{"id":1235,"date":"2019-03-31T19:46:45","date_gmt":"2019-04-01T02:46:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/?p=1235"},"modified":"2019-03-31T19:53:42","modified_gmt":"2019-04-01T02:53:42","slug":"2019-season-preview-part-iv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/?p=1235","title":{"rendered":"2019 Season Preview:  Part IV"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a id=\"SvrRvygEQsRk7QTjBj9c5Q\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1034024384\" target=\"_blank\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>\/\/ <![CDATA[\nwindow.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'SvrRvygEQsRk7QTjBj9c5Q',sig:'ndboHO2N9lO3ejI06wJ6mrOmwittjolyQj_zFxy5_jw=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1034024384',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><script src=\"\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js\" async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\nThe final part of the 2019 DTBL season preview will cover the three teams projected to be the cream of the crop.\u00a0 Two of the three were among the worst teams in the league a year ago.\u00a0 However, a close examination of their rosters indicates that their struggles in 2018 were not due to a lack of talent.\u00a0 Also, those rosters have been enhanced with some key additions via draft and trade.\u00a0 The third team is less surprising, as they are the defending champions.\u00a0 In the projected standings, there is an eight point gap between these teams and all of the ones covered previously, but only three points separate this trio.\u00a0 In fact, spoiler alert, there is a projected tie for the top spot.\u00a0 If you would like to skip to the bottom to see the full standings projections, be my guest.\u00a0 But here are the three teams projected to be the top championship contenders in 2019.<\/p>\n<h2>Nick&#8217;s Naturals<\/h2>\n<p>Category &#8211; Projected Rank (2018 Rank)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Batting Average &#8211; 5th (5th)<\/li>\n<li>Home Runs &#8211; 5th (10th)<\/li>\n<li>Runs Batted In &#8211; 8th (10th)<\/li>\n<li>Runs Scored &#8211; 6th (10th)<\/li>\n<li>Stolen Bases &#8211;\u00a02nd (10th)<\/li>\n<li>Earned Run Average &#8211;\u00a02nd (2nd)<\/li>\n<li>WHIP Ratio &#8211;\u00a03rd (3rd)<\/li>\n<li>Wins &#8211; 9th (4th)<\/li>\n<li>Saves &#8211;\u00a02nd (4th)<\/li>\n<li>Strike Outs &#8211;\u00a02nd (2nd)<\/li>\n<li>Total Batting Points &#8211; 4th (10th)<\/li>\n<li>Total Pitching Points &#8211;\u00a03rd (2nd)<\/li>\n<li>Total Points &#8211;\u00a03rd (8th)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Summary:<\/p>\n<p>Last year was a huge disappointment for the Naturals.\u00a0 In this preview series a year ago, they were picked to finish second.\u00a0 Poor performances and injuries knocked them out of contention early though.\u00a0 It is safe to say they were not fielding their most capable lineup down the stretch either, causing them to finish in eighth place, their worst finish since 2008.\u00a0 That allowed them to select Juan Soto with the third pick in the draft, who they immediately traded to the Mavericks for Andrew Benintendi.\u00a0 Benintendi should be one of their best all around players right from the start.\u00a0 He will provide a boost to an offense that was kind of a disaster a year ago, finishing in last place in all of the counting categories.\u00a0 Nolan Arenado and Trea Turner are their top returning hitters.\u00a0 They do not appear to be as deep as the other top offenses in the league, but any improvement over last season will be much welcomed.\u00a0 Some of that improvement could come from a bunch of their young guys who could be breakout candidates, including Yoan Moncado, Victor Robles and Amed Rosario.\u00a0 The Naturals don&#8217;t need to be the best offense in the league.\u00a0 But as long as they bounce back to at least the middle of the pack, they should be in good shape.\u00a0 While the &#8217;18 offense was a train wreck, the pitching staff was not.\u00a0 They finished third in pitching points and enter this season with the core of the staff remaining intact.\u00a0 Carlos Carrasco, Noah Syndergaard and James Paxton give them an excellent top of the rotation.