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None of the remaining five teams, projected to finish in the top half of the standings, are huge surprises. The three teams that will be covered in this installment of the 2020 DTBL season preview all finished in the top half of the standings last year as well. Perhaps you will be a little surprised to see a couple of the teams below today rather than in tomorrow’s article covering the projected top two teams. Regardless, we are now getting to teams that are a little more balanced than those covered previously, and might have more margin for error if they lose some players for extended periods of time this season. The projected gap between these three teams is just four points in the standings, so the order in which they appear isn’t particularly meaningful. These are teams that should have championship aspirations. Here are the teams projected to finish third through fifth this season.
Mike’s Moonshiners
Category – Projected Rank (2019 Rank)
- Batting Average – 8th (9th)
- Home Runs – 4th (6th)
- Runs Batted In – 4th (6th)
- Runs Scored – 9th (5th)
- Stolen Bases - 10th (8th)
- Earned Run Average – 3rd (4th)
- WHIP Ratio - 1st (3rd)
- Wins - 1st (3rd)
- Saves – 5th (6th)
- Strike Outs – 6th (2nd)
- Total Batting Points – 9th (8th)
- Total Pitching Points - 2nd (4th)
- Total Points – 5th (5th)
Summary:
No team’s 2019 results and 2020 projections are a closer match than the Moonshiners. Their pitching staff flew somewhat under the radar a year ago as a very solid group and could be even better this year. Meanwhile, their offense still appears to be below average, but should be a little more powerful than the 2019 edition. That power surge could come in the form of first round pick Vladimir Guerroro Jr, for whom these projections point towards a big second MLB season. He joins an infield full of mashers, whose lack of defensive prowess is obviously a non-factor for the Moonshiners: Miguel Sano, Rafael Devers, Max Muncy and Tim Anderson. Devers could be a legitimate MVP candidate in a shortened season. He and Guerrero give the Moonshiners elite potential that they have been lacking offensively in recent years. The outfield is not so deep though. Michael Conforto and Khris Davis lead that group. The Moonshiners pitching staff is full of veterans with surprisingly high upside considering their age and experience. Charlie Morton has been one of the most underrated pitchers in the league for several years now. Yu Darvish seemed to return to his old, dominating self down the stretch last year. Zack Greinke and Kyle Hendricks are steady and reliable as well. But the huge wild card for the Moonshiners in 2020 is Shohei Ohtani, who will return to the mound for the first time since 2018 and the first time ever in this league. The fact that he will only pitch once a week shouldn’t hurt his value too much as he figures to start just a couple fewer games than other starters who pitch all season. It is hard to predict what the Moonshiners will get from their bullpen. Edwin Diaz was brutal a year ago, but was the best reliever in baseball before that. Roberto Osuna might not be ready to go on Opening Day, but figures to return soon after. Jesus Luzardo is returning from COVID-19 and is an exciting possibility should he be part of the A’s rotation, as expected. The Moonshiners are still looking for their first DTBL title and haven’t really been involved in a pennant race since 2012. That could definitely change this year.
