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  • Kings Enter Seventh Heaven

    Embed from Getty Images
    The past seven seasons have been a roller coaster ride for the Kings.  During that span, they have reached the top of the summit multiple times and the depths of the valley as well, with little in between.  Two seasons ago, they made the improbable jump to winning a league championship just a year removed from finishing dead last.  Last year, they dropped all the way down to ninth place.  But this season, they pulled off another improbable rebound, winning the championship for a record extending seventh time.  Kevin’s Kings are the 2018 Dream Team Baseball League Champions.

    At the halfway mark of the season, it looked like a forgone conclusion that the Kings would win the league.  They had a double digit advantage through most of the first half.  But then they started to cool off in July and August, briefly losing the lead in early September.  Fortunately for them, the bats caught fire in mid-September, just in time to hold off an impressive charge by the Darkhorses.  There was still some doubt heading into the final days of the season, but in the end, the Kings held on to win by 2 1/2 points.  The Demigods and Choppers also finished in shouting distance, 9 and 12 1/2 points back respectively.

    Mookie Betts, Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander were three of the best players in baseball this season.  That is almost indisputable.  Having the three of them put together those amazing seasons for the same team would obviously make you think that team was pretty good.  In this case, those three were almost the only reasons why the Kings won the league.  The Kings probably had more players who failed to meet expectations, due to injuries or poor performances, than those who exceeded expectations.  But Betts, Scherzer and Verlander were so good that it didn’t matter.

    Betts finished the season with 11.3 PAR and would have led the league if not for a red hot stretch run by Christian Yelich.  His 2018 was almost identical to his 2016 campaign, which produced a MVP award and also another championship for the Kings.  Betts joined the 30/30 club for the first time this year, reaching career highs in home runs (32) and stolen bases (30).  He also won the batting title, hitting .346, and tied Francisco Lindor for the league lead in runs scored with 129.  It was an all-around great season for Betts who will be a strong contender to win his second MVP award.

    Scherzer and Verlander have been leading the Kings pitching staff for many years.  They are both former Cy Young award winners and have each had several elite seasons in the past.  But this was easily their best combined campaign as Kings teammates.  They finished first and second in the league in pitching PAR (14.0 for Scherzer, 13.0 for Verlander) and had very similar stat lines across the board.  Scherzer:  2.53 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 18 wins, 300 strikeouts.  Verlander:  2.52 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, 16 wins, 290 strikeouts.  Here are their league ranks in those four categories:  ERA – 6th/7th, WHIP – 2nd/3rd, W – 4th/9th, K – 1st/2nd.  Scherzer joins Chris Sale and Clayton Kershaw as the only pitchers to reach 300 strikeouts since 2002.  Verlander smashed his career high in that category as well and had his best overall season since winning the Cy Young in 2011 with one of the all-time great pitching seasons.

    Hardly any other Kings players are even worth mentioning beyond those three.  Rhys Hoskins, the second overall pick in this year’s draft, had a solid rookie campaign.  But he was the only Kings position player besides Betts to top 4 PAR.  Second round pick Matt Olson was decent as well.  A.J. Pollock was solid when healthy, but once again missed significant time due to injuries.  Betts was the only Kings player to finish in the top 10 of any offensive category.  He was almost literally a one man show with the bat.  This is the second straight year that a team has won the league with just 29 batting points.  But unlike the star-studded ’17 Mavericks, the Kings got to that number on the back of just one superstar.

    The pitching staff was a little more well-rounded, leading the league with 43 1/2 pitching points.  But again, Scherzer and Verlander were responsible for most of that.  The rest of the rotation was a revolving door of guys who were okay, but not great.  Lance McCullers and Eduardo Rodriguez were having nice seasons before they got hurt.  Kevin Gausman proved to be a solid pickup in the second half.  The bullpen was rock solid in the first half of the year, but was decimated by injuries and ineffectiveness down the stretch.  Sean Doolittle was easily their best reliever over the course of the season, but even he missed a couple months with a foot injury.

    So how exactly did the Kings win the league with so few great performances?  Well, to be honest, they got a little lucky.  The league as a whole was not terribly strong this season.  I may cover this in another season recap article, but the league-wide PAR was below 400 for the first time in any season I’ve calculated to date.  Granted, that should go up when I do the off-season update to incorporate 2018 numbers into the calculations.  There are several reasons why this number was so low.  But it does shine some light on how the Kings were able to win with less than spectacular numbers across the board.  I believe the Kings dominant first half played a significant role as well, potentially leading other teams to feel like they were out of the race by the start of summer.  Had a couple teams been more aggressive in those summer months, the Kings could have been in big trouble down the stretch.  This will not go down as one of the all-time great championship teams.  But you know what?  Championship pennants fly forever.  And now the Kings have seven of them.  No other team has won more than four.