\u00a0 The bullpen is one of the league&#8217;s best, headlined by Felipe Vazquez and Raisel Iglesias.\u00a0 But the main man is Josh Hader, who provided impressive value to the Naturals last year despite not being a closer.\u00a0 With Corey Knebel out for the season, Hader figures to add plenty of saves to his resume as well.\u00a0 One thing that stuck out to me when reviewing the Naturals 2018 roster is how many of their castoffs were coveted by other teams and drafted relatively early.\u00a0 You don&#8217;t see that much from a team that finished near the bottom of the standings.\u00a0 It indicates that this team is loaded with talent.\u00a0 A jump from eighth to third place would be pretty impressive, but the pieces are there for it to be a realistic expectation.<\/p>\n<h2>Jay&#8217;s Jackalope<\/h2>\n<p>Category &#8211; Projected Rank (2018 Rank)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Batting Average &#8211; 7th (8th)<\/li>\n<li>Home Runs &#8211;\u00a02nd (8th)<\/li>\n<li>Runs Batted In &#8211;\u00a02nd (9th)<\/li>\n<li>Runs Scored &#8211;\u00a03rd (9th)<\/li>\n<li>Stolen Bases &#8211;\u00a03rd (8th)<\/li>\n<li>Earned Run Average &#8211;\u00a07th (8th)<\/li>\n<li>WHIP Ratio &#8211;\u00a09th (8th)<\/li>\n<li>Wins &#8211;\u00a02nd (8th)<\/li>\n<li>Saves &#8211;\u00a03rd (7th)<\/li>\n<li>Strike Outs &#8211;\u00a03rd (7th)<\/li>\n<li>Total Batting Points &#8211;\u00a02nd (9th)<\/li>\n<li>Total Pitching Points &#8211;\u00a04th-T (8th)<\/li>\n<li>Total Points &#8211;\u00a01st-T (10th)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Summary:<\/p>\n<p>While the five place jump projected for the Naturals is impressive, it pales in comparison to the Jackalope forecast.\u00a0 The team that finished dead last in 2018 is now projected to tie for a league championship a year later.\u00a0 If you are scoffing at this possibility, you shouldn&#8217;t be.\u00a0 This league has a history of teams bouncing from the bottom to the top in short order.\u00a0 Just last year, the Kings won the championship a season removed from finishing ninth.\u00a0 Also, it has basically been the story of the Jackalope franchise history.\u00a0 They are almost never mediocre.\u00a0 They either contend for the championship or finish near the bottom.\u00a0 After three straight years of the latter, it would seem this season could see them return to the former.\u00a0 The main reason for the optimistic outlook is the difference-making talent they added in the draft.\u00a0 The two players in the draft pool with the highest projected PAR for this season were Ronald Acuna and Adalberto Mondesi.\u00a0 They added both.\u00a0 Acuna was the first pick in the draft and they traded up to grab Mondesi at the end of the first round.\u00a0 Only two players are projected for a higher batting PAR than Mondesi (Mike Trout and Mookie Betts), who combines power with elite speed.\u00a0 Acuna figures to be a five category stud himself.\u00a0 But it isn&#8217;t just the newcomers who have impressive projections.\u00a0 Giancarlo Stanton, Paul Goldschmidt, Anthony Rendon and Gary Sanchez are all among the best players at their positions.\u00a0 Barring terrible injury luck, this will almost certainly be one of the best hitting teams in the league.\u00a0 Whether or not they can actually contend for the championship will depend on the pitching staff, which was also not very good last year.\u00a0 Gerrit Cole is the staff ace and should be one of the best pitchers in the game again this year.\u00a0 His running mate from a year ago, Luis Severino, is a bit of a wild card this season though as he begins the season on the injured list with a bum shoulder.\u00a0 It is paramount that they get him back sooner than later.\u00a0 Otherwise, they will be counting on guys like Luis Castillo and Tyler Glasnow to have huge breakout years.\u00a0 Their bullpen should be pretty good, but Wade Davis is the only safe bet to tally big save numbers.\u00a0 The pitching staff should be better than last year, but there is not much room for error.\u00a0 One thing is pretty clear though:\u00a0 2019 is going to be a much better season for the Jackalope.