Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge and Albert Pujols With the Cardinals Are Among the 99 Things to Look Forward to This MLB Season

Opening Day is here! Let’s count down the reasons for fans to be excited this year, one for every day of the lockout.

From Dec. 2 to March 12, there was legitimate reason to wonder whether we’d get to watch Major League Baseball in 2022. Thankfully, the time for fretting—and waiting—is over.

The 99-day lockout forced the game to confront its most existential threats and fatal flaws. Its termination saved the game from a disastrous conclusion and ushered in the opportunity for progressive, healthy change in the years to come. Mostly, though, it gave us back the game we all love.

In honor of those long, aimless 99 days, we’ve created an informal and incomplete list of 99 things to look forward to during the 2022 season. Each “thing” is presented in no particular order, but hopefully there’s something for all baseball fans to keep an eager eye out for.

At long last, and without further ado, let’s play ball.

It’s Shotime :: Jayne Kamin-Oncea/USA TODAY Sports

1. Shohei Ohtani’s encore. After maybe the greatest individual season in baseball history, what does the two-way sensation have in store for a follow-up?

2. Mike Trout’s return. The once-unanimous best player in baseball missed nearly all of 2021 with a calf injury. Now that he’s 30, let’s rejoice in having the three-time MVP back on the field.

3. The new-look Rangers. Their new middle infield combo cost them half a billion dollars. How quickly can it translate to wins for Texas?

4. Cedric Mullins. The Orioles are seemingly addicted to losing 100 games a year, but Mullins’s emergence as a star last season was a real bright spot. Let’s see whether Baltimore will ship him away for prospects or make him a part of its long-term plans.

5. Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer together. The pair have five Cy Young Awards between them, yet currently only one functioning pitching shoulder. A timely return to health from deGrom will go a long way toward the Mets competing in a tough NL East.

6. Albert Pujols’s first at bat in St. Louis. The “best fans in baseball” will be on their feet for this one.

7. Josh Hader making hitters look silly. Among pitchers with at least 250 innings, the lanky lefty is MLB’s all-time leader in strikeouts per nine (15.4).

8. Will the no-hitters continue? The nine we saw last season set an MLB record.

9. The new-look Cleveland Guardians. Maybe we’re in the minority here, but we dig the winged “g” logo. Let’s see what kind of wacky alternates they come up with.

10. Wander Franco for a full season. He’s the best prospect in a long while, and showed he’s ready for prime time in half a season last year. The Rays were wise to extend him for the next 11 years.

11. Justin Verlander chasing one more ring in Houston. Verlander’s made just one start since winning the Cy Young Award in 2019 at age 36. Now 38, the future Hall of Famer is taking another crack at a title.

12. Dusty Baker chasing just one ring in Houston. He’s come close before—achingly close—and despite some key pieces leaving, Baker has the Astros looking primed for another deep October run.

13. Twins fans’ new, complicated relationship with Carlos Correa. If he starts slow, how long will it take until they start jeering a player who’s very used to the boo birds?

14. Craig Kimbrel in Los Angeles. He’ll either gloriously return to form with the Dodgers or curiously continue to flame out, with no in between.

15. The Mets! They’ll either gloriously reclaim the NL East or curiously continue to flame out, with no in between.

16. Ramón Laureano’s first outfield assist. He has 27 games left on his 80-game suspension for PEDs from last year. When he returns, he’ll once again gift us with his amazing right arm.

17. Laureano’s new outfield mate. Cristian Pache getting a chance to start in Oakland and make more plays like this.

18. The J-Rod Show! Thankfully, Julio Rodríguez will debut on Opening Day at Minnesota (postponed until Friday due to inclement weather), so we’ll get to watch him for a full season. He’s already a superstar, and his emergence could fuel the Mariners to their first postseason since 2001.

19. Adley Rutschman’s debut. Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait a bit for his call-up. His performance could keep the Orioles from losing 100-plus games again. Well, probably not, but he’s still exciting!

20. Whichever random Rays reliever emerges as a borderline All-Star. It was Andrew Kittredge last season. How does Pete Fairbanks or JT Chargois sound for 2022?

21. Fernando Tatis Jr.’s return to action. San Diego’s star had an eventful offseason that will likely keep him out until June. Here’s hoping for a speedy recovery.

22. How will the rest of the Padres respond to last year’s humiliating team-wide collapse without Tatis? A quick start could buoy a playoff run, but the Friars could fall too far out of the race to recover without their MVP contender.

23. Max Fried’s follow-up to his World Series-clinching win. Feels like he should maybe be getting more Cy Young buzz, no?