  • Kings, Darkhorses Vie For Title

    Embed from Getty Images As usual, I have gotten lazy with my DTBL News articles as the season has worn on.  I thought about skipping this one altogether, but decided it would be good to get a least some of the following out of the way before the season ends.  Scroll to the bottom of the article if you have been waiting weeks to find out who the best players of August were, as we near the end of September.  But first, a brief look at what is in store for the final weekend of the season. The Kings have been in first place all but four days this season.  The only time they were lower than second place was the day after Opening Day.  They held a share of the lead every single day from April 18 through September 16.  And yet, with just three full days remaining on the calendar, they are hardly a sure thing to win their seventh DTBL Championship.  They dominated the league for the first three months, but faded badly in July and especially August.  It was not a huge surprise when the Darkhorses finally caught them a couple weeks ago.  But the Kings picked a good time to get hot again as their offense has had its best stretch in several months over the past week or so.  With one weekend to go, the Kings lead over the Darkhorses is four points.  That is, by no means, a safe lead. The final week began with the Kings leading the Darkhorses by 1 1/2 points.  The Demigods were just five back and the Choppers were in striking distance as well, seven points behind.  But since then, the Kings have picked up 3 1/2 points and have increased their lead over all of the challengers.  I think it is safe to say that the Choppers and Demigods are probably out of it now, barring something miraculous.  But the Darkhorses have several paths to claiming the title. The categories that present the best opportunities for the Darkhorses to pick up points are batting average, ERA and maybe home runs.  If Jacob deGrom were slated to pitch one more time, I might have thrown strikeouts in there too.  But realistically, 71-72 points is probably the Darkhorses' ceiling.  In other words, they are going to need a little help as the Kings sit at 73 points.  But the Kings could very easily spit back some points they've gained this week.  They are very vulnerable in home runs, RBIs and ERA.  The game I will have my eye on will be Jon Gray facing a resurgent Nationals offense at Coors Field on Saturday night.  If Gray were to get lit up, a loss of an ERA point would be very possible for the Kings.  On the flip side, the Kings have some suddenly hot power hitters, like David Dahl and A.J. Pollock.  The Darkhorses will be rooting for a power outage from the Kings this weekend. Keep in mind that our league does count stats from tie-breaker games.  There is a very good chance that at least one tie-breaker will be required to settle the National League playoff races.  So this thing may not be over on Sunday.  However, no roster moves will be processed before Monday, so the current active rosters will remain in effect until the season is officially over.  If the championship remains up for grabs on Monday, I'll be live blogging the action. Now it is time to play catch-up on all of the weekly and monthly awards I missed.  Since I'm so late with these, I'm not going to bother with write-ups.  But here are the weekly award winners from August and September (so far). Batters of the Week: Week 19 (7/30 - 8/5) - Matt Carpenter, Choppers Week 20 (8/6 - 8/12) - J.D. Martinez, Demigods Week 21 (8/13 - 8/19) - Justin Turner, Darkhorses Week 22 (8/20 - 8/26) - Javier Baez, Mavericks Week 23 (8/27 - 9/2) - Christian Yelich, Darkhorses Week 24 (9/3 - 9/9) - Trevor Story, Cougars Week 25 (9/10 - 9/16) - Whit Merrifield, Choppers Week 26 (9/17 - 9/23) - Tommy Pham, Cougars Pitchers of the Week: Week 19 (7/30 - 8/5) - Jon Gray, Kings Week 20 (8/6 - 8/12) - Trevor Bauer, Choppers Week 21 (8/13 - 8/19) - Jacob deGrom, Darkhorses Week 22 (8/20 - 8/26) - Kevin Gausman, Kings Week 23 (8/27 - 9/2) - Corey Kluber, Demigods Week 24 (9/3 - 9/9) - Robbie Ray, Moonshiners Week 25 (9/10 - 9/16) - Justin Verlander, Kings Week 26 (9/17 - 9/23) - Hyun-Jin Ryu, Choppers And now, here are the Batter and Pitcher of the Month from August 2018. Batter of the Month: Matt Carpenter, Choppers J.D. Martinez, Demigods .373 AVG, 7 HR, 25 RBI, 24 R, 2 SB, 2.69 PAR Pitcher of the Month: Jacob deGrom, Darkhorses 1.24 ERA, 0.985 WHIP, 3 W, 0 SV, 60 K, 3.29 PAR FYI, Carpenter Martinez just barely edged out the Darkhorses' Christian Yelich, who is probably a strong contender for this award again in September.  Speaking of guys who are strong contenders for September honors, deGrom's unbelievable '18 season was finally rewarded in August. It should be an exciting final weekend, both in the DTBL and MLB.  May the best teams win! TWO YEARS LATER EDIT:  When going through these articles to retroactively populate the honors table with past monthly award winners, I discovered I completely botched this one.  J.D. Martinez was the actual Player of the Month for August 2018.  My spreadsheet of monthly stats clearly states that, and I verified that the stat line above matches what Martinez produced in 8/18, not Carpenter.  I do not know how I got this wrong.

