. From 2012-18, Sale posted a collective 2.91 ERA and averaged 198 innings and 240 strikeouts per season.
Twins: Byron Buxton, OF
Buxton is a supremely gifted participant who can influence the sport together with his bat, pace and protection, however accidents have been a central theme of his profession, robbing him of the prospect to achieve his full potential. He’s performed greater than 92 video games in a season solely as soon as over eight years within the Majors.
Minnesota was capable of re-sign Correa after considerations about his bodily scuttled offers with the Giants and Mets, and the membership additionally added outfielder Joey Gallo and right-hander Pablo López. But the workforce’s playoff hopes will in the end rely upon how usually Buxton performs. The Twins’ document with and with out the 29-year-old over the previous 4 seasons speaks for itself — they’re a .585 membership (151-107) when the middle fielder begins and a .476 membership (137-151) when he sits.
White Sox: Eloy Jiménez, OF
As far as White Sox X-factors go, you can decide from any variety of gamers, from Lucas Giolito to Luis Robert to Yoán Moncada to Andrew Vaughn. But after a yr during which Chicago completed simply tenth within the AL in homers and misplaced José Abreu to the Astros in free company, Jiménez has taken on outsized significance because the workforce’s finest energy bat.
After a ruptured left pectoral tendon price him 99 video games in 2021, Jiménez missed 65 video games final season as a result of a torn hamstring tendon behind his proper knee. However, he slashed .305/.372/.523 with 15 homers and 47 RBIs over 73 video games after returning final July. The 26-year-old has 40-homer potential if he can keep wholesome.