Kevin’s Kings
Category – Projected Rank (2019 Rank)
- Batting Average – 10th (8th)
- Home Runs – 6th (3rd)
- Runs Batted In – 8th (2nd)
- Runs Scored – 3rd (2nd)
- Stolen Bases - 4th (5th)
- Earned Run Average – 5th (2nd)
- WHIP Ratio – 4th (1st)
- Wins – 2nd (1st)
- Saves – 6th (1st)
- Strike Outs – 2nd (1st)
- Total Batting Points – 7th (3rd)
- Total Pitching Points – 4th (1st)
- Total Points – 4th (1st)
Summary:
Perhaps it is a bit surprising to see the two-time defending champions projected to drop down to fourth place. But there are a number of reasons to expect a decline from the Kings this year, some of which aren’t even totally reflected in these numbers. The Kings have won those recent titles despite not having a very deep roster. The triumvirate of Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander and Mookie Betts have been largely responsible for the Kings recent success. Scherzer and Verlander aren’t getting any younger and it is fair to wonder if their performance might start dropping off soon. If so, it remains to be seen if they have others capable of picking up the slack. Besides Betts, Marcus Semien was their next most important hitter a year ago. He will be out to prove that wasn’t a fluke. Matt Olson, Mike Moustakas, Rhys Hoskins and Jonathan Villar give the Kings a steady, if not exciting infield. One player who the Kings could really use a big season from is Carlos Correa who has been nagged by injuries for a couple years now. The outfield also contains some solid players with somewhat limited upside in David Dahl, Max Kepler and Oscar Mercado. The catching duo of Will Smith and Sean Murphy is inexperienced, but quite interesting. As usual, the Kings ability to remain a championship contender will depend on their veteran superstar pitchers. They will hope Frankie Montas steps up to be the heir apparent to either Scherzer or Verlander. Reacquiring Lance McCullers, who missed last season due to Tommy John surgery, could pay off as well. And Zack Wheeler is still around, but there are questions regarding his availability this season with his wife due any day now. The bullpen got quite a makeover despite leading the league in saves last year. Hector Neris and Archie Bradley are the incumbents, and also the only safe bets to keep their closer jobs. The Kings have enough pieces here to remain one of the better pitching teams in the league. Expecting them to repeat last year’s 49 pitching point performance is probably unrealistic though. And they might not have the bats needed to pick up the slack. Defending a championship is never easy and the Kings will have an especially hard time doing so this year.
Marc’s Mavericks
Category – Projected Rank (2019 Rank)
- Batting Average – 1st (3rd)
- Home Runs - 2nd (4th)
- Runs Batted In - 3rd (5th)
- Runs Scored - 2nd (4th)
- Stolen Bases – 9th (10th)
- Earned Run Average - 2nd (1st)
- WHIP Ratio – 5th (2nd)
- Wins – 8th (5th-T)
- Saves – 7th (2nd-T)
- Strike Outs – 8th (6th)
- Total Batting Points – 1st (4th-T)
- Total Pitching Points – 6th (3rd)
- Total Points - 3rd (4th)
Summary:
Even though the Mavericks are projected to finish a spot higher than they did a year ago, this still feels like a fairly pessimistic outlook. It is hard to imagine a pitching staff that features Jack Flaherty, Stephen Strasburg and Clayton Kershaw finishing in the bottom half of the league in pitching points. The batting projections should be worrisome to the rest of the league. An offense that was already loaded with talent might be even better now. It seems like most of the teams I have covered to this point have had pretty mediocre, or worse, outfield situations. That could be because the Mavericks have been hoarding all of the superstar outfielders. No team can match the Mavericks’ top three outfielders of Mike Trout, Juan Soto and Aaron Judge. Nick Castellanos is pretty good too. And now they are joined by first round pick Eloy Jimenez. This truly feels like an embarrassment of riches. The infield isn’t too shabby either with Manny Machado, Ozzie Albies and Javy Baez. Perhaps the only concern the Mavericks have at the moment is a hole at catcher with Buster Posey opting out of the season. But that should be pretty easy to fill. As mentioned, their starting pitching is elite. Flaherty was probably the best pitcher in baseball in the second half of 2019. Strasburg was untouchable in October. Kershaw still seems to have plenty in the tank too. Then there are promising youngsters Mike Soroka and Dustin May, along with Julio Urias who should get a full season’s worth of starts for the first time in his career. Their rotation depth did take a bit of a hit with Michael Kopech opting out. The Mavericks don’t appear to have a great bullpen. Kenley Jansen and Jose Leclerc are solid though. And A.J. Puk could be a weapon, if his recent shoulder injury doesn’t wind up being too serious. After a couple slightly disappointing seasons for the Mavericks, it would not be surprising to see these perennial contenders atop the standings again.