The Most Electrifying Player on Every MLB Team in 2022
Not everyone loves a statistical deep dive, and that's fine. Some baseball fans still prefer the eye test when it comes to determining the best players in the game, or at least the ones who are the most fun to watch.
An electrifying talent can be anyone from a slugger with light-tower power to a top-of-the-scale speedster, a well-rounded five-tool talent, a dominant starter or a flame-throwing reliever. All they need is a trait that makes them stand out from the pack.
With missing baseball at an all-time high amid the ongoing lockout, let's have some fun and run through each team's most electrifying player based purely on subjectivity.
There are no right or wrong answers here, but feel free to offer up your own thoughts in the comments where your picks would differ from mine.
AL East
1 of 6
Baltimore Orioles: CF Cedric Mullins
Considering Mullins was the first 30-homer, 30-steal player in Orioles history in 2021, electrifying seems like the perfect word to describe him. After an unexpected breakout season, he now looks like either an extremely valuable trade chip or a cornerstone piece for an O's team in the midst of a rebuild.
Boston Red Sox: 3B Rafael Devers
One of the game's elite in average exit velocity (93rd percentile), hard-hit rate (92nd percentile) and barrel rate (89th percentile), Devers consistently crushes baseballs like few others in the sport. The 25-year-old turned a few more doubles into home runs when he launched a career-high 38 long balls in 2021, and there's still room for more.
New York Yankees: RHP Gerrit Cole
From towering sluggers Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton to flame-throwing closer Aroldis Chapman, there is plenty of electrifying talent on the Yankees roster. With a fastball that averaged 97.7 mph and a wipeout slider that generated a 40.4 percent whiff rate, Cole belongs in that conversation as well. He can rack up strikeouts like few others.
Tampa Bay Rays: SS Wander Franco
What's more exciting than the sport's next big thing? Franco lived up to the hype of being the No. 1 prospect in baseball in 2020 and 2021, posting a 129 OPS+ and 3.5 WAR in 70 games while ripping off a 43-game on-base streak. The Rays rewarded him with an 11-year extension, and for the first time since Evan Longoria, a homegrown star could stick around in Tampa for the prime of his career.
Toronto Blue Jays: SS Bo Bichette
Unlike superstar teammate Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who is essentially a two-tool player, Bichette can do it all. The 24-year-old led the AL in hits (191) while tallying 30 doubles, 29 home runs and 102 RBI. He also stole 25 bases in 26 attempts, scored 121 runs and played solid defense (2 DRS) at shortstop.
AL Central
2 of 6
Chicago White Sox: CF Luis Robert
It's easy to dream of what a full season of Robert might have looked like last year. The 24-year-old missed more than three months with a hip flexor strain, but in the 68 games he did play, he racked up 36 extra-base hits in 296 plate appearances. He hit .338/.378/.567 with a 155 OPS+ and 3.6 WAR while again playing Gold Glove-caliber defense in center field. All of the ingredients are there for superstardom.
Cleveland Guardians: RHP Emmanuel Clase
This is not meant to be a slight of Jose Ramirez, who is a perennial MVP candidate and arguably the most underrated player in baseball, but have you seen Clase pitch? Armed with a sinker that averaged 100.2 mph last year and an unhittable slider that sits in the low 90s, he looks like baseball's next great closer.
Detroit Tigers: SS Javier Baez
For all of his shortcomings, Baez is nothing if not electric. The Tigers halted a revolving door at shortstop by inking the former Chicago Cubs star to a six-year, $140 million deal in December. He'll bring 30-homer power, elite up-the-middle defense, impact baserunning, loads of strikeouts and an unflinching swagger to a team on the rise.
Kansas City Royals: IF Adalberto Mondesi
It hasn't all clicked for Mondesi just yet, but his top-of-the-scale speed and effortless defensive actions continue to hint at the potential for bigger and better things. The 26-year-old missed most of the 2021 season with hamstring and oblique strains, but he still managed to steal 15 bases in 35 games.
