2022 ZiPS Projections: Chicago White Sox by Dan Szymborski November 22, 2021 ZiPS Projections 2022 2021 ALBALCHWHOUBOSCLELAANYYDETOAKTBRKCRSEATORMINTEX NLATLCHCARIMIACINCOLNYMMILLADPHIPITSDPWSNSTLSFG ALBALCHWHOUBOSCLELAANYYDETOAKTBRKCRSEATORMINTEX NLATLCHCARIMIACINCOLNYMMILLADPHIPITSDPWSNSTLSFG After having typically appeared in the hallowed pages of Baseball Think Factory, Dan Szymborski’s ZiPS projections have now been released at FanGraphs for a decade. The exercise continues this offseason. Below are the projections for the Chicago White Sox. Batters The White Sox offense projects similarly to how it did prior to the 2021 season, which is good news for the team considering how easily they made the playoffs. But that also means the fundamental problems in the offense remain, with an additional issue compared to last year. ZiPS may be underestimating Eloy Jiménez — it’s always hard to evaluate players coming back from injury — but we can’t pretend that there isn’t some risk involved there. The remaining outfield position and DH are thornier concerns, and ZiPS is more pessimistic here than Steamer is. This is not a popular opinion, but if the White Sox plan to use Andrew Vaughn like our depth charts indicate they will, I really hope they just let him crush Triple-A pitching for a few months rather than juggling him with Gavin Sheets and Adam Engel. The basic problem is that though Vaughn was deservedly a terrific prospect, and 2020’s lost season of course did him no favors, he still doesn’t have a professional season in line with what you would expect from a top first base prospect. ZiPS did not see huge upside remaining for Nick Madrigal given how low his power ceiling is, but him being missing here is a loss, regardless of whether you think picking up Craig Kimbrel was worth the exchange. Danny Mendick is an adequate enough stopgap, but isn’t terribly exciting, and the computer is not sold on Romy Gonzalez, at least, not yet. The Sox do have some breathing room in the division, but like Vaughn, I would like them to see how Gonzalez does in Triple-A and take the less risky path here. I was disappointed that the team didn’t pick up César Hernández’s option, even though he didn’t play particularly well in Chicago. Tim Anderson, Yoán Moncada, Yasmani Grandal, and Luis Robert are the big playoff pushers here. You may not be familiar with Grandal’s top comp, but Duke Sims is an interesting one. Grandal is the better player, but Sims had a nice little peak in his late 20s until he got supplanted by Ray Fosse (he had already been traded before Fosse’s famous collision with Pete