A couple days of the 2026 MLB season are in the books. Early takeaways are that Mike Trout may have found the fountain of youth this winter, as if the Mavericks were hurting without him at his peak. And the Moonshiners rotation may be even more loaded with the addition of Cam Schlittler. But we’ll get to the Mavericks and Moonshiners more later, because they are not among the rest of the middle pack of teams in the projected standings.
The three teams that we will cover today are very closely packed with the three teams in the previous article, especially the first team to go today. These are teams that are strong enough to contend for the title if they exceed expectations in a few key areas. Their weaknesses aren’t so glaring that they can’t be overcome though. Here are the teams projected to finish in third through fifth places this season.
Kat’s Komodos
Category – Projected Rank (2025 Rank)
- Batting Average – 2nd (6th)
- Home Runs – 8th (8th)
- Runs Batted In – 5th (9th)
- Runs Scored – 9th (9th)
- Stolen Bases – 3rd (4th)
- Earned Run Average – 5th (8th)
- WHIP Ratio – 8th (9th)
- Wins – 5th (3rd)
- Saves – 1st (3rd)
- Strike Outs – 10th (8th)
- Total Batting Points – 5th (9th)
- Total Pitching Points – 7th (7th-T)
- Total Points – 5th (7th)
Summary:
The Komodos have not finished in the top half of the standings since 2022, but it appears there is a decent chance of that changing this year. These projections point to them being a much stronger offensive team this year, which was a significant weakness a year ago. That’s interesting because the individual projections of the hitters they added in the early rounds of the draft are good, but not great. It starts at catcher where they added first round pick Drake Baldwin and later picked Austin Wells to give them a solid foundation there. Josh Naylor somehow becoming a base stealing savant was one of the most surprising developments of 2025. Assuming that remains part of his game this year, he and his former Cleveland teammate Jose Ramirez give the Komodos an elite duo at the corner infield spots. They have another solid first baseman in Yandy Diaz as well. The middle infield was largely revamped with veterans Brandon Lowe and Xander Bogaerts brought in and Gleyber Torres brought back to add stability. The Komodos outfield is very intriguing with a bunch of guys capable of carrying the squad. Yordan Alvarez hopes to shake off an injury riddled ’25. James Wood was one of the best players in the league in the first half of last year, but had major contact issues in the second half that he will look to remedy this season. Cody Bellinger and Luis Robert are back to provide big upside to this outfield. One potential wild card here is the addition of Chandler Simpson who is capable of winning a team the stolen base title all by himself. Where he will fit into this deep group of Komodo outfielders remains to be seen. The Komodos pitching staff is not quite as settled, particularly the rotation. Well, the top two spots are. Christopher Sanchez and Framber Valdez give them two lefty aces who they don’t have to worry about at all. Tanner Bibee is a fairly safe bet to be a solid contributor too. Its the other two spots that are open questions. Shane McClanahan missed two full seasons following Tommy John surgery. He had a very good spring training though, so there is some hope he is finally healthy and can return to being an elite pitcher. Jack Flaherty was added as insurance. And who knows if Walker Buehler can resuscitate his career? The bullpen looks very good, at least from a saves perspective. Jhoan Duran is one of the game’s best closers. Carlos Estevez and Kenley Jansen should provide plenty of saves too. Even Edwin Uceta has a chance to be the Rays closer once he gets healthy. Overall, this should be a very interesting team to watch. The Komodos hope to end their top division drought.
