As I’m sitting here writing, the first official game of the 2017 season just ended with the Rays beating the Yankees. And now the second game, featuring the Giants and Diamondbacks, is underway. So, welcome to the 2017 season! We still have four more teams to cover in our season preview series, however. In this edition, we’ll take a look at the teams projected to finish in third and fourth places. The teams that remain have all been regulars near the top of the standings in recent seasons, so there aren’t any big surprises here. The pair of teams covered in this particular article were probably both slightly disappointed by their place of finish from 2016, but both will be serious contenders this season. These teams are projected to finish within seven points of the top placed squad. Here is a preview of the 2017 Naturals and Mavericks.
Nick’s Naturals
Category – Projected Rank (2016 Rank)
- Batting Average – 4th (7th)
- Home Runs – 7th (6th)
- Runs Batted In – 6th (7th)
- Runs Scored – 5th (7th)
- Stolen Bases – 2nd (4th)
- Earned Run Average – 6th (4th)
- WHIP Ratio – 6th (7th)
- Wins – 5th (3rd)
- Saves – 4th (5th-T)
- Strike Outs – 3rd (6th)
- Total Batting Points – 4th (7th)
- Total Pitching Points – 4th (5th)
- Total Points – 4th (6th)
Summary:
Believe it or not, the Naturals are the only team projected to finish in the top half of the league in both batting and pitching points. So a strong argument could be made that this is the most balanced team in the league. They have clearly improved an offense that was very disappointing a year ago. They used their first three draft picks on exciting young infielders: Yoan Moncada, Dansby Swanson and Jose Peraza. Moncada is the big name of that trio, but the other two figure to be much more important pieces for this season. Add those guys to an existing foundation of Miguel Cabrera, Joey Votto and Nolan Arenado and you’ve got yourself quite the infield. The outfield isn’t bad either with Trea Turner, Andrew McCutchen and Justin Upton. It would be hard to imagine the Naturals finishing in the bottom half in batting points again this year. The pitching staff is pretty interesting as well. It’s essentially the same core as last year, with Noah Syndergaard and Carlos Carrasco as the aces. David Price’s health is certainly a major concern at the moment, however. The saves projection may be a tad light because it doesn’t include free agent signing Blake Treinen. I’m not sure how the Naturals wound up getting him being fifth in free agent priority, but they aren’t going to complain. They don’t have a standout closer, but they ought to be able to rack up a bunch of saves with the five closers currently on the roster. After two disappointing seasons in sixth place, the Naturals definitely look like a title contender for this season. They are possibly the most complete team in the league.
Marc’s Mavericks
Category – Projected Rank (2016 Rank)
- Batting Average – 7th (6th)
- Home Runs – 8th (1st-T)
- Runs Batted In – 9th (4th)
- Runs Scored – 9th (8th)
- Stolen Bases – 3rd (3rd)
- Earned Run Average – 1st (1st)
- WHIP Ratio – 1st (1st)
- Wins – 1st (6th)
- Saves – 5th (3rd)
- Strike Outs – 1st (4th)
- Total Batting Points – 8th-T (5th)
- Total Pitching Points – 1st (1st)
- Total Points – 3rd (4th)
Summary:
Another season, another year with the Mavericks having the best pitching staff in the league. I could have just copied and pasted whatever I wrote in this section about the Mavericks pitchers last year, because this is almost literally the exact same staff. The gist: they are good. They are projected to blow away the rest of the league in ERA, WHIP and strikeouts. Not surprising with a rotation led by Clayton Kershaw, Yu Darvish and Stephen Strasburg. They even managed to reacquire a couple hurlers who they cut a couple months ago: Matt Harvey and Taijuan Walker. The newcomers to the rotation are Kenta Maeda and Sean Manaea, who may seem like unnecessary luxuries. But keep in mind that one of the big reasons why the Mavericks were unable to win the championship last year is because they suffered injuries to almost all of the previously mentioned pitchers. This year, they are loaded with depth in case that happens again. The bullpen is borderline unfair. Only two closers: Aroldis Chapman and Kenley Jansen, but Andrew Miller and Dellin Betances are such reliable strikeout machines that they hold significant value as setup men. It would be hard to imagine the Mavericks not regaining the top spot in the league in strikeouts. There are questions on offense, however. These projections don’t show a lot of promise beyond Mike Trout and Manny Machado. The Mavericks don’t need a great offense to win this league, but they will need a couple other hitters to have breakout years. Andrew Benintendi, Byron Buxton, Addison Russell, Nomar Mazara and Tim Anderson are all candidates to do just that. No matter what happens with the bats, this will be a championship contender on the strength of the league’s best pitching staff.