MLB Watchability Rankings: A Guide to Help You Decide Which Teams to Check Out This Season
It looked more than a little shaky there for a while, but we will indeed be able to watch a full regular season of baseball in 2022. Hooray! For the second straight year, I’m here to help you decide which teams you should be watching based on how fun they are to see play.
Home runs, stolen bases and a knack for contact are what we’re looking for in an offense. An entertaining defense is a little harder to define, as a pitching staff that racks up strikeouts can be a sight to behold even if the ball isn’t in play as often. But fielders who can thrill the crowd with a simple force out gain a good share of credit for their teams. And, above all, in any aspect of the game, the sort of talent that sells tickets serves as the differentiating factor.
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Clear Your Schedule
Los Angeles Dodgers: The best team money can buy. This era’s answer to the 1990s to 2000s Yankees (at least in terms of their budget, if not championships). You either love them or you hate them. And after the Dodgers added Freddie Freeman, the man who should’ve been this era’s Chipper Jones, Braves fans definitely hate them, adding another layer to one of Los Angeles’ many rivalries. No matter the opponent, you’ll want to tune in to this superteam whenever you get the chance.
New York Mets: Steve Cohen, for all his faults, has revived his favorite team’s watchability. One year after the billionaire owner authorized the trading for and signing of Francisco Lindor, among other high-priced free agents, the Mets acquired even more highly appealing stars this offseason in Max Scherzer and Starling Marte to pair with Jacob deGrom and the gang. But the absurd beauty in the Mets’ appeal lies in the ghostly spirit that still hovers over this team. The central tension this year that makes the Mets so compelling is the feeling that some inevitable glorious disaster is always lurking, no matter how much money Cohen spends. Indeed, the Mets are about to embark on an unprecedented run of success … or maybe they’ll just crash in another trademark trainwreck, which also would be fun for almost everyone outside of Queens.
Toronto Blue Jays: The best part about the Blue Jays is they love to swing! They ranked first in home runs and slugging percentage last season while also somehow striking out fewer times than any other team. As Tom Verducci wrote in a column from September, “They are the baddest, most hack-tastic, most fastball-chomping, most aggressive-swinging team in baseball.” That’s super fun! Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette are the lightning and thunder of the lineup, which will only be made better by a full season of George Springer. New third baseman Matt Chapman will provide plenty of defensive highlights. Is there anyone outside of New York, Boston or Tampa Bay not rooting for these guys? Plus, each home series will reveal which opposing players aren’t vaccinated, which will satisfy our curiosity about that side of life (and provide perhaps the biggest home-field advantage in league history).
Atlanta Braves: The defending champs let the face of the franchise walk to their biggest National League rivals of this generation. Will Freddie Freeman’s replacement, Atlanta native Matt Olson, respond to the pressure with aplomb? It’ll be interesting to find out. In an odd pseudo-trade, Kenley Jansen, who signed with Atlanta not long after the Dodgers signed Freeman, will take over the closer role and provide plenty of late-inning high-wire acts. Elsewhere, Ronald Acuña Jr. is set to return from his torn ACL in the first week of May, giving Atlanta perhaps baseball’s most explosive player. Ozzie Albies plays at 100 miles per hour and World Series-winning pitcher Max Fried’s curve can buckle batters’ knees with the best of them.
Chicago White Sox: Strikeouts aren’t always a positive when it comes to watchability, as you’d rather see the ball in play. But the manner in which Chicago’s pitching staff blows away the opposition is a sight to see, even if Liam Hendriks doesn’t curse on any more hot mics. As for the bats, the possibility of Luis Robert and Eloy Jiménez staying healthy for a full season is more than enough to draw eyeballs to a White Sox lineup that already features 2020 AL MVP José Abreu, Tim Anderson and Yasmani Grandal, owner of the most satisfying home run bat drop in MLB.
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Don’t Look Away
Philadelphia Phillies: Similar to their division-rival Mets, the Phillies have an enticing combination of starpower and potential sloppiness to make any game an adventure. Reigning NL MVP Bryce Harper is the obvious ticket-seller, but the real entertainment could come from the offseason additions of mashers Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos, two of the worst defensive outfielders in baseball. Every night, this team is going to roll out a lethal lineup, a laughably dreadful defense and a bullpen that, despite another round of considerable offseason upgrades, needs to build trust before its historically poor reputation fails to precede it.
Los Angeles Angels: Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout do so much to lift them into this second tier. The most important question is whether the two superstars can lift the Angels into the postseason. Either way, there may be no other team you’ll tune in for more on a random weeknight.