Rose). Pitchers There are few complaints about the rotation here. I think they could still use another arm, but four of the five likely starters for the Sox have a projected ERA+ north of 110. The only exception is Dallas Keuchel, but ZiPS sees him having a bounce-back season and at least eating innings for the team; a 99 ERA+ would be an excellent result for a team’s fifth starter. The only thing really keeping Kopech down is that I’m still not totally convinced about his 2022 role, even though I think logic dictates he’s in the rotation, though possibly with more care than his rotation-mates. Reynaldo López is just fine to have around as a spare starter, and if the Sox are only willing to spend so much money this offseason, you can make the argument that a hitter is the greater need, even assuming that Carlos Rodón does not return to the team. ZiPS has a certain fascination with Johan Dominguez as worthy of some mop-up duty, but I’m skeptical until he does it in the high minors. Don’t be alarmed by Dylan Cease’s top comp of Bobby Witt. This comparison is from the era when it looked like Witt had figured things out. That era turned out to be rather short-lived, but that doesn’t mean that will be the case for Cease. The bullpen is deep and though Craig Kimbrel ranks highly in the group, his projection is weak enough to make me wonder if picking up his option was a good idea from the point of view of a contender; Chicago may look to trade him this winter. Jimmy Cordero, outrighted recently, is coming off Tommy John surgery and feels like the kind of reliever who could pop up in August with the Dodgers or Rays or Brewers. One pedantic note for 2022: For the WAR graphic, I’m using FanGraphs’ depth charts playing time, not the playing time ZiPS spits out, so there will be occasional differences in WAR totals. Ballpark graphic courtesy Eephus League. Depth charts constructed by way of those listed here. Batters – Standard Player B Age PO PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS Yasmani Grandal S 33 C 467 375 61 88 15 1 23 70 82 116 1 1 Luis Robert R 24 CF 500 459 68 128 24 4 22 68 29 126 16 5 Yoán Moncada S 27 3B 622 546 80 142 30 4 21 71 67 169 6 2 Tim Anderson R 29 SS 581 554 91 164 29 2 20 61 22 121 19 7 José Abreu R 35 1B 614 549 75 145 31 2 27 109 44 135 1 0 Jake Burger R 26 3B 530 473 62 119 17 1 20 56 40 99 2 2 Eloy Jiménez R 25 LF 468 435 56 120 22 1 26 80 27 114 0 0 Cesar Hernandez S 32 2B 618 549 77 134 22 2 16 60 60 125 4 2 Carlos Perez R 25 C 442 414 43 96 20 0 13 52 19 62 1 0 Adam Engel R 30 CF 385 354 44 85 17 3 12 39 19 96 13 4 Andrew Vaughn R 24 