The 2022 All-American League Central Team

The 2022 All-AL Central Pitching Staff

Starting Rotation: Shane Bieber (Cleveland Guardians), Lucas Giolito (Chicago White Sox), Lance Lynn (Chicago White Sox), Casey Mize (Detroit Tigers), Cal Quantrill (Cleveland Guardians)

Bieber 2021: 7-4, 3.17 ERA, 134 SO, 96.2 IP

Giolito 2021: 11-9, 3.53 ERA, 201 SO, 178.2 IP

Lynn 2021: 11-6, 2.69 ERA, 176 SO, 157.0 IP

Mize 2021: 7-9, 3.71 ERA, 118 SO, 150.1 IP

Quantrill 2021: 8-3, 2.89 ERA, 121 SO, 149.2 IP

There’s a little bit of everything here: youth, veterans, and guys entering their prime. At any given point last season each of these five starters showed they could anchor a rotation, and who wouldn’t want that? Bieber and Giolito are bonafide aces and can pile up the strikeouts with the best of of them. Meanwhile, the other three are nothing to sneeze at – Lynn is a workhorse, and Mize and Quantrill saw their stocks rise significantly during the 2021 campaign.

Bullpen: Scott Barlow (Kansas City Royals), Emmanuel Clase (Cleveland Guardians), Liam Hendricks (Chicago White Sox)

Barlow 2021: 16 SV, 2.42 ERA, 91 SO, 74.1 IP

Clase 2021: 24 SV, 1.29 ERA, 74 SO, 69.2 IP

Hendricks 2021: 38 SV, 2.54 ERA, 113 SO, 71.0 SO IP

Here are some numbers for you: 171, 190, 340… those are the ERA+ of Hendricks, Barlow, and Clase, respectively. Clase finished the 2021 season fifth in the AL Rookie of the Year voting, Hendricks led the American League in saves last season, and Barlow broke out in a big way, giving Royals fans something to dream about.

So there you have it folks, our 2022 preseason AL Central All-Star squad. Did we miss anyone? Yeah, we probably did, but that’s part of the fun of it all; it doesn’t need to be perfect. Tell us what you think, and who knows, maybe when we do this again, there will be some new faces to enter the fray.