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Opening Day is in the books. Matt Davidson is on pace to hit 486 home runs this season. That would be a record. It is great to have baseball back in our lives. This should be a fun opening weekend, paired with Easter celebrations. There are four teams remaining in this DTBL preview series. Today I’ll cover the teams projected to finish in third and fourth places. These particular teams have been among the most volatile squads in the league in recent years. Both have won championships in the past three seasons and both have finished near the bottom of the league as well. In fact, these were two of the three worst teams in the league just last season. So things would appear to be trending up, if these projections prove accurate. Unlike all of the previous six teams that I have covered, we have now reached the teams that appear to be at least average in both batting and pitching. Here is a preview of a couple teams who figure to be in the championship hunt.
Jay’s Jackalope
Category – Projected Rank (2017 Rank)
- Batting Average – 8th (3rd)
- Home Runs - 1st (1st)
- Runs Batted In - 1st (3rd)
- Runs Scored – 4th (5th)
- Stolen Bases – 10th (10th)
- Earned Run Average – 6th (6th)
- WHIP Ratio – 7th (6th)
- Wins – 8th (9th)
- Saves – 1st (8th)
- Strike Outs – 5th (10th)
- Total Batting Points – 4th-T (3rd-T)
- Total Pitching Points – 5th-T (9th)
- Total Points – 4th (8th)
Summary:
After a season away, Jay is back in charge of the Jackalope. While ’17 was a little disappointing for the Jackalope on the whole, they did exert their power, leading the league in home runs. They are projected to repeat that this season, maintaining a strong offense supported by an improved pitching staff. They focused heavily on rebuilding the pitching staff in the draft, selecting a pair of starting pitchers named Luis, Severino and Castillo, in the first two rounds. Those two join Jake Arrieta, Sonny Gray and Gerrit Cole to make up a rotation that has the potential to be very good. While the bullpen looks to be pretty good as well, I’m not sure I’m buying the first place in saves projection. Mark Melancon’s health is a big concern. Wade Davis is definitely the stud in the pen. Kelvin Herrera and Blake Parker could be nice additions, but they come with questions as well. Overall though, this does appear to be a much improved pitching staff. The Jackalope remain powerful with the bats. New Yankee and reigning DTBL MVP Giancarlo Stanton has the highest batting PAR projection in the league. Paul Goldschmidt is in the top five as well. Gary Sanchez is probably the best hitting catcher in the game right now. Josh Donaldson and Anthony Rendon are near the top among third basemen as well. An interesting addition to the slugging Jackalope is Rougned Odor. If he can rebound from a pretty poor ’17 season, he’ll provide another big power boost to the Jackalope infield. Outside of Stanton, the outfield is less impressive. But on the whole, the Jackalope should have an above average offense. With an improved pitching staff, the Jackalope should finish much higher in the standings than they have the past couple seasons, and a championship drive is a possibility as well.
Kevin’s Kings
Category – Projected Rank (2017 Rank)
- Batting Average – 3rd (7th)
- Home Runs - 2nd (8th)
- Runs Batted In - 2nd (7th)
- Runs Scored - 3rd (7th)
- Stolen Bases – 6th (9th)
- Earned Run Average – 5th (7th)
- WHIP Ratio - 6th (4th)
- Wins - 7th (4th)
- Saves – 6th (7th)
- Strike Outs - 3rd (4th)
- Total Batting Points – 1st (8th)
- Total Pitching Points - 5th-T (4th-T)
- Total Points – 3rd (9th)
Summary:
2017 was a disaster for the Kings. They nearly pulled off the embarrassing feat of going from first to worst, narrowly finishing ahead of the Gators for ninth place. Not to make too many excuses, but this team was completely decimated by injuries, especially to their hitters. The talent from the ’16 championship squad is still mostly there, so it seems reasonable to expect better results this year, provided they have better luck on the health front. The projections show massive improvement on the offensive side of things. The Kings first three draft picks were all sluggers: Rhys Hoskins, Matt Olson and Evan Gattis. Gattis could be a particularly key addition, occupying a usually weak catcher slot while accumulating regular at bats as a DH for the Astros. Mookie Betts and Carlos Correa remain the Kings two best offensive players, but Hoskins has the potential to be right up there with them. Three outfielders who were hurt for significant portions of last season could be the key to the Kings success this year: A.J. Pollock, Adam Eaton and Ian Desmond. Pollock, in particular, is an elite fantasy player when healthy. The Kings are projected to accumulate the most batting points in the league. That may be a tad optimistic, but they certainly appear to be stronger than the ’17 version. The pitching staff hasn’t changed much. Max Scherzer is still the undisputed ace. It will be interesting to see how Justin Verlander fares in a full season in Houston. Marcus Stroman, Jon Gray and Lance McCullers are three relatively young pitchers who could be poised for breakout campaigns. The bullpen might actually exceed these projections as 12th round pick Brad Boxberger was named the Diamondbacks closer to begin the season. He joins Sean Doolittle, Arodys Vizcaino and Jeurys Familia to give the Kings four closers to start the season. Nate Jones is waiting in the wings as well. It is reasonable to think that ’17 was a blip on the radar for a team that has championship aspirations. The Kings have a very good chance of being in the pennant race this season.