  • Four DTBL Legends Enshrined

    Embed from Getty Images One of the cool things about the longevity of this league is that now most of the newly inducted members in the Baseball Hall of Fame are players who accumulated most of their Hall of Fame credentials as members of DTBL teams.  This has been the case for a while, but some year's classes carry more significance to this league than others.  The 2018 class featured four of the best players in our league's history:  Vladimir Guerrero, Trevor Hoffman, Chipper Jones and Jim Thome.  Also inducted were Alan Trammell and Jack Morris.  Trammell played until 1996, but was never on a DTBL major league roster.  Morris had a brief, unimpressive stint with the Gators in the league's inaugural season.  But here is a synopsis of the DTBL careers of the big four who were inducted in Cooperstown the last week of July. Vladimir Guerrero was originally drafted by the expansion Angels in 1998 and was a member of that team for their only season of existence.  He then returned to the draft pool the following year and somehow fell all the way to the Choppers with the 8th pick of the 1999 draft.  Needless to say, that pick worked out pretty well for them.  He spent the remaining 13 seasons of his DTBL career with the Choppers, winning a championship in his first season with them (1999).  Guerrero ranks sixth in DTBL history with a .319 average and is in the top 10 in RBI as well (1,415).  His name is littered all over the Choppers franchise leaderboard:  second in average (.319), RBI (1,306) and runs (1,130), third in home runs (390) and sixth in stolen bases (165).  Not everyone recalls his base stealing prowess.  There are 16 DTBL players with 400 home runs (Adrian Beltre just recently joined this group).  Of those 16 guys, only Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds and Gary Sheffield have more than Guerrero's 176 career steals.  Vlad was as consistent of a hitter as the league has ever seen.  In his first nine seasons, he hit over .300 with 30+ homers and 100+ RBI in all but one year (2003).  In seasons in which he qualified for the batting title (400 at bats) his *worst* batting average was .300 in 2010. In the history of baseball, only one pitcher has recorded more saves than Trevor Hoffman (Mariano Rivera).  The same is true of DTBL history.  His 560 saves is 136 more than any pitcher not named Rivera, so he figures to hold onto the second spot for quite some time to come.  Unlike the other three players covered here, Hoffman doesn't have an obvious choice of team cap to wear on his fictional DTBL Hall of Fame plaque.  He spent time with six different franchises.  His longest tenures were five seasons with two different teams:  Panthers (1997-2001) and Moonshiners (2004-2008).  He started his career with the Kings (1995-1997), spent two stints with the Darkhorses (2002-2003, 2009) and split his final season (2010) with the Mavericks and Naturals.  He is the Moonshiners franchise leader in saves (202) and ranks third on the Panthers list (191).  Hoffman recorded at least 30 saves every year from 1995 through 2008, except for an injury marred 2003.  In addition to the gaudy save totals, he also struck out 948 batters, which ranks fourth among pitchers who spent their entire careers in the bullpen.  His 2.78 career ERA ranks fourth among all pitchers.  He was a member of two DTBL championship winning teams, near the end of his career:  the 2009 Darkhorses and 2010 Naturals. Chipper Jones was a slugging third baseman in an era when that wasn't really a thing.  It is basically him and Adrian Beltre at the top of all of the DTBL third baseman hitting rankings.  Most of his best seasons were spent as a member of the Jackalope.  He started his career with the Tidal Wave and was with them for both of their years of existence.  Then he joined another expansion team, the Jackalope, as their first pick in 1998.  He was released by the Jackalope after a decent 2006 season and added a couple more solid years with the Darkhorses in 2007 through 2009.  His final three seasons saw him bounce from the Cougars to the Mavericks and then back to the Darkhorses.  It was the Jackalope years that really made him a Hall of Fame player though.  With them, he hit .310 with 276 home runs, 874 RBI and 868 runs, all four totals rank in the top four of Jackalope history.  His career numbers also put him in elite company:  .308, 411 HR, 1,422 RBI, 1,414 runs.  The only other members of the .300/400/1,400/1,400 club are Barry Bonds, Manny Ramirez and Albert Pujols.  While Jones' best seasons were with the Jackalope, his championship winning years came with the Darkhorses.  He was a member of the Darkhorses for the first three of their four consecutive titles (2007-2009).  He was a teammate of Hoffman's on that 2009 squad. Finally, we have Jim Thome, one of the most feared sluggers of the past quarter century.  Thome ranks fourth on the DTBL career list in home runs (546) and fifth in runs batted in (1,492).  No current member of the Baseball Hall of Fame has accumulated more DTBL home runs or RBI than Thome.  He is one of the few sluggers at the top of those lists without any PED taint.  He spent his entire DTBL career with just two teams.  Thome was originally a member of the Kings, but is best remembered as a member of the Choppers, who acquired him in the second round of the 1999 draft.  Yes, the Choppers selected Hall of Famers in the first two rounds of that '99 draft.  He spent 11 seasons with the Choppers (1999-2009), which was surrounded by a pair of stints with the Kings (1995-1998, 2010).  With the Choppers, he amassed 401 home runs, bested only by Sammy Sosa.  His 1,094 RBI and 976 runs both rank fourth in Choppers history.  Thome hit at least 40 home runs in six different seasons.  Probably the best season of his career came in 2002 when he slugged a career high 52 homers with a .304 average.  From 1999 through 2003, he hit at least 30 home runs with 100+ RBI and runs each year.  His lone DTBL championship came in his first season with the Choppers, 1999, when he was a teammate of Guerrero's.  Coincidentally, all four of these new Hall-of-Famers were members of either the 1999 Choppers or 2009 Darkhorses. Congratulations to four of the greatest players in DTBL history:  Vladimir Guerrero, Trevor Hoffman, Chipper Jones and Jim Thome! Now here are the weekly and monthly award winners for July 2018. Batters of the Week: Week 15 (7/2 - 7/8) - Yulieski Gurriel, Demigods Week 16 (7/9 - 7/15) - Jose Ramirez, Komodos Week 17 (7/16 - 7/22) - Matt Carpenter, Choppers Week 18 (7/23 - 7/29) - Jonathan Schoop, Mavericks Pitchers of the Week: Week 15 (7/2 - 7/8) - Dallas Keuchel, Moonshiners Week 16 (7/9 - 7/15) - Aaron Nola, Demigods Week 17 (7/16 - 7/22) - Zack Greinke, Moonshiners Week 18 (7/23 - 7/29) - Rick Porcello, Cougars Compiling the information above exposed a bit of a flaw in my code that captures the Batter and Pitcher of the Week winners each week.  In two instances, the above players were not the ones I captured.  Instead, I had players who weren't on an active DTBL roster at the time.  This has happened before, but I don't recall seeing two instances of it in the same month.  I should probably take some time to fix this.  Anyway, because I don't store weekly PAR numbers beyond the top batter and pitcher, I had to take a guess at who should have won these awards.  So it is quite possible that Yulieski Gurriel and Rick Porcello were not the rightful winners in their respective weeks.  What is certain is the accuracy of the monthly PAR totals for July.  Here are the players of the month. Batter of the Month: Jose Ramirez, Komodos .322 AVG, 8 HR, 25 RBI, 21 R, 11 SB, 3.55 PAR Pitcher of the Month: Zack Greinke, Moonshiners 1.60 ERA, 0.891 WHIP, 4 W, 0 SV, 35 K, 2.61 PAR When I see eye-popping numbers in all five categories, I often will run a Baseball Reference Play Index search to see if any other players in DTBL history have matched or exceeded all of the monthly numbers compiled by the batter or pitcher of the month.  In this case, Jose Ramirez's July, I found no results.  So, prior to July, no DTBL player had ever hit .322+ with 8+ home runs, 25+ RBI, 21+ runs and 11+ stolen bases in a single month.  These numbers were especially impressive coming in July with the All-Star break taking away a couple additional games played.  Ramirez is currently leading the DTBL in Batting PAR and home runs.  He is second in stolen bases and not far behind the leaders in RBI and runs either.  The Komodos third baseman has a strong case for MVP if he continues to be a five category force.  Ramirez won this award in a landslide, but finishing second was his Indians teammate Francisco Lindor. Zack Grienke is quietly compiling another great season to add to his impressive career resume.  When discussing the top pitchers of the game today, Greinke is rarely mentioned.  But he is posting a sub 3.00 ERA with a dozen wins and more than a strikeout per inning.  In July, Greinke tied for the league lead with four wins while compiling a 1.60 ERA and 0.89 WHIP.  With the recently added 2005 PAR numbers, Greinke's entire career PAR has been calculated.  Since 2005, only three other pitchers (Clayton Kershaw, Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer) have exceeded his 79.0 PAR.  Greinke just barely edged out Chris Sale for this monthly honor.

