Ranking the Best Rookies of the 2022 MLB Season So Far

The 2022 MLB season has been an exciting one for rookies, especially those at the top.

Three of the game's top four prospects began the season on their respective Opening Day rosters. The fourth was injured at the time and has since been called up.

Bobby Witt Jr., Julio Rodriguez and Spencer Torkelson have all contributed to bad teams since Day 1. Adley Rutschman made his debut in May but has largely struggled in his time in the big leagues. Nonetheless, all remain cornerstones of their respective organizations and have bright futures.

However, none of them would register as the game's top rookie based on performance through 40 percent of the season.

Meanwhile, Jeremy Peña in Houston is validating the Astros' controversial decision to move on from Carlos Correa, their former No. 1 overall pick and a key member of teams that played in three World Series.

There have been more revelations from rookies this year, so which ones are making the biggest impact? We used key metrics such as wins above replacement and weighted runs created plus, as well as some of the traditional stats, to paint a clear picture.

Let's take a look and rank them here.

SS Oneil Cruz, Pittsburgh Pirates

The key with this exercise is evaluating who's been the best so far rather than who might ultimately be the best long term. Cruz, as a 6'7" shortstop, is a fascinating prospect. But he's only played in three games with 14 at-bats, which is clearly not enough time to give a fair assessment.

OF Seiya Suzuki, Chicago Cubs

Suzuki is one of the more high-profile rookies of this class after signing a five-year, $85 million contract. He's slashing .245/.344/.432 with four home runs, so nothing to write home about, and he's dealt with a finger injury that's held him back since May 26.

3B Jake Burger, Chicago White Sox

Burger has the fourth-most home runs (eight) among rookies and has filled in admirably for the injured Yoan Moncada. Like many power hitters, Burger has a lot of boom or bust potential, showing the ability to consistently hit the long ball but also ranking toward the top in strikeout percentage (31.1 percent).

The Padres left-hander has hit a rough patch in his last two starts, but his overall body of work shouldn't be overlooked.

In Gore's first nine outings, he recorded a 1.50 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and 57 strikeouts in 48 innings. It wasn't as if his numbers were fluky either, as he had a FIP of 2.21.

His nine strikeouts against the Pittsburgh Pirates, followed by a 10-strikeout performance against the Milwaukee Brewers are the highlights of Gore's season so far. There was also the lone relief appearance in May when Gore threw three scoreless innings at Citizens Bank Park.

Then he ran into the Colorado Rockies, who apparently have Gore's number. He gave up six runs in 2.1 innings at home on June 11. Then at Coors Field on June 17, the Rockies touched him up for eight runs on nine hits, including three home runs.

Gore would be higher on this list if not for his last two starts against the Rockies.

Despite starting the season in the minors, Gonzalez has entrenched himself as a starter for the reigning NL West champs.

The Giants outfielder even won National League Rookie of the Month in May despite a brief stint in Triple-A.

Gonzalez hit .368 in May, which trailed only the Mets' Luis Guillorme (.414) and the Cardinals' Paul Goldschmidt (.404) in the NL for that month.

He's fourth in wRC+ (129) and tied for fifth in WAR (1.0) among rookies with at least 100 plate appearances. Meanwhile, his 24 RBI is tied for fourth-most among rookies.

On the season, Gonzalez is slashing .302/.361/.447 in 49 games.

Duran is carrying the Minnesota Twins' bullpen, and he's been arguably the game's best rookie reliever.

His four saves are good for second among rookies, and he boasts a 2.35 ERA and .193 opponents' batting average in 24 appearances, with 41 strikeouts and just six walks in 30.2 innings.

Though he had been a starter throughout the minors, Minnesota moved him to the bullpen this year. Duran has excelled in the new role, and most of his work has come in high-leverage situations.

As noted by The Athletic's Aaron Gleeman, Duran has entered games with the sixth-highest average leverage index of any AL reliever since getting his first save opportunity on May 1. He's entered a high-leverage situation 15 times and is the second-most valuable reliever, according to Win Probability Added.

Minnesota relievers rank seventh in WPA, in no small part due to their rookie flamethrower.

Possibly the most noteworthy rookie headline yet came from Suwinski, who on Sunday became the first rookie with a three-homer game that included a walk-off blast.

That didn't come as much of a surprise, given Suwinski ranks third among qualified rookies in slugging percentage (.481) and ninth in WAR. His .785 OPS ranks seventh among NL rookies.

Those three homers also made Suwinski the rookie home run leader with 11.