LF 504 445 59 109 25 0 19 52 45 110 1 2 Gavin Sheets L 26 1B 446 407 54 104 20 0 21 72 32 101 1 1 Danny Mendick R 28 SS 447 398 47 93 15 1 10 41 41 95 7 5 Romy Gonzalez R 25 SS 448 414 51 92 18 1 17 54 28 142 13 3 Yoelqui Cespedes R 24 CF 341 320 34 78 15 1 8 29 12 108 11 3 Yolbert Sanchez R 25 2B 415 399 44 110 11 0 9 36 15 60 3 0 Mikie Mahtook R 32 CF 424 387 48 84 13 2 19 56 27 118 7 3 Jose Rodriguez R 21 SS 543 521 63 136 22 2 17 56 17 90 17 6 Leury García S 31 2B 499 454 61 118 20 3 8 46 30 105 9 3 Matt Reynolds R 31 SS 381 340 39 73 17 2 6 29 35 106 3 2 Bryan Ramos R 20 3B 539 489 59 102 19 2 20 58 30 140 8 1 Xavier Fernández R 26 C 283 261 31 61 10 0 9 28 16 55 2 1 Zack Collins L 27 C 358 302 40 59 14 1 11 42 50 123 1 0 Tim Beckham R 32 SS 321 298 37 70 15 1 13 42 20 87 2 2 Rubén Tejada R 32 3B 328 296 31 64 11 1 4 21 23 66 2 2 Billy Hamilton R 31 CF 293 268 39 54 9 3 3 14 20 81 21 4 Brian Goodwin L 31 RF 383 341 44 75 17 1 12 43 37 109 5 2 Yermín Mercedes R 29 1B 456 419 49 105 17 1 15 57 28 84 2 1 Lenyn Sosa R 22 SS 539 519 52 120 22 1 11 44 14 123 3 5 Laz Rivera R 27 3B 408 381 39 86 16 1 7 32 11 94 8 7 Evan Skoug L 26 C 215 193 19 30 6 1 6 20 18 79 1 0 Zach Remillard R 28 SS 425 390 41 77 11 1 10 34 25 132 8 4 JJ Muno L 28 3B 231 204 22 36 4 2 5 19 14 72 8 3 Tyler Neslony L 28 LF 301 274 30 58 13 1 7 26 22 82 3 2 Micker Adolfo R 25 RF 387 353 44 74 18 1 16 49 26 145 3 2 Seby Zavala R 28 C 340 309 36 58 11 0 13 39 22 135 0 1 Joel Booker R 28 CF 314 291 28 56 9 1 5 22 13 105 12 4 Jameson Fisher L 28 1B 414 374 41 79 15 1 9 35 32 122 2 2 Gunnar Troutwine R 26 C 216 194 21 37 7 0 4 15 19 67 0 0 Craig Dedelow L 27 RF 458 422 43 78 16 2 14 47 28 167 2 2 Blake Rutherford L 25 LF 508 478 48 107 20 4 8 43 23 135 6 3 Alex Destino L 26 RF 454 417 47 81 12 1 16 49 32 159 1 0 Marco Hernandez L 29 2B 369 349 34 81 14 1 4 24 9 73 2 3 Samir Dueñez L 26 1B 376 344 36 67 12 1 11 36 26 109 2 0 Harvin Mendoza L 23 1B 489 451 46 105 16 0 7 33 28 77 1 0 Luis Mieses L 22 RF 503 473 53 111 25 2 16 58 17 101 0 0 Joe DeCarlo R 28 1B 195 177 17 30 5 0 4 13 14 63 0 0 Mitch Roman R 27 2B 331 303 27 55 7 1 2 16 23 115 10 3 Jagger Rusconi S 25 2B 295 276 23 49 10 1 3 16 12 111 2 2 Ti’Quan Forbes R 25 1B 426 395 38 84 14 2 6 30 22 116 3 4 Luis Curbelo R 24 3B 477 448 46 77 17 2 19 55 24 198 1 1 Batters – Advanced Player BA OBP SLG OPS+ ISO BABIP RC/27 Def WAR No. 1 Comp Yasmani Grandal .235 .373 .464 128 .229 .275 6.1 4 3.9 Duke Sims Luis Robert .279 .330 .492 121 .214 .341 6.2 3 3.2 Rondell White Yoán Moncada .260 .346 .445 115 .185 .340 5.7 1 3.2 Travis Fryman Tim Anderson .296 .325 .464 