  • Lindor Caps Epic Comeback

    Embed from Getty Images On paper, the National Division appeared to be the stronger squad in the 25th Annual DTBL All-Star Game.  But it took a comeback for the ages for them to prove it.  The American Division broke out to a 7-0 lead in the game's first two innings and maintained a six run advantage at the seventh inning stretch.  But then the script flipped and the National All-Stars stormed back.  Francisco Lindor completed the comeback with a go-ahead two run homer in the bottom of the 8th.  The National Division won the silver anniversary mid-summer classic at Kings Park by a final score of 8-7. The game could not have gotten off to a much better start for the American Division.  Facing Corey Kluber in the top of the first, the American team scored three runs.  Paul Goldschmidt started the scoring with a two run home run, knocking in Jean Segura who had singled to start the game.  Giancarlo Stanton followed the Goldschmidt blast with a single and reached third on a double by Eddie Rosario.  Nelson Cruz knocked in Stanton on a groundout to give the American squad a three run lead before the National Division stepped to the plate against American starting pitcher Luis Severino. Things appeared to unravel for the National team in the top of the second with Max Scherzer on the mound.  Whit Merrifield reached on an error by National shortstop Javy Baez.  A Jose Ramirez single and Goldschmidt walk loaded the bases with two outs for Stanton.  On an 0-2 pitch, Stanton launched an opposite field grand slam home run, increasing the lead to 7-0.  All four runs were unearned. The American Division seemed to have this game under control.  Severino completed two solid, scoreless innings.  The National All-Stars did get one back in the third off of Chris Sale though, on another opposite field home run.  Manny Machado's blast to right cut the lead to 7-1.  That would be it for the scoring until the seventh as both teams scattered a few hits but never really mounted any great scoring opportunities.  In the top of the seventh, Brad Hand hit the first batter he faced, but then struck out the next three hitters to send the game to the seventh inning stretch.  That's when everything changed. Craig Kimbrel came on to pitch for the American Division and promptly walked Aaron Judge.  Then Freddie Freeman hit yet another opposite field home run.  Like Stanton's grand slam, this Freeman blast came on an 0-2 pitch.  Lindor followed with an impressive nine pitch walk.  After a one out single by Jose Altuve, Kimbrel was relieved of his duties.  In came Josh Hader.  His rough week continued.  Mookie Betts greeted Hader with a three run home run to center, capping off a five run inning that cut the American lead to one run. Sean Doolittle pitched a perfect top of the eighth with a pair of strikeouts, allowing the National All-Stars to maintain their momentum.  In came Aroldis Chapman to try to protect the one run advantage.  He did not.  Aaron Judge reached on a walk for the second time in the game.  With two outs and a runner on first, Lindor came up to the plate to face Chapman.  He launched a two run homer to left, completing the epic comeback and giving the National Division an 8-7 lead. Kenley Jansen got the call for the National squad in the ninth and retired the side in order to close out the stunning victory for the National Division.  Doolittle was credited with the win, Chapman took the loss and Jansen recorded the save.  Lindor was named the game's Most Valuable Player, mainly on the strength of his game winning homer.  But the Demigods shortstop also played a role in the big seventh inning with a key walk. There were six home runs hit in the game, four for the National and two for the American.  14 of the 15 runs in the game were knocked in on home runs.  As has been the norm in DTBL All-Star Games in recent years, there were lots and lots of strikeouts.  National pitchers struck out an incredible 20 American hitters.  American pitchers recorded 11 strikeouts too.  Amazingly, no individual hitter struck out more than twice.  But of the 14 American hitters who played in this game, Segura was the only one who didn't fan. Not to be overlooked was the impressive pitching by the National squad after the first two innings.  In the final seven frames, National pitchers allowed just three hits, no runs, one walk and 17 strikeouts.  The only base-runner of the final four innings for the American team was via a hit by pitch.  Perhaps the most notable performance came from Blake Treinen, who struck out all three hitters he faced. This was the third straight All-Star Game victory for the National Division.  They now hold a 14-11 lead in the all-time series.  Click here to check out the box score from the 25th edition of the DTBL Al-Star Game.

  • 2018 DTBL All-Stars

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    The 25th Annual DTBL All-Star Game will take place at Kings Park, home of Kevin’s Kings, at a date and time to be determined.  As the defending champion, Marc will be the official manager for the National Division while Nick will call the shots for the American Division.  The National Division will look to win their third straight mid-summer classic.

    Much like the MLB All-Star rosters, the top-end talent seems to be tilted towards a particular team.  But unlike MLB, that would be the National squad in the DTBL.  That’s not terribly surprising when you take a look at the standings.  National Division teams currently occupy the top four positions.  The American Division roster features four starters and nine total players who weren’t even selected for the MLB All-Star Game (so far).  Meanwhile, here is an impressive list of National Division players who did not make this team:  Eugenio Suarez, Scooter Gennett, Jacob deGrom and Jose Berrios.  That’s not to say there weren’t any good players who missed the American roster.  Jon Lester and James Paxton certainly would have been worthy selections.

    There are an impressive 20 first time All-Stars this year, 10 per team.  Without further ado, here are the 2018 DTBL All-Stars.