24. Seeing how Dave Dombrowski tries to push the Phillies’ roster over the top to do right by Bryce Harper.

25. Seeing how Perry Minasian tries to push the Angels’ roster over the top to do right by Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani.

26. The fallout of Derek Jeter’s exit in Miami.

27. The Marlins’ young pitching. Their staff is headlined by Sandy Alcantara, Pablo López and Trevor Rogers. How far can it take them?

28. Adam Wainwright polishing off a sneaky good Hall of Fame case. Can he repeat last year’s strong season?

29. Bryan Reynolds and Ke’Bryan Hayes carrying the Pirates to a few wins they have no business claiming.

30. Juan Soto’s plate appearances. They are the perfect combination of batter’s box showmanship and strike zone mastery.

31. Nelson Cruz providing lineup protection. Soto basically did everything by himself in Washington last year after the trade deadline fire sale. Now he’s got the veteran slugger batting behind him.

32. How Robbie Ray responds to the expectations of $115 million in the Emerald City.

33. The next chapter in the curious case of Cody Bellinger.

34. Trea Turner running (and sliding). The speedster had the fastest sprint time in the majors last year (30.7 feet per second), and has brought sliding feet-first back in style.

Get us back to the Field of Dreams :: Zach Boyden-Holmes/USA Today Network

35. The Field of Dreams game. Let’s hope it can live up to last year’s instant classic.

36. The 2022 All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium, which hasn’t hosted a Midsummer Classic since 1980.

37. The Home Run Derby. We’ll surely get a Dodger. Could we get Mookie Betts? Max Muncy may be a better fit. Why not both?

38. The Celebrity Softball Game. It’s usually filled with D-listers, but with the All-Star Game being held in Los Angeles, we might actually get some legitimate stars worth watching. Let’s get Will Smith and Chris Rock as captains.

39. Miguel Cabrera’s 3,000th hit (currently at 2,987) and 600th double (currently at 597). Once he gets both, he’ll be the only player other than Henry Aaron with those two milestones in addition to 500 home runs and a .300 career batting average.

40. Scherzer (190 wins), Clayton Kershaw (185) and Adam Wainwright (184) are chasing 200 wins.

41. The Brewers’ Big Three (Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, Freddy Peralta) missing bats.

42. Christian Yelich setting the tone for the rest of his career. Is he a potential future Hall of Famer or will his two-year peak stand as an outlier?

43. How a full season from George Springer could help the Blue Jays, who already led MLB in home runs last year.

44. Seeing how the Dodgers will use Dustin May once he recovers from his Tommy John surgery. 

45. Adalberto Mondesi stealing bases (and hopefully playing more than 35 games).

46. Buck Showalter back in the dugout after a four-year absence.

47. Hunter Greene and his 104-mph fastball debuting in Cincinnati. Also, if you haven’t read Lee Jenkins’s 2017 cover story on Greene, then still in high school, you absolutely should.

48. A full season (please) of Byron Buxton.

49. Seiya Suzuki’s stateside debut.

50. Trevor Story getting out of Denver and onto a contender.

51. Nelson Cruz mashing at age 42.

52. Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene’s debuts and the contending Tigers.

53. Bobby Witt Jr.’s debut and the (sort of?) contending Royals.

54. Mark Canha getting hit by pitches. He led MLB in that category last season with 27, getting plunked more times than Tim Anderson walked (22).

55. Tony La Russa’s next big boomer moment.

56. Salvador Pérez defending his home run crown.

57. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. taking center stage for perhaps baseball’s most fun team.

58. Ronald Acuña Jr.’s comeback, for which we hopefully won’t have to wait too long.

59. How 2020 AL Rookie of the Year Kyle Lewis rebounds from a lost 2021 season.

60. The wild adventures of Randy Arozarena, who’s no longer a rookie after keeping that designation for two years.

61. Bryce Harper and Mike Trout comparisons. Harper bagged his second MVP award last year, one shy of Trout. Tracking these two into their 30s is something that won’t ever get old.

62. The Cubs looking to retool after parting ways with nearly their entire core.

63. Joey Votto’s late-career renaissance and metamorphosis into a grumpy yet affable old man.

64. Oneil Cruz, Pittsburgh’s 6’7” rookie shortstop, proving himself to be from another planet.

65. Thor returning to the pitching mound (for real this time). Noah Syndergaard made two truncated starts in 2020 and now heads to Anaheim with no pitch-count limitations.

66. Seeing whether Patrick Corbin can bounce back after two shockingly inept seasons since Washington’s World Series win.