Minnesota Twins: CF Byron Buxton
Extrapolated out over a full 162 games, Buxton would have hit .306/.358/.647 with 191 hits, 61 doubles, 50 home runs, 85 RBI, 133 runs scored, 24 steals and 12.0 WAR based on the numbers he produced in an abridged 61-game season in 2021. Even if Buxton never stays healthy for a full year, he is capable of producing more in a few months than most players do in an entire season.
AL West
3 of 6
Houston Astros: RF Kyle Tucker
How smooth is Tucker's swing? He was literally cast as a stand-in for Ted Williams in a documentary titled Ted Williams: The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived on PBS back in 2018. The 25-year-old has turned potential into production over the last two seasons, emerging as a star during a time of transition following the departure of George Springer and with Carlos Correa on his way out the door.
Los Angeles Angels: DH/RHP Shohei Ohtani
A great, big, giant eye roll to anyone who calls Ohtani overrated and feebly points to his .257 average or 189 strikeouts as the reason. With a 158 OPS+ and 46 home runs at the plate, and a 3.18 ERA and 156 strikeouts in 130.1 innings on the mound, he was the Angels' best hitter and best pitcher in 2021. What more can one player do?
Oakland Athletics: 3B Matt Chapman
Chapman has tallied 78 Defensive Runs Saved at third base since he broke into the majors in 2017, a total that trails only Mookie Betts (81) and Andrelton Simmons (79) among all players. The 28-year-old still has not quite found his groove offensively, and his status in Oakland is up in the air with the team cutting costs, but his defensive work is a joy to watch.
Seattle Mariners: LHP Robbie Ray
The Mariners shelled out $115 million over five years in the hope that Ray could duplicate his 2021 AL Cy Young-winning performance. The 30-year-old was nothing short of overpowering last season, leading the AL in ERA (2.84), WHIP (1.05), strikeouts (248) and innings pitched (193.1). He recorded triple-digit strikeouts with his mid-90s fastball (116) and hard-biting slider (122).
Texas Rangers: 2B Marcus Semien
On a one-year deal with the Blue Jays in 2021, Semien set the single-season record for home runs by a second baseman (45), stole a career-high 15 bases, won a Gold Glove in his first year shifting away from shortstop, made his first All-Star appearance, and parlayed that into a seven-year, $175 million contract.
.png?w=256)
NL East
4 of 6
Atlanta Braves: RF Ronald Acuna Jr.
Acuna was on his way to an MVP-caliber season when a torn ACL brought his 2021 campaign to an abrupt halt, but he remains one of the game's most dynamic young stars. He had a 41-homer, 37-steal season at the age of 21 in 2019, and there isn't much in baseball that is more electrifying than a potential 40/40 player.
Miami Marlins: 2B Jazz Chisholm Jr.
A quick-twitch athlete who still has work to do refining his overall game, Chisholm had 20 doubles, 18 home runs and 23 steals in 124 games for a 2.5 WAR rookie season. The 24-year-old could eventually move back to his natural shortstop position, but for now, he'll continue to cut his MLB chops alongside veteran Miguel Rojas up the middle.
New York Mets: RHP Jacob deGrom
Prior to arm issues in early July, deGrom was putting together an all-time great season. In 92 innings, he allowed only 40 hits and 11 walks for a 0.55 WHIP that would have shattered the single-season record. It doesn't get more electric than a 99.2 mph fastball, 91.6 mph slider and 146 strikeouts in that limited stretch. He even went 12-for-33 with six RBI at the plate for good measure.
Philadelphia Phillies: RHP Zack Wheeler
Wheeler tossed three complete games and two shutouts last year while leading the NL in strikeouts (247) and the majors in innings pitched (213.1). Three years into his five-year, $118 million deal, he is shaping up to be one of the best nine-figure investments in MLB history. Bryce Harper is electrifying in his own right, but the list of bona fide aces in today's game is much shorter than the list of top-tier sluggers.
