2023 Halfway Checkpoint

We are roughly 80 games into the 2022 MLB season, which means we've roughly reached the halfway point. Tony Chamra recently posted his 2023 team's halftime report, so I figured I'd be a copycat.

Catchers:

C: Adley Rutschman: 142 PA, .215/.282/.392, 476/734 splits
C: Zack Collins: 74 PA, .209/.284/.448, 400/788
C: P.J. Higgins: 72 PA, .302/.380/.524, 725/988
C: Austin Nola: 213 PA, .237/.305/.306, 602/618
C: Garrett Stubbs: 57 PA, .280/.357/.560, 1462/761

The good news is that the Rutschman Era has finally arrived! The bad news is that he's off to a very rough start. We picked up a couple of short-usage superstars off the free agent scrap heap last chapter, but they don't get much playing time. Neither does Collins, surprisingly enough. That leaves Nola, who has defied all of the preseason forecasts calling him a "sleeper candidate" at the catching position. He's been asleep, all right. Barely lucid, in fact.

Infield:

1B: Brandon Belt: 170 PA, .211/.335/.352, 626/703
3B: Rafael Devers: 347 PA, .327/.383/.579, 895/986
3B: Jason Vosler: 64 PA, .268/.344/.518, 900/857
SS: Trea Turner: 349 PA, .311/.359/.491, 826/859
SS: Brandon Crawford: 243 PA, .224/.313/.350, 703/650

Devers may have a career year if he can keep this pace. Turner is great, as always. Of course, the question with both of them is: will they actually perform in the BDBL as they have in MLB? For the past two years, that answer has been a resounding NO. Belt and Crawford are looking like two very expensive and rapidly-aging bench players at this point. Stupid boring Giants.

Outfield:

OF: Andrew Benintendi: 326 PA, .314/.380/.400, 655/837
OF: Mark Canha: 259 PA, .267/.359/.373, 658/775
OF: Ramon Laureano: 206 PA, .246/.330/.393, 916/646
OF: Lane Thomas: 250 PA, .225/.284/.388, 676/669

Benny seems to finally look like the "breakout" player people have predicted he would be for about 15 years now. Just in time for free agency. What a coincidence! Canha's 26-homer season a few years ago has been confirmed as a definite anomaly. Laureano will evidently never have that one big superstar season I thought he would have when I signed him three years ago. And Thomas -- yet another one everyone projected as a "fantasy sleeper" in 2022, has done absolutely nothing to justify that title.

DH: (Side note: BOOOO!)

DH: Shohei Ohtani: 334 PA, .262/.344/.503, 689/933

If we are being forced by Rob Manfred to have a stupid boring-ass DH, at least we're stuck with Ohtani.

Starting rotation:

SP: Shohei Ohtani: 74 IP, 58 H, 8 HR, 17 BB, 101 K, 2.68 ERA, 614/578 splits
SP: Luis H. Garcia: 76-60-13-21-80, 3.54, 711/619
SP: Framber Valdez: 101-76-6-38-93, 2.67, 532/591
SP: Jon Gray: 77-64-8-26-83, 3.96, 653/641
SP: Ranger Suarez: 79-82-9-33-64, 4.33, 623/797
SP: Lance Lynn: 22-23-3-5-22, 4.50, 853/599

Welp, whatever magic fairy dust Ranger Suarez ingested in 2021 has worn off. He looks like a very expensive #5 starter at this point. It seems that all of our expensive auction buys last winter were one-use-only disposables. Lynn is another expensive turd, but he hasn't even earned his keep this season; never mind next. Valdez and Ohtani will be a very nice left/right combo if they can keep it up in the second half.

Bullpen:

RP: David Bednar: 37-25-3-12-50, 2.43, 558/582
RP: Dominic Leone: 29-31-4-9-32, 2.45, 1236/517
RP: Trevor Megill: 13-9-1-5-15, 2.08, 623/468
RP: Kyle Nelson: 25-20-0-7-20, 1.78, 556/621
RP: Gregory Soto: 29-19-1-14-30, 2.48, 699/554
RP: Gabe Speier: 19-16-2-5-14, 2.33, 676/597
RP: Ryan Tepera: 32-23-4-11-26, 4.18, 714/525

This is fine, as far as it goes. The sample sizes are all so small, anything can happen from this point forward, so it isn't worth celebrating or fretting. I would love to own one of the top, say, 50 best relief pitchers in this incredible 2022 MLB season dominated by stellar relief pitchers, but alas, they were all snatched up by other teams long ago.

Overall:

Offensively, it could be better, and it could be worse. If -- big IF -- Turner and Devers hit the way they're supposed to hit, then we could have a decent offense with those two, plus Ohtani, in the heart of the lineup. Benintendi gives us a quality fourth bat, which means we have a decent half-lineup if this trend continues.

On the pitching side, I'm excited about Ohtani and Valdez so far, but little else. Our bullpen arms haven't developed as I had hoped. Lynn's injury, plus Suarez's mediocrity, put a huge dent in our wallet that will be tough to buff out.

As it stands, we're looking at paying $31.8 million -- roughly half our total team salary -- on players that will do little and/or nothing next year. That is a very tough mountain to climb. Hopefully, this team really picks up the pace in the second half or we're looking at a surefire rebuilding year.