113 .168 .349 5.9 -4 2.8 Michael Young José Abreu .264 .331 .475 117 .211 .305 5.8 -2 1.9 Bill Skowron Jake Burger .252 .325 .419 102 .167 .280 4.9 -1 1.7 Peter Ciofrone Eloy Jiménez .276 .319 .510 122 .234 .319 6.1 -5 1.6 Mark Quinn Cesar Hernandez .244 .323 .379 92 .135 .289 4.4 0 1.4 Marv Owen Carlos Perez .232 .270 .374 74 .143 .245 3.6 10 1.3 Yadier Molina Adam Engel .240 .295 .407 90 .167 .297 4.4 3 1.2 Darnell McDonald Andrew Vaughn .245 .325 .429 105 .184 .285 4.9 -1 1.1 Marc Newfield Gavin Sheets .256 .311 .459 107 .204 .291 5.2 1 1.1 Danny Lewis Danny Mendick .234 .309 .352 81 .118 .283 3.8 4 1.1 Chris Gomez Romy Gonzalez .222 .277 .394 81 .171 .294 4.0 2 0.9 Jose Fernandez Yoelqui Cespedes .244 .290 .372 80 .128 .343 4.0 4 0.7 Curt Flood Yolbert Sanchez .276 .304 .371 84 .095 .306 4.3 1 0.7 Chris Getz Mikie Mahtook .217 .275 .408 84 .191 .260 3.9 2 0.6 Damon Buford Jose Rodriguez .261 .285 .409 87 .148 .287 4.4 -6 0.6 Chin-Lung Hu Leury García .260 .310 .370 85 .110 .323 4.3 -3 0.5 Adam Kennedy Matt Reynolds .215 .290 .329 70 .115 .294 3.3 4 0.4 Bobby Scales Bryan Ramos .209 .272 .378 76 .170 .249 3.6 1 0.3 Adam Fox Xavier Fernández .234 .281 .375 78 .142 .264 3.7 -1 0.2 Gary Bennett Zack Collins .195 .311 .358 83 .162 .286 3.8 -8 0.1 Eric Helfand Tim Beckham .235 .287 .423 91 .188 .288 4.2 -8 0.0 Scott Seabol Rubén Tejada .216 .284 .301 61 .084 .265 2.9 4 -0.2 Kevin Baez Billy Hamilton .201 .255 .291 50 .090 .277 3.0 4 -0.3 Rich Thompson Brian Goodwin .220 .298 .381 85 .161 .286 4.0 -4 -0.4 Orsino Hill Yermín Mercedes .251 .299 .403 90 .153 .281 4.3 -5 -0.4 Chan Perry Lenyn Sosa .231 .255 .341 61 .110 .283 2.9 3 -0.4 Andres Thomas Laz Rivera .226 .265 .328 61 .102 .282 2.9 3 -0.5 Jace Brewer Evan Skoug .155 .234 .290 43 .135 .222 2.2 1 -0.5 Dave Ullery Zach Remillard .197 .255 .308 54 .110 .270 2.6 3 -0.5 Chris Petersen JJ Muno .176 .261 .289 51 .113 .244 2.6 0 -0.5 Brian Keck Tyler Neslony .212 .273 .343 68 .131 .276 3.2 1 -0.6 Greg Creek Micker Adolfo .210 .272 .402 81 .193 .302 3.7 -4 -0.6 Brian McFall Seby Zavala .188 .246 .350 61 .162 .280 2.8 -3 -0.6 Dane Sardinha Joel Booker .192 .238 .282 42 .089 .282 2.4 2 -0.9 Martin Foley Jameson Fisher .211 .277 .329 65 .118 .288 3.1 0 -1.2 Craig Cooper Gunnar Troutwine .191 .265 .289 52 .098 .268 2.6 -9 -1.2 J.C. Boscan Craig Dedelow .185 .241 .332 55 .147 .266 2.6 5 -1.3 Kris Harvey Blake Rutherford .224 .261 .333 61 .109 .296 3.0 2 -1.5 Alex Negron Alex Destino .194 .256 .343 62 .149 .269 3.0 -2 -1.5 Ryan Kane Marco Hernandez .232 .255 .312 54 .080 .283 2.7 -5 -1.5 Brandon Pinckney Samir Dueñez .195 .251 .331 58 .137 .250 2.8 -1 -1.6 John Lindsey Harvin Mendoza .233 .282 .315 64 .082 .267 3.1 -1 -1.6 Dennis Colon Luis Mieses .235 .263 .397 77 .163 .267 3.7 -10 -1.6 Eric Welsh Joe DeCarlo .169 .237 .266 38 .096 .236 2.0 -6 -1.7 Chris Tremie Mitch Roman .182 .242 .231 31 .050 .285 2.0 -1 -1.8 Chuck Abbott Jagger Rusconi .178 .222 .254 30 .076 .284 1.8 -2 -1.8 Leury Bonilla Ti’Quan Forbes .213 .264 .304 55 .091 .286 2.6 -1 -1.9 Greg Porter Luis Curbelo .172 .216 .346 50 .174 .251 2.4 -6 -2.2 Tom Schmidt Pitchers – Standard Player T Age W L ERA G GS IP H ER HR BB SO FIP Lucas Giolito R 27 13 8 3.36 30 30 174.3 135 65 23 55 217 3.42 Dylan Cease R 26 12 8 3.88 32 32 162.3 136 70 20 76 204 3.82 Lance Lynn R 35 10 8 3.98 27 26 149.3 137 66 23 50 158 4.17 Carlos Rodon L 29 9 6 3.88 21 20 106.7 89 46 16 41 133 3.96 Dallas Keuchel L 34 9 8 4.46 27 26 145.3 153 72 21 49 104 4.74 Liam Hendriks R 33 6 3 2.83 62 0 63.7 47 20 9 15 94 2.82 Michael Kopech R 26 5 3 3.76 34 9 76.7 62 32 10 36 103 3.75 Reynaldo Lopez R 28 9 9 4.76 30 24 128.7 124 68 23 48 120 4.87 Aaron Bummer L 28 4 2 3.10 60 0 58.0 45 20 4 26 70 3.16 Johan Dominguez R 26 7 7 4.79 24 23 99.7 106 53 16 32 79 4.83 Tanner Banks L 30 5 5 4.67 24 13 90.7 98 47 14 22 65 4.65 Garrett Crochet L 23 5 3 3.29 52 0 52.0 41 19 5 23 66 3.33 Jason Bilous R 24 6 7 4.96 23 23 89.0 91 49 16 38 84 5.08 Kyle Kubat L 29 5 5 4.78 26 12 81.0 89 43 13 20 59 4.70 Craig Kimbrel R 34 4 3 3.75 54 0 48.0 33 20 8 25 75 3.97 Kade McClure R 26 5 6 5.08 23 23 101.0 110 57 18 34 81 5.08 Jimmy Cordero R 30 4 3 3.88 60 0 65.0 61 28 5 31 56 4.12 Emilio Vargas R 25 5 6 5.10 22 18 90.0 94 51 18 32 80 5.24 Jace Fry L 28 3 3 3.96 50 1 50.0 41 22 5 29 61 3.90 Jimmy Lambert R 27 4 5 5.11 21 20 74.0 74 42 14 35 74 5.22 Andrew Perez L 24 2 1 3.97 32 0 45.3 44 20 6 13 44 3.95 Kaleb Roper R 26 5 5 5.16 20 16 66.3 67 38 11 34 62 5.19 Bennett Sousa L 27 4 4 4.31 43 0 54.3 52 26 8 18 54 4.27 Will Kincanon R 26 2 2 4.20 32 0 40.7 37 19 3 25 40 4.16 Matt Foster R 27 3 3 4.34 50 0 58.0 54 28 10 22 61 4.56 Ryan Tepera R 34 2 1 4.35 56 0 49.7 42 24 8 21 58 4.39 Kevin McCarthy R 30 2 2 4.47 45 1 54.3 58 27 8 16 36 4.76 Carl Edwards Jr. R 30 2 2 4.40 35 0 30.7 26 15 4 16 35 4.26 Jose Ruiz R 27 2 2 4.58 56 0 59.0 55 30 9 28 60 4.65 Brian Glowicki R 27 2 2 4.60 33 0 45.0 43 23 7 19 46 4.62 Tyler Johnson R 26 2 2 4.68 34 0 42.3 40 22 6 23 42 4.88 Taylor Varnell L 27 5 6 5.62 19 17 73.7 79 46 14 35 59 5.68 Jonathan Stiever R 25 5 7 5.64 20 19 91.0 100 57 22 26 82 5.54 Davis Martin R 25 5 7 5.66 24 24 95.3 107 60 18 41 74 5.56 Peter Tago R 29 2 2 5.00 31 1 45.0 43 25 7 25 47 4.91 Declan Cronin