Kansas City Royals: Pretty much the highest I can rank a team that isn’t projected to make the playoffs. The Royals play an entertaining brand of offense that last season featured the most stolen bases in MLB for the second year running, as well as the third-fewest strikeouts and second-fewest walks. Let’s hope Adalberto Mondesi can stay off the injured list long enough to lead the majors in stolen bases again.
San Diego Padres: If Fernando Tatis Jr. wasn’t going to be out injured for a while, the Padres would be in the top tier. The temporary loss of baseball’s most electrifying player bumps them down a peg. Still, there is plenty to like. The return of Mike Clevinger and the trade for Sean Manaea adds to their stacked rotation on paper, even if it didn’t work out that way last year. San Diego also stole the second-most bases in baseball last year, though it’s unclear if that aggressive mindset will continue under new manager Bob Melvin.
Boston Red Sox: The biggest risers from last year’s rankings, the bashing BoSox ranked second in slugging percentage last year. J.D. Martinez once again looks like his old slugging self, Trevor Story is in Beantown playing second base alongside star shortstop Xander Bogaerts and Jackie Bradley Jr. is back in the fold to make highlight-reel plays in the shadows of the Green Monster. Plus, it’s always fun to catch a game at Fenway, where the kooky dimensions are prone to provide a few unexpected twists and turns.
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Worth the Watch
San Francisco Giants: Seeing how Gabe Kapler’s guys will follow up on their out-of-nowhere NL West championship is one of the most compelling and unpredictable story lines of 2022. The Giants didn’t just play well last year, but they also looked good doing so. They ranked second in home runs and issued the fewest walks in the league. Points off for a relative lack of starpower and enough pitching changes to lose some viewers clicking away on all the commercial breaks.
Houston Astros: Everyone wanted to see how the league villains fared in their first season with fans post-sign stealing scandal, but that novelty has almost completely worn off at this point, especially with Carlos Correa in Minnesota. Still, Yordan Alvarez’s unmatchable raw power, the return of Justin Verlander and Dusty Baker’s final rodeo (...right?) should be compelling enough to hold your attention. From a pure sporting standpoint, the Astros’ offense is also a good watch after ranking third in slugging percentage with the second-fewest strikeouts in MLB last season.
Seattle Mariners: Baseball fans should be interested to see how Seattle fares after adding the reigning AL Cy Young award winner to MLB’s most surprising contender from last season. Julio Rodriguez is the rookie most likely to make you want to turn on the TV whenever he’s up at bat. But the Mariners ranked dead last in batting average in 2022 despite their surprising success, meaning they’re not the team you’d choose to show a casual fan looking for the thrills of the sport, no matter what manager Scott Servais says about their “fun differential.”
New York Yankees: On one hand, the Yankees have Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton representing the possibility of a moonshot in any plate appearance. Gerrit Cole and Aroldis Chapman are shiny attractions for the layman, too. But in some ways, baseball’s most famous franchise was a chore to watch last year. The lineup’s all-or-nothing approach resulted in the most walks and sixth-most strikeouts in MLB, and the shoddy defense was sadder than stimulating. Josh Donaldson and Isiah Kiner-Falefa should show off some superior glovework to help that cause, though, and let’s be real—there’s an inherent draw to watching the Bronx Bombers.
Milwaukee Brewers: Do you like watching some of the nastiest pitchers in the league carve their way through a lineup? Then you’ll love watching NL Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, Freddy Peralta, Josh Hader and Devin Williams strut their stuff in Milwaukee, which led the league in strikeouts in 2021. If you’re into high-scoring games, though, you’ll want to look elsewhere.
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You Could Do Worse
Tampa Bay Rays: The lowest-ranked squad of any projected World Series contender, the Rays can be a tough sell to the average fan. Their reliance on a parade of relievers serves as the epitome of effectiveness over entertainment, and the offense ranked first in the AL in strikeouts last year. At least they locked up Wander Franco, who is their main attraction. If you’re flipping through channels or streams and he’s due up, you should definitely tune in.
St. Louis Cardinals: The middle ground. A team a true fan can appreciate, with Nolan Arenado’s effortless web gems and Yadier Molina’s utter control of the run game from behind the plate. But an offense led by Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt isn’t exactly show-stopping. The Cardinals still adhere to their long-standing formula of pitching to contact, which earns them plaudits in this exercise, but they balanced that out last season by issuing the second-most walks. The team’s biggest draw this year might be Albert Pujols in his St. Louis return. He and Molina have announced they will retire after the season. Might Adam Wainwright do the same? The last run for these franchise icons is worth paying attention to this year.