     

    American Division

    Starters:

    • Pitcher – Luis Severino, Jackalope (1st All-Star appearance)
    • Catcher – Wilson Ramos, Choppers (2nd)
    • First Base – Paul Goldschmidt, Jackalope (6th)
    • Second Base – Whit Merrifield, Choppers (1st)
    • Third Base – Jose Ramirez, Komodos (1st)
    • Shortstop – Jean Segura, Komodos (2nd)
    • Outfield – Eddie Rosario, Komodos (1st)
    • Outfield – Giancarlo Stanton, Jackalope (5th)
    • Outfield – Nelson Cruz, Komodos (5th)

    Reserves:

    • Catcher – Gary Sanchez, Jackalope (2nd)
    • Third Base – Nolan Arenado, Naturals (4th)
    • Shortstop – Trea Turner, Naturals (2nd)
    • Shortstop – Tim Anderson, Moonshiners (1st)
    • Outfield – Starling Marte, Komodos (3rd)
    • Outfield – Mitch Haniger, Jackalope (1st)
    • Pitcher – Gerrit Cole, Jackalope (2nd)
    • Pitcher – Chris Sale, Choppers (7th)
    • Pitcher – Trevor Bauer, Choppers (1st)
    • Pitcher – Charlie Morton, Moonshiners (1st)
    • Relief Pitcher – Aroldis Chapman, Komodos (4th)
    • Relief Pitcher – Edwin Diaz, Moonshiners (1st)
    • Relief Pitcher – Craig Kimbrel, Choppers (6th)
    • Relief Pitcher – Josh Hader, Naturals (1st)

    National Division

    Starters:

    • Pitcher – Corey Kluber, Demigods (2nd)
    • Catcher – Evan Gattis, Kings (3rd)
    • First Base – Freddie Freeman, Demigods (3rd)
    • Second Base – Ozzie Albies, Mavericks (1st)
    • Third Base – Manny Machado, Mavericks (3rd)
    • Shortstop – Javier Baez, Mavericks (1st)
    • Outfield – Mookie Betts, Kings (2nd)
    • Outfield – Aaron Judge, Mavericks (2nd)
    • Outfield – Mike Trout, Mavericks (7th)

    Reserves:

    • Catcher – J.T. Realmuto, Darkhorses (1st)
    • Second Base – Jose Altuve, Demigods (5th)
    • Third Base – Alex Bregman, Darkhorses (1st)
    • Shortstop – Francisco Lindor, Demigods (1st)
    • Outfield – Andrew Benintendi, Mavericks (1st)
    • Outfield – J.D. Martinez, Demigods (2nd)
    • Pitcher – Max Scherzer, Kings (5th)
    • Pitcher – Blake Snell, Cougars (1st)
    • Pitcher – Justin Verlander, Kings (5th)
    • Pitcher – Aaron Nola, Demigods (1st)
    • Relief Pitcher – Brad Hand, Darkhorses (1st)
    • Relief Pitcher – Kenley Jansen, Mavericks (5th)
    • Relief Pitcher – Blake Treinen, Cougars (1st)
    • Relief Pitcher – Sean Doolittle, Kings (2nd)

    All-Stars per team:

    • 7 – Mavericks
    • 6 – Demigods, Jackalope, Komodos
    • 5 – Choppers, Kings
    • 3 – Darkhorses, Moonshiners, Naturals
    • 2 – Cougars

    Interestingly enough, the 23rd players selected by the managers were both middle infielders:  Tim Anderson and Jose Altuve.  This makes sense since an unusually high percentage of the extra “DH” votes were cast for middle infielders this year.  One very unusual voting oddity is that five National Division outfielders were unanimous selections.  So Marc and to pick three of those five to be the starters.  Obviously, no bad choices in that group.  Mike Trout and Chris Sale are both making their 7th DTBL All-Star Game appearances.  Trout has never NOT made the team and Sale only missed out his rookie year when he was toiling in the bullpen.  Here are the full voting results.  More All-Star Game coverage coming soon.

