Baseball's Best in September 2022

Issue #35

In September we saw Aaron Judge continue his pursuit of the AL HR record, and along the way he had by far the highest OPS+ in baseball at 1.434. He had 10 HR and 8 doubles, and slashed and impressive .417/.565/.869.

But besides Judge, who else excelled in the last full month of the regular season? Here are my two picks at each position, plus a batch of pitchers:

1B

• Pete Alonso (NYM) - .908 OPS, 9 HR, .253/.342/.566 (BA/OBP/SLG)

• Joey Meneses (WSN) - .902 OPS, 6 HR, .315/.356/.546

2B

• Jose Altuve (HOU) - 1.017 OPS, 6 HR, 6 SB, .337/.433/.584

• Marcus Semien (TEX) - .945 OPS, 6 HR, 10 D, 4 SB, .319/.361/.584

3B

• Eduardo Escobar (NYM) - 1.042 OPS, 8 HR, .340/.393/.650

• Justin Turner (LAD) - 1.026 OPS, 4 HR, 8 D, .342/.421/.605

SS

• Bo Bichette (TOR) - 1.134 OPS, 7 HR, 11 D, .403/.445/.689

• Carlos Correa (MIN) - 1.005 OPS, 7 HR, 7 D, .346/.405/.600

C

• J.T. Realmuto (PHI) - .860 OPS, 7 HR, 4 SB, .273/.326/.534

• Cal Raleigh (SEA) - .953 OPS, 7 HR, .242/.324/.629

RF

• Taylor Ward (LAA) - 1.059 OPS, 6 HR, .370/.429/630

• Kyle Tucker (HOU) - .845 OPS, 7 HR, 6 SB, .260/.324/.521

CF

• Aaron Judge (NYY) - 1.434 OPS, 10 HR, 8 D, .417/.565/.869

• Mike Trout (LAA) - 1.075 OPS, 10 HR, 8 D, .301/.365/.710

LF

• Seth Brown (OAK) - .946 OPS, 8 HR, .264/.360/.586

• Steven Kwan (CLE) - .846 OPS, 3 HR, 7 SB, .325/.396/.450

DH

• Yordan Alvarez (HOU) - 1.176 OPS, 6 HR, 9 D, .360/.456/.720

• Eloy Jiménez (CHW) - .931 OPS, 8 HR, .283/.333/.598

Some other position players came close and deserve honorable mention, such as DH Albert Pujols (700th HR!), LF Joc Pederson (SFG), C Adley Rutschman (BAL), C Danny Jansen (TOR), 1B Freddie Freeman (LAD), CF Michael Harris (ATL), SS Oneil Cruz (PIT), Julio Rodriguez (SEA), and OF Bryan De La Cruz (MIA), and OF Daulton Varsho (ARI).

For starting pitchers, there were many who had a great month, but I went with these as a Top-10:

• Alek Manoah (TOR) - 0.88 ERA, 6 GS, 41 IP, 33 SO, 0.854 WHIP, .162 BA

• Shohei Ohtani (LAA) - 1.09 ERA, 5 GS, 33 IP, 37 SO, 0.909 WHIP, .177 BA

• Jose Quintana (STL) - 0.89 ERA, 5 GS, 30.1 IP, 28 SO, 0.758 WHIP, .189 BA

• Clayton Kershaw (LAD) - 1.50 ERA, 6 GS, 36 IP, 40 SO, 0.917 WHIP, .197 BA

• Dylan Cease (CHW) - 1.13 ERA, 5 GS, 32 IP, 32 SO, 0.938 WHIP, .165 BA

• Julio Urias (LAD) - 1.19 ERA, 5 GS, 30.1 IP, 25 SO, 0.989 WHIP, .193 BA

• Jeffrey Springs (TBR) - 1.44 ERA, 6 GS, 31.1 IP, 31 SO, 0.957 WHIP, .192 BA

• Yu Darvish (SDP) - 1.85 ERA, 6 GS, 39 IP, 44 SO, 0.795 WHIP, .168 BA

• Carlos Rodon (SFG) - 2.03 ERA, 5 GS, 26.2 IP, 46 SO, 0.863 WHIP, .170 BA

• Logan Gilbert (SEA) - 2.00 ERA, 6 GS, 36 IP, 41 SO, 0.917 WHIP, .195 BA

You could make a case for the following who deserving honorable mention: Adrian Sampson (CHC), Max Fried (ATL), Triston McKenzie (CLE), Zac Gallen (ARI), Blake Snell (SDP), Chase Anderson (CIN), Joe Ryan (MIN), and Brandon Woodruff (MIL). All of those guys, and the ten listed above, had either 5 or 6 games started in September. A few others did very well in just 4 games started during the month, including Cristian Javier (HOU), Tyler Anderson (LAD), Spencer Strider (ATL), Nestor Cortes (NYY), and Luis Garcia (HOU).

Lastly, I’ve included six relievers who were outstanding during the month of September. I started with the two who had the most saves, and then four who had dominating WHIP, K/IP, and opposing BA numbers.

• Emmanuel Clase (CLE) - 2.25 ERA, 10 saves, 16 IP, 16 SO, 1.063 WHIP, .224 BA

• Camilo Doval (SFG) - 1.38 ERA, 9 saves, 13 IP, 16 SO, 1.077 WHIP, .217 BA

• Dylan Floro (MIA) - 0.73 ERA, 6 saves, 12.1 IP, 12 SO, 0.568 WHIP, .122 BA

• Liam Hendriks (CHW) - 0.93 ERA, 6 saves, 9.2 IP, 13 SO, 0.621 WHIP, .103 BA

• Ryan Pressly (HOU) - 2.08 ERA, 6 saves, 8.2 IP, 15 SO, 0.577 WHIP, .107 BA

• Devin Williams (MIL) - 0.87 ERA, 6 saves, 10.1 IP, 17 SO, 0.774 WHIP, .121 BA

All data is from Baseball-Reference.com, and also their subscription service Stathead.com. If you are a big sports fan, be sure to check out the latest features at Stathead and the Sports Reference family of sites.