• TOP 10 • lineups 2023 MLB - Dec 21, 2023 - Real NL heavy naturally only 3 AL ? YES.

[mjp28]

Top 10 lineups for 2023 MLB -  Dec 21, 2023 - Real NL heavy naturally only 3 AL ?

I was curious where the Cleveland GUARDIANS lineup stood for early 2023, an article from Dec 23, 2022 : 

Well no surprise real NL heavy with only  4. Jays   9. Yankees and  10. GUARDIANS.    So what do you think  ..... so far ?   Not too bad ?

 

December 21st, 2022.   . Anthony Castrovince. @castrovince

10. Guardians

1) Steven Kwan, LF  .... * and a pretty good  7 other young players  NOW  one year older.  mjp
2) Amed Rosario, SS
3) José Ramírez, 3B
4) Josh Bell, 1B .... new *
5) Josh Naylor, DH
6) Oscar Gonzalez, RF
7) Andres Giménez, 2B
8 ) Mike Zunino, C .... new *
9) Myles Straw, CF

Look at the pesky young Guards weaseling their way into the top 10. They were decisively a middle-of-the-pack offense last year, ranked 15th  in runs per game (4.31). But it’s not really a big leap from 15th to 10th, and I would argue that Cleveland can make it by drastically improving two positions (DH and catcher) where it ranked 29th in OPS last season (Bell and Naylor can now essentially share the 1B/DH at-bats). Bell and Zunino both bring needed power to the equation. Add a little muscle to a club that had the best contact rate (80.8 percent) and ranked fourth in FanGraphs’ Baserunning score (13.2) last year, and you’ve got the makings of a top 10 offense.

[mjp28]

And for more on the  ~ TOP 10 ~ list.

1. Mets

1) Brandon Nimmo, CF
2) Carlos Correa, 3B^
3) Francisco Lindor, SS  <--- remember him ?
4) Pete Alonso, 1B
5) Jeff McNeil, 2B
6) Starling Marte, RF
7) Daniel Vogelbach, DH
😎 Mark Canha, LF
9) Omar Narváez, C

2. Padres

1) Fernando Tatis Jr., LF^
2) Juan Soto, RF
3) Manny Machado, 3B
4) Xander Bogaerts, SS
5) Jake Cronenworth, 1B
6) Matt Carpenter, DH
7) Ha-Seong Kim, 2B
😎 Austin Nola, C
9) Trent Grisham, CF

^Will miss 20 regular-season games while serving suspension

[mjp28]

~ AND ~  

3. Astros

1) Jose Altuve, 2B
2) Jeremy Peña, SS
3) Yordan Alvarez, LF
4) Alex Bregman, 3B
5) Kyle Tucker, RF
6) José Abreu, 1B
7) Michael Brantley, DH. <--- remember him too ?
😎 Chas McCormick, CF
9) Martín Maldonado, C

The Astros ranked sixth in the Majors in wRC+ (112) and eighth in runs (737) in 2022, and that was without the RBI machine known as Abreu and with Brantley’s sweet swing on the shelf for all but 64 games. Both of those guys are getting older, so that must be taken into account....... 

4. Blue Jays

1) George Springer, RF
2) Bo Bichette, SS
3) Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 1B
4) Alejandro Kirk, C
5) Matt Chapman, 3B
6) Danny Jansen, DH
7) Lourdes Gurriel Jr., LF
😎 Santiago Espinal, 2B
9) Kevin Kiermaier, CF

Admittedly, this might be a smidge high, because, while the Blue Jays did rank second in MLB in wRC+ in 2022 (118), they will have to account for the absence of a very productive outfielder in Teoscar Hernández, who was dealt to the Mariners for bullpen help (Kiermaier is a defensive upgrade but not an offensive one). The Blue Jays could also still sorely use some help from the left-hand side. Regardless, this remains one of the absolute best lineups in the AL, retaining four regulars (Springer, Kirk, Guerrero and Bichette) who were at least 29 percent better than league average last season, per wRC+.

[mjp28]

5.  Cardinals   6. Braves  7.  Dodgers  8.  Phillies  - all NL same story year after year.   Then you can see who the GUARDIANS will be battling again this year in the AL  -  ★ 4. Jays  AND .....

★ 9. Yankees

1) Harrison Bader, CF
2) Aaron Judge, RF
3) Anthony Rizzo, 1B
4) Giancarlo Stanton, DH
5) Gleyber Torres, 2B
6) Josh Donaldson, 3B
7) Jose Trevino, C
8 ) Oswald Peraza, SS
9) Aaron Hicks, LF

The Yankees ranked second in runs (807) and fourth in wRC+ (115) in 2022. Keep in mind, though, that was with Judge having a season for the ages and Matt Carpenter (as mentioned above) briefly resembling Barry Bonds. In the second half, the lineup’s overall output was much more pedestrian. Re-signing Judge and Rizzo was a must, and it keeps the Yanks in the top 10. But this remains a very Judge-reliant offense, and Judge repeating his '22 performance will of course be difficult. 

Anthony Castrovince has been a reporter for MLB.com since 2004. Read his columns and follow him on Twitter at @Castrovince.