By Jordan Shusterman
FOX Sports MLB Writer
Baseball bloodlines are a very real thing.
Whether it’s father-son combos such as the Griffeys, Bondses and Guerreros or big-league brothers such as the DiMaggios, Niekros and Alous, baseball history is filled with familial connections that have impacted the game across generations.
This weekend, the scorching-hot Atlanta Braves head to Chicago for a three-game set against the Cubs. It will be the second meeting between the teams in 2022, the first of which gave us one of the coolest moments of the season: brothers William and Willson Contreras exchanging lineup cards before the game.
The upcoming second showdown between the Contreras Bros. got me thinking: Where do they rank in the current Baseball Brothers hierarchy? Have they ascended to the top of the rankings? How many active major-league brothers are there, anyway?
To answer those questions, we must first establish who is eligible for the Big-League Brothers Power Rankings. For purposes of this exercise, we’ll limit the list to brothers who have both appeared in the major leagues in 2022. That means we won’t include any sets of brothers with one still playing and the other(s) retired; apologies to the Seagers and Molinas, among others.
This also eliminates pairings who have had only one brother appear in an MLB game in 2022, even if the other is an active player in the minor leagues or abroad. Here are some examples, with the brother who has appeared in MLB in 2022 in bold and older brother listed first:
* OF Josh (WAS) and OF Richie Palacios (CLE)
* INF Christian (OAK) and OF Tim Lopes (COL)
* RHP Jordan (COL) and LHP Justus Sheffield (SEA)
* C Tyler (PIT) and OF Scott Heineman (SEA)
* RHP Jimmy (CHW) and RHP Peter Lambert (COL)
* 1B C.J. (COL) and Kevin Cron (Kia Tigers of KBO)
* 2B Kolten (MIL) and INF Kean Wong (LAA)
* RHP Kyle (CIN) and OF Bradley Zimmer (TOR)
* RHP Michael (Mexican League) and RHP Huascar Ynoa (ATL)
* OF Preston (ATL) and Kyle Tucker (HOU)
* INF David Fletcher (LAA) and OF Dominic Fletcher (ARI)
Also, we are excluding potential future big-league brothers duos, pairings in which one or both aren’t in the major leagues yet.
* SS Carlos (MIN) and C JC Correa (HOU)
* OF Ronald (ATL) and SS Luisangel Acuña (TEX)
* RHP David (PIT) and RHP Will Bednar (SFG)
* 3B Josh (TEX) and 2B Jace Jung (Texas Tech; projected first-round pick in 2022)
All right, now that we’ve set the parameters: There are 12 sets of brothers who have both appeared in MLB in 2022. Let’s rank ’em!
12. LHP Brian and INF Colin Moran (LAA)
Brian allowed two runs in one-third of an inning for the Angels, and Colin hit .210 in 37 games for the Reds before being optioned to Triple-A, but hey, it’s two brothers appearing in the big leagues in 2022! It counts!
11. INF Dee Strange-Gordon (WAS) and OF Nick Gordon (MIN)
Dee was recently DFA’d by the Nationals but has had a fantastic career, and Nick, the Twins’ first-round pick in 2014, made his MLB debut last season and looks to be developing into a valuable utility player for Minnesota.
10. RHP Cole (MIA) and RHP Beau Sulser (BAL)
Cole spent the previous two seasons with the Orioles before being traded to Miami in the offseason. Beau came up in the Pirates organization and made his MLB debut with Pittsburgh earlier this season before being claimed off waivers by Baltimore.
These two join Kyle Hendricks as the three alumni of Dartmouth College to appear in the big leagues in 2022. Smart dudes!
9. RHP Phil (HOU) and INF Nick Maton (PHI)
Nick made his MLB debut with the Phillies in 2021 and projects as a useful bench piece for Philadelphia moving forward. Phil has been a perfectly serviceable, middle-inning relief option for several years now and recently threw an immaculate inning for the Astros.
8. INF Ramón (BAL) and INF Luis Urías (MIL)
Luis has long been more famous, having made his MLB debut with the Padres at age 21 before being traded to Milwaukee, where he has become an important contributor…
Read More: MLB’s Best Brothers: Willson, William Contreras top the list of duos