MLB’s Top Players at every Position in 2022: Left-Handed Starters
We’ve gone over the top right-handed starters in MLB this season. Now, it’s time to look at the best southpaws of 2022. Here are the top 10 left-handed starters this season.
1. Julio Urias, Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers’ rotation is filled with aces. But starters such as Walker Beuhler and Dustin May faced injuries, forcing others to step up as top-level starters. Urias has already been one of their top guys, and his 2022 season continued to show that. He finished with an NL-best 2.16 ERA, along with a 0.96 WHIP and 166 strikeouts. He only walked 41 in 175 innings pitches, and what’s incredible is Urias is only 25 in his seventh season. Despite the Dodgers collapsing in the postseason, Urias is going to give them stability in that rotation.
2. Max Fried, Atlanta Braves
The season ended earlier than expected for the former world champs, but Fried is yet another Brave who had an elite season. The ace went 14-7 for the second consecutive year, posting a 2.48 ERA in 185 innings. Fried threw 170 strikeouts, and only surrendered the long ball 12 times. His BB/9 continues to drop, as in 2022 he lowered it to 1.6. It was plenty enough to earn his first all-star nod, and Fried will continue to lead a young Atlanta rotation.
3. Shane McClanahan, Tampa Bay Rays
The Rays have a tendency to grow stars, and McClanahan was no different this year. The 25-year-old lefty will certainly get some Cy Young votes, as he threw for a 2.54 ERA and 0.92 WHIP. He was six strikeouts away from 200, giving him the eighth-best K/9 in baseball with a 10.50. Instead of the dreadful extension to Wander Franco, McClanahan is a guy the Rays need to look at signing long-term.
4. Framber Valdez, Houston Astros
The Astros seem to have more than enough talent, but that rotation is just as good as their lineup. One of the reasons for that is Valdez, who had himself the best season of his young career. He pitched the most innings in the AL with 201. He was also six strikeouts away from 200, along with a 2.82 ERA and 1.15 WHIP. His 3.14 SIERA was sixth-best in the AL and ninth-best in all of baseball. Valdez also posted an incredible 0.5 HR/9, which was also the best in the AL. He hasn’t won a ring yet since he debuted in 2018, but Valdez has an excellent chance to win one here in 2022.
5. Carlos Rodón, San Francisco Giants
It may be a one-and-done season for Rodón in SF, but regardless, it was a good one. The big lefty went 14-8 with a 2.88 ERA and a career-high 237 strikeouts. Surprisingly, this year was also the first time Rodón pitched in over 30 games in his whole career. That led to a career-high 178 innings pitched along with a 12 K/9, the best in all of baseball. No matter where Rodón plays next season, that team will be getting an elite-level ace for their rotation.
6. Nestor Cortés, Jr., New York Yankees
Cortés pretty much came out of nowhere, and ended up being a solid No. 2 in the Yankees’ rotation. He threw the first CGSO (complete game shutout) of his career, along with a 12-4 record and 2.44 ERA. His groundball percentage went up to 34.2, but he was also able to get the strikeout numbers with 163 on the year. For playing in Yankee Stadium, Cortés was also able to keep his home run numbers low. He kept his HR/9 below 1 with a 0.9 on the year. If Cortés can be consistent with this type of pitching, the Yankees could have a better rotation next season than they planned to.
7. Tyler Anderson, Los Angeles Dodgers
Signed to a one-year, $8 million deal during the offseason, Anderson has exceeded even the wildest expectations with a breakout season at the age of 32. The seven-year vet went 15-5 with a 2.57 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, and 138 strikeouts in 178.2 innings. I mentioned earlier about Dodgers pitchers having to step up, and Anderson did much more than that. We’ll have to see if the Dodgers elect to keep Anderson, but any team who nabs this southpaw will be getting a steal.
8. Martin Pérez, Texas Rangers
Another surprise left-hander on this list is Pérez, who for a little bit looked like a potential Cy Young candidate. After spending his first nine seasons with the Rangers, he returned in 2022 and produced a 2.89 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, and a career-high 169 strikeouts in 196 innings. Pérez, like most others, limited the home run with a 0.5 HR/9, and only allowed 11 of them all season. The 31-year-old has a career 4.43 ERA, so his breakout was a surprise, but was more than welcomed by Ranger fans.
9. Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers
Injuries push Kershaw low on this list, but it doesn’t mean he wasn’t top 10 like he usually is. In 22 starts, Kershaw went 12-3 with a 2.28 ERA and 0.94 WHIP. He can still strike out guys like in his prime, throwing 137 in a total of 126 innings. His FIP was still fairly good, as it was 2.57 this year. Kershaw continues to be elite at not allowing walks, as he only allowed 23, and has a 1.6 BB/9. The future Hall of Famer has already proved himself, and he continues to put up amazing seasons.
10. José Quintana, St. Louis Cardinals
When the Cardinals traded for Quintana, no one expected him to be having such an incredible season. Overall, Quintana had a 2.93 ERA in 165 innings with 137 strikeouts. His 0.4 HR/9 also led all of MLB. After he was traded, Quintana produced a 2.01 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP in 12 starts for the Cardinals. It led to him being named the Game 1 starter in the Wild Card, where he threw 5 1/3 scoreless innings against the NL champ Phillies. It wasn’t expected, but Quintana gave the Cardinals stability in their rotation.