Washington Nationals: RF Juan Soto
After a summer fire sale that stripped the roster to the studs, Soto is sort of the last man standing for the Nationals. A banged up Stephen Strasburg and a knocked around Patrick Corbin are still making a ton of money, and slugger Josh Bell is a quality bat in the middle of the lineup, but Soto is simply on another level in terms of both production and entertainment value.
NL Central
5 of 6
Chicago Cubs: RHP Marcus Stroman
Outspoken off the field and a fiery competitor on the mound, Stroman signed a three-year, $71 million deal in December to join Kyle Hendricks atop the Cubs rotation. Few pitchers bring his level of intensity to the mound, making it must-see TV every time he toes the rubber.
Cincinnati Reds: RHP Luis Castillo
Come for the upper-90s fastball, stay for arguably the best changeup in baseball. Castillo struggled early in the 2021 season with a 7.22 ERA in 11 starts through the end of May, but he rounded into ace form from there. In his final 22 starts, he had a 2.73 ERA and 144 strikeouts in 135.1 innings with 17 quality starts.
Milwaukee Brewers: RHP Freddy Peralta
Corbin Burnes? Brandon Woodruff? Josh Hader? Devin Williams? All of them would be great answers from a Brewers pitching staff that is loaded with electric arms. Peralta might be the most overpowering of the bunch when everything is clicking, though, evidenced by an impressive 14 starts with two or fewer hits allowed in 2021. The 25-year-old is a no-hitter waiting to happen.
Pittsburgh Pirates: 3B Ke'Bryan Hayes
Certain players just look more at home on a baseball field than others. From his elite defense at the hot corner to his smooth right-handed swing and his sneaky mix of power and speed, Hayes plays the game with an effortlessness that is difficult to explain. He is the most physically talented player on the Pittsburgh roster, and at 25 years old, there is plenty of time for that to translate to stardom.
St. Louis Cardinals: 3B Nolan Arenado
Arenado has a ways to go to catch Brooks Robinson's 16 career Gold Glove wins at third base, but he's taken home the honor in each of his first nine seasons in the majors. Add to that his perennial 30-homer, 100-RBI production—marks he's reached in each of his last six full seasons—and he's the definition of a two-way superstar.
NL West
6 of 6
Arizona Diamondbacks: CF Ketel Marte
There isn't a lot of excitement on the D-backs roster these days, although Marte stands out as one of the few notable exceptions. The 28-year-old hit .318/.377/.532 with 44 extra-base hits in 374 plate appearances despite a nagging hamstring injury that limited him to only 90 games.
Colorado Rockies: 2B/3B Ryan McMahon
With Nolan Arenado gone, Trevor Story on his way out the door and Charlie Blackmon entering his age-35 season, the Rockies are light on star power. McMahon, 27, put together a 4.0 WAR season in 2021 while tallying 32 doubles, 23 home runs and 86 RBI and playing Gold Glove-caliber defense at second base and third base.
Los Angeles Dodgers: SS Trea Turner
There is a laundry list of reasons why Turner is electrifying, which is why he claimed the No. 1 spot in our recent five-tool player rankings. He hit .328 to win the NL batting title, slugged a career-high 28 home runs while posting a .536 slugging percentage, made a seamless midseason transition from shortstop to second base and led the majors with a 30.7 feet per second sprint speed en route to 32 steals in 37 attempts.
San Diego Padres: SS Fernando Tatis Jr.
Tatis will be 23 years old for the entirety of the 2022 season, and he's coming off a year where he posted a 166 OPS+ with 42 home runs, 25 steals and 6.6 WAR to finish third in NL MVP voting. Outside of the on-paper numbers, his mix of power, speed and swagger are unmatched in the game today.
San Francisco Giants: RHP Logan Webb
In his final 14 starts last year, Webb went 7-0 with a 2.68 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and 93 strikeouts in 87.1 innings, and he threw gems in Game 1 (7.2 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 10 K) and Game 5 (7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 7 K) of the NLDS. With a mid-90s fastball, one of the best sliders in baseball and an improved changeup, he ticks all of the boxes to be a long-term ace.
All stats courtesy of Baseball Reference and FanGraphs.
.png?w=480)