<\/p>\n<h2>Kevin&#8217;s Kings<\/h2>\n<p>Category &#8211; Projected Rank (2018 Rank)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Batting Average &#8211; 8th (9th)<\/li>\n<li>Home Runs &#8211; 4th (4th)<\/li>\n<li>Runs Batted In &#8211;\u00a04th (3rd)<\/li>\n<li>Runs Scored &#8211; 9th (5th)<\/li>\n<li>Stolen Bases &#8211; 5th (5th)<\/li>\n<li>Earned Run Average &#8211;\u00a01st (5th)<\/li>\n<li>WHIP Ratio &#8211;\u00a01st (1st)<\/li>\n<li>Wins &#8211; 4th (1st-T)<\/li>\n<li>Saves &#8211; 4th (3rd)<\/li>\n<li>Strike Outs &#8211;\u00a01st (1st)<\/li>\n<li>Total Batting Points &#8211; 6th-T (5th)<\/li>\n<li>Total Pitching Points &#8211;\u00a01st (1st)<\/li>\n<li>Total Points &#8211;\u00a01st-T (1st)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Summary:<\/p>\n<p>It is not surprising to see the defending champion picked to win it all again (in a tie, in this case).\u00a0 However, the 2018 Kings weren&#8217;t your typical champions.\u00a0 They won the league in large part because they had historically good seasons from three players, built what seemed to be an insurmountable lead in the first half, but then hung on for dear life as most of the roster struggled badly in the second half of the season.\u00a0 This was not a deep roster.\u00a0 But the Kings do believe the roster will be better from top to bottom this season.\u00a0 The projections point towards similar results as last year:\u00a0 a mediocre offense and the best pitching staff in the league.\u00a0 On the pitching front, it was all Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander a year ago.\u00a0 The rest of the rotation was kind of a disaster and the bullpen wasn&#8217;t great either.\u00a0 Their first place ranking in pitching points was a testament to just how good Scherzer and Verlander were.\u00a0 They return this year, of course, but are obviously both another year older.\u00a0 They do have some interesting complementary pieces this time around though.\u00a0 Zack Wheeler and Andrew Heaney were early round draft picks and both should be able to improve upon the non-Scherzer\/Verlander parts of the Kings rotation.\u00a0 The bullpen features three closers, at least to start the season, in Sean Doolittle, Will Smith and Arodys Vizcaino.\u00a0 This has a chance to be the league&#8217;s best pitching staff again this year.\u00a0 In order to repeat though, the Kings will probably need a better offense than these projections portend.\u00a0 Defending league MVP Mookie Betts is the only Kings hitter on the shortlist of the best players in the league.\u00a0 But there are a handful of under the radar players who could be key contributors this season:\u00a0 Rhys Hoskins, David Dahl, Adam Eaton and Mike Moustakas (I would have had Matt Olson on this list as well had he not broken his hand last week).\u00a0 If enough of these guys can provide at least slightly above average production, the Kings offense should be good enough to contend again.\u00a0\u00a0They will likely get a more spirited charge from other teams though, as at least half of the teams in the league\u00a0could be championship contenders.<\/p>\n<p>Here are the full 2019 projected standings.\u00a0 The three teams covered above appear to be the top championship contenders, but certainly a whole bunch of other teams could make a charge as well and render these numbers meaningless.\u00a0 It should be another fun season!<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/spreadsheets\/d\/e\/2PACX-1vSh-HpjcODXWYuTAiFcayR5rT_l_9P8tDUpt8SO0KKtvB5xF2ihLdbthxJyTGdqzgD_tIn2-KVkb1E3\/pubhtml?gid=13&amp;single=true&amp;widget=true&amp;headers=false\" width=\"400\" height=\"500\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Embed from Getty Images The final part of the 2019 DTBL season preview will cover the three teams projected to be the cream of the crop.\u00a0 Two of the three were among the worst teams in the league a year ago.\u00a0 However, a close examination of their rosters indicates that their struggles in 2018 were [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,9,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-jackalope","category-kings","category-naturals"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1235"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1235\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1244,"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1235\/revisions\/1244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}