Chicago Cubs: Chicago greatly helped its cause over the offseason by signing defensive whiz Andrelton Simmons, NPB export Seiya Suzuki and Marcus Stroman, whose swagger, theatrics and quick pace make him one of the game’s most engaging mound presences. But the Cubs’ offense, which led the league in strikeouts last year, could have Wrigley Field fans more focused on their beer cup stacks than the team’s at-bats by the seventh-inning stretch of many afternoons on the North Side.
Minnesota Twins: What exactly are the Twins doing? We’re excited to find out. Byron Buxton is a highlight reel waiting to happen whenever he can avoid the injury bug, and Carlos Correa is poised to give this franchise a shot in the arm. Maybe Gary Sánchez will figure out the defensive complexities of playing catcher outside of the bright Bronx lights … or maybe he’ll continue to let passed balls go by him, which is simultaneously painful and exhilarating to watch. Then again, maybe he won’t have to be their regular catcher for the bulk of the season, so long as Ryan Jeffers, their catcher of the future, is ready to play every day. Either way, El Gary is Scary at the plate, a move into a primary DH role could do wonders for his bat and his health.
Texas Rangers: The Rangers are hoping you’ll tune in to see how Corey Seager and Marcus Semien do in their new digs. That’ll quickly lose its appeal once you take in the rest of the roster.
Keep a Hand on the Remote
Cleveland Guardians: James Karinchak and Emmanuel Clase are two of the nastiest relievers alive. Cleveland also boasts a new nickname and logo, neither of which is racist, so that’s nice. But this team’s whole is somehow less than the sum of its parts from an entertainment perspective, perhaps because of an awful offense and indifferent front office (the only major league signing this offseason is backup catcher Luke Maile). Even Shane Bieber and José Ramirez don’t get the blood pumping as much as most superstars do despite possessing all the necessary physical tools. The main attraction here is Franmil Reyes, the 6'5", 265-pound DH with as much power as his build suggests.
Miami Marlins: There’s some potential here. The Marlins could gain some much-needed fans if Miami’s stable of young fireballers matures ahead of schedule, Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s game-changing sparks occur more often and Jorge Soler resembles the slugger who won World Series MVP last season. But you can also see why Derek Jeter wasn’t happy with how this team was progressing, namely an offense that ranked second in strikeouts while hitting the third-fewest homers in MLB last year.
Colorado Rockies: How should Colorado use its new, versatile $182 million man? It’s an interesting thought exercise but not enough to make you want to tune into the Rockies all that often. The Coors Field factor saves them from the bottom tier.
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Detroit Tigers: The Tigers appeared set to charge up these rankings early in the offseason after committing $217 million to Javy Báez and Eduardo Rodríguez (even if only one of those players really moves the needle in this assignment). Instead, their offseason spending spree petered out, postponing their rise in this space. The Miguel Cabrera milestone chases will be fun, though, while the developments of Casey Mize and Spencer Torkelson could make for a few fun moments.
Washington Nationals: The fact that the Nationals aren’t in the bottom tier reflects how much of a difference Juan Soto makes.
Are We Having Fun Yet?
Oakland A’s: The decennial A’s reset sends Oakland plunging down to the bottom tier. Ramon Laureano’s arm, which isn’t tested nearly as often as it used to be, can only make for so much entertainment.
Cincinnati Reds: This offseason, the Reds gave away most of their exciting players in the name of their so-called “payroll alignment.” Luis Castillo is the last invigorating trade chip left, unless you count Joey Votto, who wants to spend his whole career with Cincinnati. But Votto and Castillo alone aren’t enough to make this team enjoyable.
Pittsburgh Pirates: Aside from Ke’Bryan Hayes and Bryan Reynolds, the rest of the Pirates roster is scurvy-worthy. Oneil Cruz can’t debut soon enough.
Baltimore Orioles: When are the Orioles finally going to get this rebuild off the ground? Adley Rutschman’s looming call-up is the only thing worth keeping an eye on in Baltimore.
Arizona Diamondbacks: The worst watch of them all. Arizona ranked in the bottom three of stolen bases and home runs last year, and yet, the pitching staff was even less enjoyable to watch. Madison “Get Off My Lawn” Bumgarner and Merrill Kelly are two of the slowest-working starters in the league, and Zac Gallen is seemingly addicted to pickoff throws—which I’ll sign off by saying is the single-worst action you can take to get the crowd on your side.
More MLB Coverage:
• MLB Preseason Power Rankings: Everyone’s Chasing the Dodgers
• Five-Tool Newsletter: Grading the Kimbrel-Pollock Trade
• One Big Question for Every American League Team
• One Big Question for Every National League Team
• Spring Training Strikeout King Cody Bellinger Is As Optimistic As Ever
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