  • Mid-Season Mash-up

    Embed from Getty Images We've moved into the second half of the baseball season.  There is a lot going on right now, so I'm going to breeze through several topics in this post.  Thanks to everyone for voting for this year's All-Stars.  The managers for this year's All-Star Game, Marc and Nick, have been tasked with breaking a few ties and selecting the final players for their respective rosters.  Soon after they do that, I will announce the 2018 DTBL All-Star rosters.  This year will mark the 25th annual DTBL All-Star Game.  As you may recall, there was no All-Star Game in the first DTBL season.  But some representation of the Mid-Summer Classic has been played every year since. Speaking of 25th Anniversaries, we are just about a month away from the DTBL 25th Anniversary party in Chicago.  In case you didn't pay attention to any of the email traffic from previous months, many of us will be meeting up for the Indians @ White Sox game on Saturday, August 11.  I've already obtained tickets for everyone who previously said they would be able to make it.  But even if that doesn't include you, you are more than welcome to join us!  I bought a couple extra tickets and can easily obtain more, if necessary.  We are going to have a small tailgate outside the stadium, but will be heading into the park relatively early to make sure we get the Jim Thome bobbleheads that they are giving away that evening.  Please contact me if you would like more information.  Looking forward to it! Somewhere around that 25th Anniversary gathering, probably soon after, I am going to be announcing an all-time DTBL team.  It will be my version of the 25 greatest players in league history.  Since I prefer to make mostly objective selections, I'm working on a statistical formula to determine this roster.  It will be somewhat based on PAR, but not exclusively.  However, to that end, I'm hoping to get as many seasons as possible of PAR numbers completed in the next month.  Just this past week, I added numbers for 2006.  A few takeaways from these numbers.  First, Johan Santana was very much deserving of the Cy Young award he won unanimously that season.  The Mavericks' lefty accumulated a 14.27 PAR, which was nearly five points higher than the next closest pitcher.  It marks as the highest pre-2010 single season Pitching PAR I've calculated so far.  Among hitters, there was far less separation at the top of the 2006 PAR leaderboard.  Albert Pujols was first at 9.16, but Jose Reyes, Alfonso Soriano and Ryan Howard were all within a point.  Howard edged out Pujols in the MVP vote that year, perhaps because of his gaudy 58 home runs, which had been the league's single season record among non-PED suspected players until Giancarlo Stanton hit 59 homers last year.  Reyes' 19 home runs in '06 is the most for any DTBL player with at least 60 steals as well. I am going to try go get PAR numbers completed back to 2003 in the next month.  The reason why 2003 will be my stopping point is because I don't have complete transaction records readily accessible prior to that, which are necessary for me to calculate the number of weeks each player was on a major league roster.  This is the big pain point in completing these PAR calculations. On to the weekly and monthly award winners for June 2018. Batters of the Week: Week 11 (6/4 - 6/10) - Paul Goldschmidt, Jackalope Week 12 (6/11 - 6/17) - Evan Gattis, Kings Week 13 (6/18 - 6/24) - Nolan Arenado, Naturals Week 14 (6/25 - 7/1) - Alex Bregman, Darkhorses Pitchers of the Week: Week 11 (6/4 - 6/10) - Corey Kluber, Demigods Week 12 (6/11 - 6/17) - Luis Severino, Jackalope Week 13 (6/18 - 6/24) - Trevor Bauer, Choppers Week 14 (6/25 - 7/1) - Blake Snell, Cougars Semi-spoiler alert:  you are going to see almost all of the names above when the DTBL All-Star rosters are announced this week.  These guys not only had great weeks at some point in June, but are putting up All-Star caliber numbers through the first half of the season.  We had a little more team diversity for these honors in June as only the Jackalope had multiple players earn weekly honors. Batter of the Month: Alex Bregman, Darkhorses .306 AVG, 11 HR, 30 RBI, 24 R, 1 SB, 3.00 PAR Pitcher of the Month: Chris Sale, Choppers 1.76 ERA, 0.756 WHIP, 3 W, 0 SV, 60 K, 3.43 PAR Half way through his second DTBL season, Bregman has already almost matched his rookie season numbers.  In fact, he has already set a career high in home runs with 17.  11 of those came in his scorching month of June.  He tied for the league lead in both home runs and RBI in June.  The Darkhorses third baseman appears primed to receive his first DTBL All-Star invitation.  Bregman narrowly won this award over Jackalope first baseman Paul Goldschmidt who had very similar numbers across the board.  Komodos outfielders Nelson Cruz and Eddie Rosario were in the conversation as well. Sale will almost certainly receive his seventh straight All-Star nod this week.  If so, he will have been a DTBL All-Star in every season since becoming a full time starting pitcher for the White Sox in 2012.  He was at the peak of his powers in June, striking out 60 batters in just 41 innings.  He is one of four pitchers who have already accumulated over 8 PAR this season, barely beyond the half-way point in the season.  Sale was a comfortable winner of this award, but amazingly, the top three contenders were all Choppers, the other two being Trevor Bauer and Jon Lester.  Jackalope Luis Severino wasn't too far back either.

  • Pair of Kings

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    June is more than half over, so I suppose I should probably get around to announcing the DTBL May award winners.  Sorry for the ridiculous tardiness of this article.  There are a couple of reasons for the delay though.  First, I forgot to run my script to capture the monthly stats on the first of the month, so I had to come up with a slightly different way of computing the numbers for May.  But that didn’t take too long to do.  The main reason for the delay is because I’ve spent most of the past couple weeks watching and celebrating the Washington Capitals Stanley Cup championship.  As you may know, we don’t get an opportunity to celebrate sports championships very often here in the nation’s capital.  The Caps victory came at the expense of the Vegas Golden Knights, so I became accustomed to reading article headlines that were plays on gambling terms.  So, why not one more here?

    Not a whole lot has changed since last month’s article.  The Kings are sill in control at the top of the standings.  However, things started to look a little dicey for them a few weeks ago when a whole bunch of their outfielders got hurt at the same time.  They seem to have weathered that storm though, as they still hold a comfortable lead.  The Darkhorses and Demigods have been putting together solid seasons as well and currently sit in second and third places.  Meanwhile, the Mavericks have been absolutely decimated by pitching injuries, turning what has been their strength for many years into a considerable weakness.  They currently have the fewest pitching points in the league.

    The Kings have been chugging along thanks to spectacular numbers from some of their biggest stars.  In April, Kings ace Max Scherzer won Pitcher of the Month honors and still leads the league in pitching PAR well into the season’s third month.  But it is a teammate of his who was the league’s best pitcher in May.  And another teammate topped the May batting PAR leaderboard.  But before we get to that, here were the weekly award winners in May.

    Batters of the Week:

    Week 6 (4/30 – 5/6) – Eddie Rosario, Komodos
    Week 7 (5/7 – 5/13) – Scooter Gennett, Demigods
    Week 8 (5/14 – 5/20) – Brandon Belt, Mavericks
    Week 9 (5/21 – 5/27) – Jose Altuve, Demigods
    Week 10 (5/28 – 6/3) – Edwin Encarnacion, Darkhorses

    Pitchers of the Week:

    Week 6 (4/30 – 5/6) – Gerrit Cole, Jackalope
    Week 7 (5/7 – 5/13) – Dallas Keuchel, Moonshiners
    Week 8 (5/14 – 5/20) – Lance McCullers, Kings
    Week 9 (5/21 – 5/27) – J.A. Happ, Komodos
    Week 10 (5/28 – 6/3) – Michael Wacha, Kings

    Well, that list of pitchers is pretty interesting for a couple reasons.  First, if you couldn’t tell, May was a pretty good month for Astros pitchers.  Three of them won weekly honors (Cole, Keuchel, McCullers), yet their pitcher who had the best month is not one of those three!  Secondly, if you couldn’t tell, May was a pretty good month for Kings pitchers.  Two of them won weekly honors (McCullers, Wacha), yet their pitcher who had the best month is not one of those two!  Yes, I’m talking about the same pitcher in both cases.  Here are the DTBL monthly award winners for May 2018.

