2022 PBA Tour Predictions

My random, arbitrary, meaningless (yet 100% accurate) predictions for the 2022 PBA Tour season.

The PBA Players Championship kicked off the 2022 pro bowling season this morning. I’m excited to be a frequent contributor to PBA.com this year, and wanted to get a few of these predictions on record as the season gets underway.

I follow a bunch of sports analytics people on Twitter, so I’m not inclined to resign to maturity and typically default to what the numbers say. But a) there aren’t many stats available on pro bowlers, especially from the PBA and b) shooting from the hip is much more fun.

Sports betting is not yet legal in North Carolina, which is unfortunate because each of these predictions is a guaranteed, stone-cold lock.

AJ Johnson wins first PBA title.

Am I biased because I interviewed Johnson for like 20 minutes at Team USA Trials? Probably. But who wouldn’t want to see Johnson claim his first title after seven years on tour?

Note: I made this prediction before Johnson led the first round of qualifying in the Midwest region. (But I sure as hell feel better about it now!)

Jake Peters wins the US Open.

It may sound cliché or superfluous to say everyone in bowling is rooting for Peters… but everyone in bowling is rooting for Peters. Plenty of people have predicted he will win his first title since 2013, and even more after his runner-up finish in 2021 and his stellar performance at Team USA Trials, so I’ll be more specific: Peters will put on the green jacket and lift the golden eagle in Indianapolis on February 6th.

Darren and Michael Tang bowl against each other a TV show.

The Tang brothers met on the 2017 Masters telecast, and I think they’ll meet again on the big stage. In fact, I’ll go one step further — I’ve got nothing to lose anyway — I predict they’ll bowl each other in a title match.

Chris Via shoots ANOTHER televised 300 game.

He achieved perfection at the Players Championship East Region Finals, then again at the Tour Finals. Lightning strikes thrice for Via this season, which I believe would make him the first bowler with three televised 300s.

Rando who wins PBA title: Nick Kruml/Michael Davidson

I use the word “rando” as a term of endearment. I always root for the randos. Who wants to see Sean Rash or Tommy Jones win again? Let’s see some new faces! These former collegiate stars have paid their dues on tour and I’m expecting breakout seasons for both of them.

I’m picking two players because I make the rules here.

The biggest name to miss the PBA Playoffs: Tom Daugherty

The label of a “big name” is, of course, completely subjective. But the runner-up for PBA Player of the Year in 2021 certainly qualifies. It feels too obvious to say the guy who had a breakout season in his mid-40s — and who won both of his 2021 titles in his home center — might regress in 2022.

It was also obvious to say that the 2020 Pittsburgh Steelers, even after starting 11-0, were a bad football team. And then they lost four of five games to close out the regular season and lost to the Cleveland Browns in the playoffs.

(If Daugherty wins a title this year, I hope he looks straight into the camera and personally calls me out. That’d be hilarious.)

Kyle Troup wins second career major title.

This is a take far too rich for a dumb predictions article, but Troup’s ascension is — in my opinion, and off the top of my head — one of the three most important developments in the PBA over the last 15 years. (The other two are Jason Belmonte’s dominance/ubiquitousness and Pete Weber’s “Who do you think you are? I am!” moment.)

I’ll save the full explanation for a later date, but the thought process that led me to that opinion is that Troup’s record-setting 2021 campaign was no fluke — he’s going to be a major fixture for years to come.

Jason Belmonte makes at least two major telecasts… but wins none.

Speaking of Belmo: I’d be remiss to write a PBA predictions article without mentioning the 13-time major champion. His return to PBA action after sitting out much of 2021 reminds me of LeBron’s 2020 season in Los Angeles: After a down year, all the #haterz who had been waiting to usher in a new king lit their pitchforks; instead, the King seized another crown.

I think Belmonte has a similarly dominant run in 2022. He’s going to make two, maybe even three major telecasts, but since I don’t feel that’s particularly bold/fun enough, I’ll say he comes up short on each of the TV show — once because of bad luck and the other because of poor strategy/execution.

Marshall Kent wins a major — and Player of the Year.

When Kent first joined the tour, I thought he immediately announce his presence as one of, if not the, best bowler in the world. Because he failed to reach that impossible standard, he had sorta slipped off my radar.

Kent is the Bryce Harper of the PBA, a teenage superstar whose early greatness perhaps set the bar too high. Harper re-established himself in the batter’s box in 2021, winning the NL MVP award; Kent will have his own re-introduction to the PBA’s elite class and will take home the Player of the Year award.

(P.S. — if Kent=Harper, who is Mike Trout’s corollary? I’m torn between Anthony Simonsen’s résumé and François Lavoie’s personality. Might have to flesh this sports-comps thing into a whole piece or podcast episode.)

A final note: If I didn’t include your favorite player, it’s because they are bad and I dislike them personally.