The Pirates don't have a ton of bright spots, but he is one of the few. His start is especially impressive since Suwinski was acquired in the Adam Frazier trade with the Padres last year and was not considered at the time to be any kind of centerpiece in the deal.

Now, he's an everyday contributor and holds one of the team's more memorable regular-season moments.

Despite having the worst game of his young MLB career Tuesday night, Strider had been impressive in his previous three starts, going 2-0 with a 1.76 ERA (three runs in 15.1 innings), 24 strikeouts, eight walks and giving up just seven hits.

Strider's best moment came June 15, when he fanned a career-high 11 batters to help Atlanta to its 14th straight victory.

He didn't have his best stuff Tuesday night against the San Francisco Giants, but Strider still has an exceptional xERA (2.73) and leads all rookie pitchers in WAR (1.2).

Strider's ridiculous 13.6 strikeouts per nine innings lead the majors with at least 40 innings pitched.

Even his first start, a loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on May 30, was an overall impressive outing (seven strikeouts) with some bad luck because of poor defense by Atlanta.

Witt entered this season ranked by MLB Pipeline as the game's top prospect, and it's mostly because of his power.

He has affirmed that part of the scouting report, ranking second among rookies in home runs (10) behind only Jack Suwinski.

While the Pirates' rookie recorded a historic three-home run game Sunday, Witt was able to get the first multi-homer game of his career Tuesday night at Angels Stadium.

Witt leads all qualified rookies in RBI (36) and runs scored (38). He also ranks second in stolen bases, third in WAR and fourth in defensive runs above average.

Seattle's Julio Rodriguez, who ranked third on the prospect list going into this season, is the only rookie to play in more games than Witt so far this season.

The Royals are having a disappointing season, even worse than expected, but they can at least feel good about their franchise cornerstone.

The Twins' Opening Day starter missed a few weeks while spending time on the COVID injured list, but he's been solid when on the mound.

Ryan leads all rookie pitchers in WAR and has posted a respectable 3.42 xERA. His 8.67 strikeouts per nine innings rank fifth among rookies who have pitched 40 innings or more.

In his most recent outing, Ryan gave up three earned runs on seven hits, a walk and struck out seven over six innings in a loss to the Guardians on Tuesday.

It was a bounceback, quality performance for Ryan after fading in his return from the COVID list against the Seattle Mariners.

Even after missing three weeks, only two AL rookie pitchers have tossed more innings than Ryan (54).

Already, the 25-year-old German-born rookie is the Cardinals' most versatile player. He's appeared at every spot except centerfield, pitcher and catcher.

The Cardinals have a trio of rookie standouts between Donovan, Juan Yepez and Nolan Gorman.

But Donovan is clearly the most valuable among them, with the second-highest offensive runs above average of any rookie. His .318 average and 150 wRC+ lead all rookies with at least 100 plate appearances.

Donovan also has the second-highest OPS (.855) among qualified rookies, with the third-highest walk percentage and fifth-lowest strikeout percentage.

Simply put, he's one of the best and most consistent rookies in the game, playing a significant role in St. Louis' quest to win the NL Central.

The third-ranked prospect coming into this season has played more games than any other rookie. He's second among rookies in WAR (2.1), RBI (32) and runs scored (32).

Rodriguez leads all rookies with 18 stolen bases, trailing only Miami's Jon Berti across the majors. He's also tied for third among rookies with nine home runs.

The Mariners were expected to compete in the AL West this season, hoping to end their MLB-longest playoff drought dating back to 2001.

It doesn't look like that will happen, with Seattle sitting 13 games behind the division-leading Astros. The Mariners do, however, appear to have their franchise player.

When the season started, eyes were on Peña, but not because he was one of the top five or 10 prospects in baseball.

Peña's Opening Day roster spot, starting at shortstop for the defending AL champion Houston Astros, placed him squarely as the replacement for franchise icon Carlos Correa.

Once the heartbeat of the Astros, especially as they caught hell from the baseball world for the sign-stealing scandal, Correa's time in Houston was done when the sides failed to agree on a new contract.

Insert Peña, who not only is filling the void left by Correa admirably but is arguably the game's best rookie and one of its best shortstops.

Peña leads all qualified rookies in WAR (2.4), tied for third in home runs (nine) and is third in RBI (27). He is fifth among all major league shortstops in WAR, ahead of stars like Francisco Lindor, Corey Seager and Correa.

Not going into the luxury tax to pay Correa more than $35 million a year to only pay Peña $700,000 for the same—if not better—level of play looks a lot smarter nearly midway through the season.