    Batter of the Month:

    Mookie Betts, Kings
    .372 AVG, 9 HR, 19 RBI, 23 R, 10 SB, 3.65 PAR

    Pitcher of the Month:

    Justin Verlander, Kings
    0.86 ERA, 0.696 WHIP, 3 W, 0 SV, 50 K, 3.67 PAR

    Using Baseball-Reference’s Play Index, I was only able to find two other monthly stat totals in DTBL history that were comparable to Betts’ five category stat line:  Mike Trout in July of 2012 and Ryan Klesko in May of 2001.  Had I tightened my search criteria to Betts’ exact stat line, he would have been the only result.  So Mookie had one of the best five category months in league history.  Unfortunately for him, he suffered an injury to his side at the beginning of June which shelved him for a bit, but he is back at it now and trails only Mike Trout in batting PAR for the season.  It is still relatively early, but right now, it looks like a two person race between those two for MVP honors.  A pair of Indians were Betts’ closest competition for this monthly award, however.  Komodos third baseman Jose Ramirez and Demigods shortstop Francisco Lindor also had great months of May.

    Verlander saw a bunch of Astros and Kings teammates win weekly honors in May, but he was clearly the league’s best pitcher in the month.  The modest win total (3) was all that kept him from blowing away everyone else for this award.  The Naturals’ James Paxton and the Kings’ Max Scherzer were in striking distance.  Scherzer and Verlander sit first and second in the league in pitching PAR, which goes a long way towards explaining why the Kings are crushing the rest of the league in pitching points.  They currently have at least a share of the lead in all five pitching categories.

  • Contact Problems

    Embed from Getty Images The first month of the 2018 baseball season is in the books. Early indications are that the recent surge of the three true outcomes (home runs, walks, strikeouts) is far from over. Perhaps most troubling is that MLB saw more strikeouts than hits in the first month of the season. That had never previously happened over a full month in the history of baseball. In our league, I don't keep track of hitters' strikeouts, so I am not certain if that was the case for DTBL hitters. But it definitely was for pitchers. Through Friday's games, DTBL pitchers have recorded 2,663 strikeouts compared to 2,059 hits allowed. To be clear, DTBL pitchers recording more strikeouts than hits allowed isn't new. It has happened over each of the past six full seasons. But the current K/H ratio of 1.29 would blow away last year's record high of 1.14. Because home run rates are still historically high, overall scoring in baseball is only slightly down from the last couple years and still higher than it was a few years back. But the current DTBL league batting average of .259 is eight points lower than the league's record full-season low of .267 (2015). Average tends to rise as the weather warms up though, so I'm not going to read into that too much. The big takeaway from the first month numbers is clearly the rise in strikeouts and drop in hits. Fewer balls in play tends to make for a less interesting game. So let's hope this trend doesn't continue much longer. In the DTBL, March/April was dominated by the Kings, who are looking to bounce back from an awful 2017 season.  They finished April with a double digit lead.  They held onto first place most of the month.  The Darkhorses and Mavericks are in pretty good shape as well.  Interestingly, it is the Mavericks' usually reliable pitching staff that has kept them from leading the league in the early stages of the season. As for the players, the leaderboards are topped by a lot of familiar names with a bunch of impressive rookies mixed in as well.  Below are the Players of the Week and Players of the Month for March/April.  Please note that the games from March were included in determining the April Player of the Month awards.  Also, there is going to be one extra set of weekly award winners as I did separate that season opening weekend (Thursday through Sunday) into its own week. Batters of the Week: Week 1 (3/29 - 4/1) - Adam Eaton, Kings Week 2 (4/2 - 4/8) - Didi Gregorius, Jackalope Week 3 (4/9 - 4/15) - Paul Goldschmidt, Jackalope Week 4 (4/16 - 4/22) - Manny Machado, Mavericks Week 5 (4/23 - 4/29) - Gary Sanchez, Jackalope Pitchers of the Week: Week 1 (3/29 - 4/1) - Jose Berrios, Darkhorses Week 2 (4/2 - 4/8) - Jameson Taillon, Cougars Week 3 (4/9 - 4/15) - Max Scherzer, Kings Week 4 (4/16 - 4/22) - Patrick Corbin, Darkhorses Week 5 (4/23 - 4/29) - Masahiro Tanaka, Choppers It was a good month for Jackalope hitters as three of them won weekly honors.  It was an up-and-down month for several of the players listed above, particularly the pitchers.  But at least two of them were strong throughout the month and are recipients of the Player of the Month awards.  As a reminder, these are not subjective choices on my part.  These are the players who accumulated the highest batting and pitching PAR for the month.  Again, "month" isn't entirely accurate in this case as the last few days of March were included as well.  Here are the award winners for April 2018. Batter of the Month: Didi Gregorius, Jackalope .327 AVG, 10 HR, 30 RBI, 24 R, 2 SB, 2.55 PAR Pitcher of the Month: Max Scherzer, Kings 1.62 ERA, 0.821 WHIP, 5 W, 0 SV, 57 K, 3.69 PAR Didi Gregorius had the unenviable task of replacing a legend at shortstop for the Yankees.  But since taking over for Derek Jeter in 2016, he has been nothing short of spectacular.  This year, it seems he may be reaching a new level though.  He finished April with 10 home runs.  His career high is 25, which he recorded last season.  The Jackalope nabbed Gregorius in the fourth round last year and have been rewarded handsomely ever since.  Gregorius edged out A.J. Pollock for this award.  Five of the top nine finishers were Mavericks, led by first round pick Ozzie Albies. Pitcher of the Month awards are nothing new for Max Scherzer.  This is the third time he has won it since I officially started tracking this in 2016:  (June '16, May '17).  At this point, I think it is safe to say that Scherzer is the most consistently dominant pitcher in baseball.  The two time reigning NL Cy Young award winner is the early leader for that award again this season.  His closest competition for this monthly award was his Kings teammate, Justin Verlander.  Corey Kluber and Gerrit Cole had tremendous opening months as well.