R 24 4 4 4.86 37 0 46.3 48 25 4 26 30 4.82 Ryan Burr R 28 3 3 4.99 45 1 48.7 47 27 7 28 44 5.09 John Parke L 27 5 7 5.74 24 23 111.3 132 71 21 40 62 5.78 J.B. Olson R 27 3 3 5.00 31 0 45.0 52 25 7 11 26 4.91 Zach Muckenhirn L 27 2 3 5.13 38 0 47.3 46 27 7 28 44 5.21 Caleb Freeman R 24 2 3 5.27 41 0 42.7 43 25 8 22 40 5.43 Hunter Schryver L 27 1 2 5.29 41 0 51.0 53 30 9 27 46 5.43 Anderson Severino L 27 2 3 5.85 38 0 40.0 40 26 7 33 38 6.26 Luis Ledo R 27 2 3 5.90 35 0 39.7 40 26 7 29 38 5.90 Kodi Medeiros L 26 3 5 6.08 28 10 74.0 77 50 14 55 69 6.17 Alec Hansen R 27 2 3 6.43 33 0 35.0 29 25 5 48 44 6.81 Blake Battenfield R 27 5 9 6.36 23 21 103.3 129 73 27 32 62 6.48 Ofreidy Gómez R 26 5 8 6.37 28 15 89.0 98 63 20 57 71 6.60 Jake Elliott R 27 2 4 6.71 31 1 53.7 64 40 14 26 38 6.78 Pitchers – Advanced Player K/9 BB/9 HR/9 BB% K% BABIP ERA+ ERA- WAR No. 1 Comp Lucas Giolito 11.2 2.8 1.2 7.8% 30.7% .275 131 76 4.1 Jake Peavy Dylan Cease 11.3 4.2 1.1 10.9% 29.3% .298 113 88 3.0 Bobby Witt Lance Lynn 9.5 3.0 1.4 7.9% 25.1% .289 111 90 2.6 Todd Stottlemyre Carlos Rodon 11.2 3.5 1.4 9.1% 29.6% .287 113 88 2.0 Larry McWilliams Dallas Keuchel 6.4 3.0 1.3 7.8% 16.5% .291 99 101 1.8 Geoff Zahn Liam Hendriks 13.3 2.1 1.3 6.0% 37.5% .288 156 64 1.6 Trevor Hoffman Michael Kopech 12.1 4.2 1.2 11.0% 31.4% .297 117 85 1.4 Jack Meyer Reynaldo Lopez 8.4 3.4 1.6 8.7% 21.7% .282 93 108 1.1 Jason Johnson Aaron Bummer 10.9 4.0 0.6 10.7% 28.7% .291 142 71 1.1 Tug McGraw Johan Dominguez 7.1 2.9 1.4 7.3% 18.1% .297 92 109 0.9 Elizardo Ramirez Tanner Banks 6.5 2.2 1.4 5.6% 16.7% .296 94 106 0.8 Mike Jeffcoat Garrett Crochet 11.4 4.0 0.9 10.5% 30.1% .293 134 75 0.8 Al Hrabosky Jason Bilous 8.5 3.8 1.6 9.6% 21.3% .298 89 113 0.6 Randy Niemann Kyle Kubat 6.6 2.2 1.4 5.7% 16.9% .299 92 109 0.6 Mark Hendrickson Craig Kimbrel 14.1 4.7 1.5 12.3% 36.9% .272 117 85 0.6 Jeff Nelson Kade McClure 7.2 3.0 1.6 7.6% 18.2% .301 87 115 0.6 Chien-Ming Wang Jimmy Cordero 7.8 4.3 0.7 10.8% 19.5% .295 113 88 0.6 Sean Green Emilio Vargas 8.0 3.2 1.8 8.1% 20.3% .292 86 116 0.5 Roy Smith Jace Fry 11.0 5.2 0.9 13.2% 27.9% .295 111 90 0.4 Hector Mercado Jimmy Lambert 9.0 4.3 1.7 10.6% 22.4% .296 86 116 0.4 Tom Newell Andrew Perez 8.7 2.6 1.2 6.8% 22.9% .299 111 90 0.4 Dana Allison Kaleb Roper 8.4 4.6 1.5 11.4% 20.7% .298 85 117 0.3 Jaret Wright Bennett Sousa 8.9 3.0 1.3 7.8% 23.3% .295 102 98 0.2 Danny Boone Will Kincanon 8.9 5.5 0.7 13.7% 21.9% .301 105 96 0.2 Gabe Dehoyos Matt Foster 9.5 3.4 1.6 8.9% 24.6% .288 101 99 0.2 Joe Beckwith Ryan Tepera 10.5 3.8 1.4 9.9% 27.4% .279 101 99 0.2 Jose DeLeon Kevin McCarthy 6.0 2.7 