67. Can Grayson Rodriguez or D.L. Hall break the cycle of Orioles homegrown arms? It’s been ages since Baltimore has developed a highly-touted pitching prospect.

68. Shohei Ohtani picking up trash. What can’t he do?

69. Akil Baddoo following up his unexpected stellar rookie season.

70. BAT FLIPS!

71. Luis Robert’s breakout, take three. Once one of the game’s best prospects, his rookie season was limited due to the pandemic, then a hip injury caused him to miss nearly 100 games in 2021. Here’s hoping for a healthy season in ’22.

72. Anthony Volpe and the fantasy of the next great Yankees shortstop—even if he doesn’t reach the bigs this season.

73. David Fletcher returning to form. The man who had the longest hit streak in the majors last year flamed out down the home stretch. His return to form as a table-setter for Trout, Ohtani & Co. is key for the Angels to stay afloat in the AL West.

74. Aaron Judge in a contract year.

75. Kyle Schwarber in his natural, DH-friendly environment, even if he is forced to moonlight as the everyday left fielder in Philly. (More on that in No. 78)

76. Jackie Bradley Jr.’s Boston return. He’s back to where it all began, gracefully running down fly balls in the Fenway Park triangle in center field.

77. Freddie Freeman vs. Matt Olson comparisons—they’re inevitable.

78. The Phillies trying (and failing) to play defense. Philadelphia was one of the worst defensive clubs last year, and now they’ve added Schwarber and Nick Castellanos. Right now, Roster Resource projects Schwarber to be the starting left fielder, with Castellanos as the DH. We’ll see how long that lasts. And they aren’t the only players on the roster best suited to DH (Hello, Rhys Hoskins and Alec Bohm). That lineup will probably rake, though.

79. The Giants trying to run it back in the NL West. Winning 107 games again is probably unrealistic. But watching them try to return to the playoffs will be intriguing.

80. The AL Rookie of the Year race. Bobby Witt Jr., Spencer Torkelson, Adley Rutschman, Julio Rodríguez, Shane Baz and whichever other names prop up out of nowhere should make for a thrilling chase.

81. Michael Kopech: Starting pitcher. The flame-throwing righthander was dominant in relief, and the White Sox will test him as a starter in 2022. His development will be key for Chicago’s title hopes.

82. José Ramírez! Perhaps baseball’s most overlooked superstar, he will now be sticking around in Cleveland for the foreseeable future (though it still feels like he’s underpaid).

83. The Angels’ youth movement in the outfield. Gone is Justin Upton, paving the way for former top prospects Jo Adell and Brandon Marsh.

84. A legitimate four-horse race in the AL East. Pray for the Orioles.

85. Freddie Freeman’s first series back in Atlanta (mark your calendars for June 24–26).

86. Kenley Jansen’s first appearance back in Los Angeles (mark your calendars for April 18–20).

87. Carlos Correa’s first series back in Houston (mark your calendars for Aug. 23–25).

88. A new era at shortstop in Houston. Jeremy Peña might not be Correa, but he’s plenty talented in his own right.

89. Kris Bryant on the Rockies. Bryant has only known winning during his big-league career. How will he adjust to Colorado?

90. C.J. Cron playing in Coors Field. For the first time since 2017, Cron will begin the season with the same team he ended the previous one. It looks like he’s made himself at home in Denver: He hit .326/.416/.661 at Coors last year, basically morphing into Bryce Harper for home games.

91. Javy Báez’s one-of-a-kind tags.

92. Javy Báez doing literally anything.

93. Francisco Lindor looking to endear himself to Mets fans more than he did last year.

94. The Guardians’ rotation, which contains no one older than 27, surprising us with a couple of breakout performers.

95. Joey Bart taking over Buster Posey’s mantle. San Francisco replaces a former first-round backstop with another one. The comparisons are inevitable, but Bart doesn’t need to be the face of the franchise like Posey was to be successful.

96. Jazz Chisholm Jr. Miami’s exciting young star looks to take a step forward in Year 2.

97. Arizona’s Seth Beer. The rare rookie DH is going to hit bombs into the Chase Field pool.

98. Ozzie Albies’s helmet, without fail, falling off every time he breaks into a sprint.

98. Liam Hendriks’s mound theatrics, which will hopefully be caught on a hot mic again.

99. Aaron Judge (No. 99, duh) and Giancarlo Stanton hitting dingers.

BONUS THING! The simple pleasure of taking in a Sunday afternoon game at your local stadium with a beer (and maybe a $151 burger) in hand. Happy Opening Day everyone!