  • 2018 Season Preview: Part IV

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    We’ve reached the final portion of the 2018 DTBL season preview.  Not surprisingly, the two teams projected to finish at the top of the standings are the same squads that occupied those spots most of last season as well.  In case you are curious, they were not projected to finish first or second in this series last spring.  Those spots belonged to the Kings and Choppers, who finished ninth and seventh respectively.  So being tabbed a pre-season favorite most certainly doesn’t guarantee success.  Having said that, it would be pretty surprising if these teams aren’t in the hunt again this year.  They both added some exciting young talent to already loaded rosters.  Not a whole lot separates these teams in the projections.  One point, to be exact.  One of them is projected to lead the league in pitching points.  Its probably not the team you expect.  Here are the top two DTBL Championship contenders.

    Nick’s Naturals

    Category – Projected Rank (2017 Rank)

    • Batting Average – 4th (4th)
    • Home Runs – 6th (2nd)
    • Runs Batted In – 4th (1st)
    • Runs Scored – 8th (4th)
    • Stolen Bases – 3rd (2nd)
    • Earned Run Average – 2nd (9th)
    • WHIP Ratio – 2nd (9th)
    • Wins – 2nd (7th)
    • Saves – 8th (4th)
    • Strike Outs – 2nd (7th)
    • Total Batting Points – 6th (1st)
    • Total Pitching Points – 1st (7th)
    • Total Points – 2nd (2nd-T)

    Summary:

    The overall projected ranking of the Naturals is about what one might have expected.  But the individual category rankings are pretty shocking.  Last year, the Naturals had the best offense in the league, but were ultimately unable to stick with the Mavericks because of a below average pitching staff.  In this year’s draft, they continued to add pieces to the offense while only selecting one starting pitcher in the first half of the draft (Garrett Richards).  Yet now they are projected to lead the league in pitching points, with the bulk of that staff being the same as the one that struggled a year ago.  The main reason for this is fairly obvious:  health.  Noah Syndergaard is the Naturals best pitcher, but threw just 30 innings a year ago.  David Price was also hurt much of the year and finished the season in the bullpen.  If those two are healthy all year, the Naturals are close to a lock to exceed their ’17 pitching numbers.  James Paxton and Carlos Carrasco carried the rotation last year and will be complementary pieces again this season.  Felipe Rivero joins Raisel Iglesias to give the Naturals two excellent closers.  I wouldn’t call the bullpen a strength, but it should be decent.  The batting projections are slightly concerning as they don’t like the Naturals chances of leading the league in batting points again this year.  But there are still some very high upside youngsters on this roster, including Yoan Moncada, Victor Robles and Lewis Brinson, who have all been among the top ranked prospects in baseball the past few years.  Nolan Arrenado is projected to be their top hitter again this year.  A healthy Trea Turner would be right up there too.  Joey Votto, Justin Upton, Miguel Cabrera and Marcell Ozuna are among their dependable veteran bats.  I think it is very likely the Naturals will exceed these offensive projections.  If they do, they might be the championship favorites.  At any rate, it would be surprising if they aren’t in a pennant race again this year.

    Marc’s Mavericks

    Category – Projected Rank (2017 Rank)

    • Batting Average – 5th (8th)
    • Home Runs – 5th (3rd)
    • Runs Batted In – 3rd (6th)
    • Runs Scored – 5th (6th)
    • Stolen Bases – 4th (3rd)
    • Earned Run Average – 1st (1st)
    • WHIP Ratio – 1st (1st)
    • Wins – 5th (1st-T)
    • Saves – 10th (6th)
    • Strike Outs – 1st (2nd)
    • Total Batting Points – 3rd (7th)
    • Total Pitching Points – 3rd (1st)
    • Total Points – 1st (1st)

    Summary:

    The defending champs appear to be well positioned to become the first DTBL team to repeat since the 2011 Darkhorses finished off their four-peat.  But this is not quite the same Mavericks team that won it all a year ago.  They still have an elite pitching staff, but may not be able to smoke the rest of the pack in most pitching categories again this year.  On the other hand, they won it all despite having a mediocre offense last year.  This squad looks much stronger with the bats, despite not being a priority in the draft outside of first round pick Ozzie Albies.  Mike Trout and Aaron Judge pretty much guarantee that the Mavericks offense won’t suck.  The Orioles infield duo of Manny Machado and Jonathan Schoop are also the Mavericks top infielders.  The outfield is in good hands with Trout, Judge, Andrew Benintendi and Nomar Mazara.  While the Mavericks aren’t expected to finish at the top of the league in any of the batting categories, they also don’t have an obvious weakness.  The pitching staff remains loaded.  Clayton Kershaw, Stephen Strasburg and Yu Darvish have been carrying the rotation for years, and are back to do it again this season.  Zack Godley is a nice addition as well.  Perhaps the most intriguing pitcher on the roster is Alex Reyes, who they drafted in the second round with a pick they received from the Komodos for Aroldis Chapman.  It isn’t clear what role Reyes will play when he returns from Tommy John surgery in May or June, but the latest word is that he will be a starter.  That would be a huge boost to the Mavericks win and strikeout potential.  The bullpen is full of power arms that may not accumulate a ton of saves, but will be a boon to the other four pitching categories.  Not included in these projections is Keone Kela, who they recently signed as a free agent and appears to be the choice to close games for the Rangers.  Also with Kenley Jansen, the Mavericks should have a decent shot of not finishing last in saves like these projections have them.  They may not demolish the rest of the league in ERA and WHIP as they have in recent years, but this still looks like it could be the best pitching staff in the league.  The Mavericks appear poised to finish in the top four of the league for the seventh straight season:  a remarkable run of sustained success.

    Below are the full 2018 projected standings.  As you can see, not a whole lot separates the Mavericks, Naturals and Kings at the top.  Past seasons have shown these projections to be compelling, but certainly not infallible.  Let’s see how it all plays out.  Welcome to the 26th Dream Team Baseball League season!

  • 2018 Season Preview: Part III

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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.