1.3 6.8% 15.3% .289 98 102 0.2 John Boozer Carl Edwards Jr. 10.3 4.7 1.2 12.0% 26.3% .286 100 100 0.1 Calvin Jones Jose Ruiz 9.2 4.3 1.4 10.9% 23.3% .289 96 104 0.1 Jay Robertson Brian Glowicki 9.2 3.8 1.4 9.6% 23.4% .295 96 105 0.0 Edwin Nunez Tyler Johnson 8.9 4.9 1.3 12.1% 22.1% .293 94 106 0.0 Gabe Dehoyos Taylor Varnell 7.2 4.3 1.7 10.5% 17.7% .294 78 128 0.0 Sean Henn Jonathan Stiever 8.1 2.6 2.2 6.5% 20.6% .297 78 128 0.0 Mark DiFelice Davis Martin 7.0 3.9 1.7 9.5% 17.1% .303 78 129 0.0 Yoann Torrealba Peter Tago 9.4 5.0 1.4 12.4% 23.3% .298 88 114 -0.1 Roberto Giron Declan Cronin 5.8 5.1 0.8 12.3% 14.2% .295 91 110 -0.1 Bob Miller Ryan Burr 8.1 5.2 1.3 12.7% 20.0% .288 88 113 -0.1 Marc Pisciotta John Parke 5.0 3.2 1.7 7.9% 12.3% .297 77 130 -0.1 Dave Otto J.B. Olson 5.2 2.2 1.4 5.6% 13.3% .300 88 114 -0.2 Tim McNab Zach Muckenhirn 8.4 5.3 1.3 13.0% 20.4% .291 86 117 -0.2 Kevin Tolar Caleb Freeman 8.4 4.6 1.7 11.5% 20.8% .292 83 120 -0.3 Mike Madden Hunter Schryver 8.1 4.8 1.6 11.6% 19.8% .299 83 120 -0.4 Geoff Jones Anderson Severino 8.6 7.4 1.6 17.1% 19.7% .295 75 133 -0.5 Bobby Sprowl Luis Ledo 8.6 6.6 1.6 15.5% 20.3% .297 75 134 -0.5 Mike Schultz Kodi Medeiros 8.4 6.7 1.7 15.6% 19.5% .299 72 138 -0.6 Roger Samuels Alec Hansen 11.3 12.3 1.3 26.4% 24.2% .289 68 146 -0.7 Archie Corbin Blake Battenfield 5.4 2.8 2.4 6.8% 13.2% .298 69 145 -0.8 Josh Towers Ofreidy Gómez 7.2 5.8 2.0 13.6% 16.9% .292 69 145 -0.8 Nick Skuse Jake Elliott 6.4 4.4 2.3 10.4% 15.2% .296 66 152 -1.1 Steven Rowe Players are listed with their most recent teams wherever possible. This includes players who are unsigned, players who will miss 2022 due to injury, and players who were released in 2021. So yes, if you see Joe Schmoe, who quit baseball back in August to form a big band orchestra that only plays nu-metal versions of baroque cantatas, he’s still listed here intentionally. ZiPS is assuming a league with an ERA of 4.36, similar to the post-June substance-enforcement environment. Both hitters and pitchers are ranked by projected zWAR, which is to say, WAR values as calculated by me, Dan Szymborski, whose surname is spelled with a z. WAR values might differ slightly from those that appear in the full release of ZiPS. Finally, I will advise anyone against — and might karate chop anyone guilty of — merely adding up WAR totals on a depth chart to produce projected team WAR. ZiPS is assuming that the designated hitter will continue in force in 2022. ZiPS is agnostic about future playing time by design. For more information about ZiPS, please refer to this article, or get angry at Dan on Twitter.