2022 PBA League Draft Reactions
My favorite picks, strategies and more from the 2022 PBA League Draft.
The 2022 PBA Tour may be over, but PBA League season has just begun. Yesterday, the 10 teams filled out their rosters by drafting from a pool of 54 available players. They announced their keepers back in January.
I broke down the draft live on Twitter, and you can rewatch the draft on YouTube. Here’s how the draft shook out:
1.01 | New York City Kingpins | Kyle Sherman
1.02 | Snickers Waco Wonder | Jason Sterner
1.03 | Portland Lumberjacks* | Packy Hanrahan
1.04 | LA X | Chris Barnes
1.05 | Motown Muscle | Brad Miller
1.06 | Guaranteed Rate Chicago Hitmen | Nick Pate
1.07 | PBR Milwaukee Pounders | AJ Chapman
1.08 | Dallas Strikers | Santtu Tahvanainen
1.09 | Las Vegas High Rollers | Matthew Russo
1.10 | Silver Lake Atom Splitters* | DJ Archer
2.01 | Silver Lake Atom Splitters* | Brandon Novak
2.02 | Las Vegas High Rollers | Ildemaro Ruiz
2.03 | Dallas Strikers | Matt Ogle
2.04 | PBR Milwaukee Pounders | Anthony Lavery-Spahr
2.05 | Guaranteed Rate Chicago Hitmen | Jake Peters
2.06 | Motown Muscle | Mitch Hupé
2.07 | LA X | Martin Larsen
2.08 | Portland Lumberjacks* | Arturo Quintero
2.09 | Snickers Waco Wonder | Parker Bohn III
2.10 | New York City Kingpins | Michael Tang
3.01 | Motown Muscle | Keven Williams
*Silver Lake traded the 3rd and 18th overall picks to Portland for the 10th and 11th overall picks.
Best Value: Nick Pate
I cannot believe Pate fell to sixth overall. He finished 21st on the PBA points list this season despite missing two majors. At the PBA Kokomo Championship, he defeated Anthony Simonsen and EJ Tackett in the stepladder before losing Jason Belmonte by six pins in the title match. Even if you had never read Pate’s résumé or seen him throw a ball, that’s a superstar-in-the-making type of performance.
Pate would have been second on my big board. Kudos to Jason Couch for taking advantage of a golden opportunity.
Biggest Reach: Ildemaro Ruiz
Amleto Monacelli relied on his roots, taking fellow Venezuelan with his last pick. Ruiz finished 64th on the points list this season, which is, like, fine. But there were dozens of other players who have found greater and more recent success, most notably Jake Peters.
At the end of the day, who cares about a second-round reach? Each one of the 54 eligible players is more than capable of contributing to a winning team. If you want to get your guy, go get your guy. Vibes > value.
Favorite Pick: Packy Hanrahan
Tim Mack and the defending champs wanted to get the gang back together. Portland traded their picks at 10th and 11th overall for the 3rd and 18th overall picks. Considering the talent drop-off after about the sixth pick, moving up in the first round was a brilliant strategy.
Packy is a New England kid who thrives in the spotlight. He was born to bowl at Bayside Bowl.
Best Draft: NYC
Taking Kyle Sherman first overall was a no-brainer: He was the top available player by almost every measure and is a seamless fit with NYC’s core. And if you can pair the Tang brothers… why wouldn’t you?
Everything about these picks was perfect. Team chemistry will be outstanding. The vlogs will be tremendous. I’m in.
Most Committed to the Brand: Waco
The Wonder became the front-runner for this award the moment Johnny Petraglia kept Walter Ray Williams Jr. Then his second-round selection of PBIII was so obvious I joked that it was off the board in Vegas. Having an identity is crucial to team-building, but when you’ve never reached the Elias Cup Finals perhaps modernizing isn’t the worst idea. (But remember, vibes > value, so who cares.)
Biggest Snub: All the women
I understand the PBA and PWBA are two separate leagues owned by separate entities. But I also understand there is a gap in the PWBA Tour schedule and, more importantly, the top women players deserve to be at Bayside Bowl. Although I’m not sure how I feel bringing back the all-women teams from 2020 versus just letting the top-10ish PWBA players be eligible for the draft.
This also go me thinking about expansion. While the current size of the PBA League is a strong blend of star power and rising talent, I feel like there’s room to grow.
What about a 16-team league with each team captained by a PBA Playoff qualifier? (An idea that spawned mere seconds ago in my head.) That would open space for 30 new players and make for a perfect bracket format, though it would eliminate the chemistry and rivalries developed by years of sticking together. Alas.
Final Rosters
New York City KingPins: Pete Weber, Marshall Kent, Darren Tang, Kyle Sherman, Michael Tang, manager: Carolyn Dorin-Ballard
Snickers Waco Wonder: Walter Ray Williams Jr., BJ Moore, Thomas Larsen, Jason Sterner, Parker Bohn III, manager Johnny Petraglia
Portland Lumberjacks: Wes Malott, Kyle Troup, Kris Prather, Packy Hanrahan, Arturo Quintero, manager Tim Mack
LA X: Jason Belmonte, Jakob Butturff, Stu Williams, Chris Barnes, Martin Larsen, manager Andrew Cain
Motown Muscle: EJ Tackett, Anthony Simonsen, Brad Miller, Mitch Hupé, Keven Williams, manager Del Ballard
Guaranteed Rate Chicago Hitmen: Dom Barrett, Tom Smallwood, Shawn Maldonado, Nick Pate, Jake Peters, manager Jason Couch
PBR Milwaukee Pounders: Sean Rash, Ryan Ciminelli, Dick Allen, AJ Chapman, Anthony Lavery-Spahr, manager Marshall Holman
Dallas Strikers: player/manager Norm Duke, Tommy Jones, Bill O’Neill, Santtu Tahvanainen, Matt Ogle
Las Vegas High Rollers: François Lavoie, Andrew Anderson, AJ Johnson, Matt Russo, Ildemaro Ruiz, manager Amleto Monacelli
Silver Lake Atom Splitters: Jesper Svensson, Tom Daugherty, Chris Via, DJ Archer, Brandon Novak
The PBA League begins July 6 at 8 p.m. ET on FS1.