David’s Darkhorses
Category – Projected Rank (2025 Rank)
- Batting Average – 9th (9th)
- Home Runs – 6th (5th)
- Runs Batted In – 7th (4th)
- Runs Scored – 7th (6th)
- Stolen Bases – 6th (8th)
- Earned Run Average – 3rd (3rd)
- WHIP Ratio – 1st (3rd)
- Wins – 2nd (5th-T)
- Saves – 7th (1st)
- Strike Outs – 3rd (2nd)
- Total Batting Points – 9th (6th-T)
- Total Pitching Points – 2nd (1st)
- Total Points – 4th (4th)
Summary:
On paper, the Darkhorses look pretty similar heading into this season as they did a year ago. They led the league in pitching points, but slipped to a fourth place finish because of a pedestrian offense. These projections show an even starker split between those two parts of the team heading into this year. But that certainly isn’t because of their approach to the draft. They took hitters with each of their first three picks. Much of what I wrote about the Kings offense applies to the Darkhorses as well. They have a very deep lineup with no obvious weak spot. However, their offensive core is veteran players who may be past their primes, leading to few players with truly elite offensive projections. Bryce Harper is the only Darkhorse with a Batting PAR projection over 3. Alex Bregman has a surprisingly mediocre projection, for which I would bet the over. Spencer Torkleson and Jonathan Aranda give the Darkhorses a very deep group at the corner infield spots. The middle infield is almost completely made up of newcomers to the roster who are proven performers: first round draft pick Corey Seager, Marcus Semien and Jose Caballero. Perhaps the biggest potential upside player here is Jackson Holliday who could be a post-hype sleeper once he gets healthy. The Darkhorses added versatile catcher Agustin Ramirez to pair with Hunter Goodman to solidify that position. The outfield is perhaps a bit underwhelming compared to the teams that are yet to come in this preview series. But it is also an incredibly reliable group, led by veterans Christian Yelich and George Springer. Jackson Merrill is capable of taking his game to another level. Then there is under the radar youngster Jakob Marsee. The strength of this team lies in the pitching staff, particularly the starting rotation. Take your pick on who you consider the ace of this staff among Jacob deGrom, Logan Webb and Jesus Luzardo. Hunter Greene would have been included there too if he were not expected to miss a good chunk of the season with an elbow injury. They have someone to replace him though with what I thought was one of the steals of the draft, reacquiring veteran Sonny Gray in the sixth round. If Spencer Strider can get fully healthy and back to his old form, this might be the deepest rotation in the league. The bullpen is good on talent, but they probably won’t lead the league in saves again with Robert Suarez no longer having a closing gig to himself. Andres Munoz does though and will likely lead this group in saves. This is a relieving core that will contribute in other categories too though. The Darkhorses definitely have the pitching to win another title. The question will be if they can get enough elite performances out of their deep stable of hitters to chase down the other top teams.
Dom’s Demigods
Category – Projected Rank (2025 Rank)
- Batting Average – 5th (2nd)
- Home Runs – 5th (2nd)
- Runs Batted In – 6th (3rd)
- Runs Scored – 3rd (2nd)
- Stolen Bases – 5th (5th)
- Earned Run Average – 7th (9th)
- WHIP Ratio – 7th (8th)
- Wins – 1st (4th)
- Saves – 2nd (4th)
- Strike Outs – 9th (6th)
- Total Batting Points – 4th (2nd)
- Total Pitching Points – 4th (7th-T)
- Total Points – 3rd (3rd)
Summary:
Just like the Darkhorses, the Demigods are projected to finish in the same spot as they did a year ago. However, the shape of that profile is a bit different this time around. Last year, they trailed only the champion Mavericks in batting points, but were below average on the pitching side. This year, they shape up as a well balanced squad, more so than any team covered to this point. Earlier this spring, the Demigods were in a rough spot with several of their key players suffering injuries early in camp. However, Francisco Lindor and Corbin Carroll made it back in time for Opening Day. Only Jordan Westburg and Seiya Suzuki remain on the shelf among players who suffered injuries this spring. Lindor and Carroll are two of four hitters on this roster with Batting PAR projections over 4. The others are Zach Neto and Francisco Lindor Jr. That’s a great starting point for an elite offense. Mainstay Demigods Freddie Freeman and Jose Altuve join Lindor and Neto to make up an excellent infield. The temporary loss of Westburg hurts a bit at third base, but Royce Lewis was added to give them another option there. The outfield is thin on numbers with Suzuki down. However, Carroll, Tatis, Byron Buxton and newcomer Ceddanne Rafaela all provide five category production. Alejandro Kirk joins Yainer Diaz behind the plate. Assuming injuries don’t continue to plague this group, the Demigods should be a very good hitting team again this year. Where they will look to improve upon is the pitching staff which was not good enough to keep them in the title race until the end last year. It does seem they have made some key additions to address that, starting with first round pick Kyle Bradish. Bradish returned from Tommy John surgery late last season looking as good as new. If that continues into this season, the Demigods may have another ace to join with Max Fried. Another strong addition to the staff is the under appreciated Ranger Suarez who has been released by three different DTBL teams the past two years despite always putting up solid numbers. The other key holdovers from last year are Shota Imanaga and Zac Gallen. And then there is Carlos Rodon who had one of the best seasons of his career last year, but will miss the first month or so of this season recovering from an elbow injury. Gone are the days of the Demigods punting the saves category. Aroldis Chapman, David Bednar and Pete Fairbanks should give them a shot at leading the league in saves this year. This is a strong pitching staff that raises the floor pretty high for the Demigods as a whole. Their second championship could be within reach this season.
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