Happy Opening Day! The season kicked off last night in Chicago, but things get started for real across the country today. This is the third of my four part preview of the 2015 DTBL season. I hope to finish up the last part on Tuesday evening. This third part takes a look at a pair of teams that have quietly been building very strong teams and should definitely be championship contenders this year. But much like the teams covered in part two, these squads have an obvious strength and an apparent weakness which is keeping them a little bit behind the projected top two teams. They will probably need to improve upon these projected numbers in those areas of weakness to win the league. But they are close enough where that is a very realistic possibility. Here are the teams predicted to finish in fourth and third place this season.
Charlie’s Thunder Choppers
Category – Projected Rank (2014 Rank)
- Batting Average – 7th (6th)
- Home Runs – 7th (3rd)
- Runs Batted In – 9th (4th)
- Runs Scored – 7th (2nd)
- Stolen Bases – 9th (7th)
- Earned Run Average – 2nd (6th)
- WHIP Ratio – 2nd (6th)
- Wins – 4th (2nd)
- Saves – 3rd (8th)
- Strike Outs – 2nd (5th)
- Total Batting Points – 9th (4th)
- Total Pitching Points – 2nd (5th)
- Total Points – 4th (4th)
Summary:
Two years ago, the Choppers surprised a lot of people by finishing in third place. Last year, they proved they belonged among the top teams in the league, despite falling to a fourth place finish. This year’s projection shows more of the same, but also indicates this is a much different team than the one that finished fourth a year ago. For one thing, it is strange to see a team that is projected to finish in the bottom four of all five offensive categories to still finish in the top half of the standings. But the Choppers pitching staff appears to be one of the league’s best. This was clearly the plan as they took pitchers with their first four picks in the draft. Tyson Ross and Masahiro Tanaka are great additions to a staff that already included Chris Sale, Jon Lester and Alex Cobb. There are some serious health concerns in this group, but if healthy, they will be one of the league’s best rotations. The bullpen took a big hit yesterday when the Braves dealt Craig Kimbrel to the Padres, costing Joaquin Benoit his closer gig. So don’t expect them to finish third in saves. On offense, the numbers aren’t pretty, but this is still a very talented, veteran group. Look for Anthony Rizzo to be the team’s MVP. Jose Bautista should have another great year too. Really, not a lot has changed from the team that finished fourth in offensive points a year ago. They just don’t have the shiny new additions that some other teams do. There are plenty of reasons for optimism in the Choppers camp this year.
David’s Darkhorses
Category – Projected Rank (2014 Rank)
- Batting Average – 6th (7th)
- Home Runs – 3rd (6th)
- Runs Batted In – 3rd (6th)
- Runs Scored – 2nd (6th)
- Stolen Bases – 3rd (4th)
- Earned Run Average – 5th (8th)
- WHIP Ratio – 9th (9th)
- Wins – 6th (6th-T)
- Saves – 7th (10th)
- Strike Outs – 6th (9th)
- Total Batting Points – 4th (7th)
- Total Pitching Points – 7th (10th)
- Total Points – 3rd (8th)
Summary:
Probably the biggest surprise of these projections in the positive direction is the Darkhorses coming in third. But these numbers are pretty good indicators of just how close all of these teams appear to be. The Darkhorses somehow place third despite being fourth and seventh in projected batting and pitching points, respectively. But all of those rankings would be significant improvements for the team that finished in eighth place a year ago and hasn’t finished in the top half of the league since winning the championship in 2010. The Darkhorses look especially strong on offense. The additions of Edwin Encarnacion (trade) and George Springer (3rd overall pick of the draft) gives them a pair of sluggers that they lacked in 2014. Bryce Harper, Christian Yelich and Xander Bogaerts are three young returning players who could be primed for huge seasons too. The pitching staff is still the weakness, but should definitely be better than last year’s squad which finished with the fewest pitching points in the league. Jacob deGrom is the key newcomer. Julio Teheran, James Shields and Lance Lynn are the best holdovers. Not the most impressive staff on paper, of course, but this group should be good enough to put them into contention with their impressive offense. Sorry about the terrible pun, but if you are looking for a darkhorse pick to win the 2015 DTBL championship, this is definitely your team.