{"id":1342,"date":"2020-07-23T09:33:57","date_gmt":"2020-07-23T16:33:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/?p=1342"},"modified":"2020-07-23T09:33:57","modified_gmt":"2020-07-23T16:33:57","slug":"2020-season-preview-part-iv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/?p=1342","title":{"rendered":"2020 Season Preview:  Part IV"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a id='ndet0MVPTapPepi4O97Ogg' class='gie-single' href='http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1208468314' target='_blank' style='color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;'>Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'ndet0MVPTapPepi4O97Ogg',sig:'t0xfL0wgp_ObkDXaacnQ0kCJ-jAW39pfY4DoF-3V6Ow=',w:'594px',h:'416px',items:'1208468314',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><br \/>\nIt&#8217;s Opening Day!\u00a0 Nearly four months after the originally scheduled start of the 2020 season, we will finally be able to watch live baseball games that count, starting with the World Series Champion Nationals hosting Gerrit Cole and the Yankees.\u00a0 While I&#8217;m disappointed I won&#8217;t be able to attend that game, I couldn&#8217;t be more excited to have baseball back.\u00a0 Nobody knows what to expect out of this 60-game mad dash to October.\u00a0 But I intend to enjoy every minute of it.\u00a0 Or at least until the White Sox first excruciating loss.<\/p>\n<p>This final 2020 DTBL preview article will cover the two teams projected to finish in the top two spots in the standings.\u00a0 While I didn&#8217;t do extensive research to verify this, I believe these are the two teams that in recent years the annual projections tend to get the most wrong.\u00a0 But in opposite directions.\u00a0 The past two seasons, the Darkhorses were projected to finish in sixth and seventh places.\u00a0 They actually finished in second both years.\u00a0 Meanwhile, the Jackalope were picked to finish fourth and tied for first in &#8217;18 and &#8217;19, while ending up in tenth and seventh places those seasons.\u00a0 So is it a good or bad sign for these teams to top the projections this year?\u00a0 Time will tell.\u00a0 The talent on both rosters should give them a leg up on most of the competition though.\u00a0 Here are the teams projected to finish at the top of the standings.<\/p>\n<h2>David&#8217;s Darkhorses<\/h2>\n<p>Category &#8211; Projected Rank (2019 Rank)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Batting Average &#8211; 3rd (1st)<\/li>\n<li>Home Runs &#8211; 7th (1st)<\/li>\n<li>Runs Batted In &#8211; 5th (1st)<\/li>\n<li>Runs Scored &#8211; 1st (1st)<\/li>\n<li>Stolen Bases &#8211; 6th (3rd)<\/li>\n<li>Earned Run Average &#8211; 4th (5th)<\/li>\n<li>WHIP Ratio &#8211; 3rd (7th)<\/li>\n<li>Wins &#8211; 5th (4th)<\/li>\n<li>Saves &#8211; 2nd (5th)<\/li>\n<li>Strike Outs &#8211; 4th (5th)<\/li>\n<li>Total Batting Points &#8211; 3rd-T (1st)<\/li>\n<li>Total Pitching Points &#8211;\u00a03rd (5th)<\/li>\n<li>Total Points &#8211;\u00a02nd (2nd)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Summary:<\/p>\n<p>This is the 10 year anniversary of the last of the Darkhorses 4-peat championships.\u00a0 While the franchise fell off a bit at the beginning of last decade, they have been a consistent title contender in recent years.\u00a0 Last year, they had the best offense in the league, by a wide margin.\u00a0 But a middle of the pack pitching staff prevented them from being able to keep up with the Kings.\u00a0 Interestingly, these projections show their hitters taking a step back, but major improvement from the pitchers.\u00a0 That league best offense from &#8217;19 remains almost entirely intact.\u00a0 There are several MVP candidates on this roster, including outfielders Christian Yelich and Bryce Harper, third baseman Alex Bregman, and if you consider positional value, catcher J.T. Realmuto should be on that list as well.\u00a0 The Astros duo of George Springer and Michael Brantly round out a very solid outfield.\u00a0 Xander Bogaerts, Josh Bell, Matt Chapman and newcomer Brandon Lowe complete an infield this is also well above average.\u00a0 Really, there is no noticeable hole on the batting side of this roster.\u00a0 The pitching staff received most of the attention in the draft, and could be a much improved group in 2020.\u00a0 First round pick Chris Paddack joins a rotation that already has arguably the best pitcher in baseball in Jacob deGrom.\u00a0 Jose Berrios and Patrick Corbin are solid mid-rotation pieces as well.\u00a0 One player who should really benefit from the late start to the season is James Paxton, who would not have been healthy enough to pitch back in April, but should be good for a full season starting now.\u00a0 The same could be said for reliever Corey Knebel, although his upside is limited in terms of saves.\u00a0 Liam Hendriks, Brad Hand and Taylor Rogers form a very strong trio of closers that should put the Darkhorses near the top of the saves category.\u00a0 If you think these projections might be a little light on the Darkhorses power potential, they probably should be viewed as the favorites to win it all this season.\u00a0 No team enters the season with a more complete, and currently healthy roster.<\/p>\n<h2>Jay&#8217;s Jackalope<\/h2>\n<p>Category &#8211; Projected Rank (2019 Rank)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Batting Average &#8211; 6th (10th)<\/li>\n<li>Home Runs &#8211;\u00a01st (5th)<\/li>\n<li>Runs Batted In &#8211;\u00a01st (3rd)<\/li>\n<li>Runs Scored &#8211;\u00a05th (8th)<\/li>\n<li>Stolen Bases &#8211; 5th\u00a0(4th)<\/li>\n<li>Earned Run Average &#8211;\u00a01st (7th)<\/li>\n<li>WHIP Ratio &#8211;\u00a02nd (5th)<\/li>\n<li>Wins &#8211;\u00a03rd (5th-T)<\/li>\n<li>Saves &#8211; 8th (9th)<\/li>\n<li>Strike Outs &#8211;\u00a01st (7th)<\/li>\n<li>Total Batting Points &#8211; 2nd (6th)<\/li>\n<li>Total Pitching Points &#8211;\u00a01st (7th)<\/li>\n<li>Total Points &#8211;\u00a01st (7th)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Summary:<\/p>\n<p>These projections are a little shocking, especially on the pitching side of things.\u00a0 As mentioned up top, the Jackalope have a recent history of not meeting expectations, at least those established by using this projection system.\u00a0 So maybe being picked as the favorite for the second consecutive year isn&#8217;t a great thing.\u00a0 The batting projections make some sense because this roster is loaded with good hitters.\u00a0 Reigning Rookie of the Year and MVP runner-up Ronald Acuna leads the way.\u00a0 His five category prowess gives the Jackalope a solid base on which to build.\u00a0 If healthy, Giancarlo Stanton is a nice second piece in the outfield.\u00a0 Ryan Braun could be one of the top beneficiaries to the full time DH in the National League.\u00a0 The Jackalope infield is solid all around, led by veterans Anthony Rendon, Josh Donaldson and Paul Goldschmidt.\u00a0 First round pick Keston Hiura has exciting potential as well.\u00a0 He could be the best pure hitter taken in the draft this year, despite not having as much acclaim as the players taken ahead of him.\u00a0 Gary Sanchez remains one of the best offensive catchers in baseball.\u00a0 There is a lot to like about the Jackalope&#8217;s offensive potential.\u00a0 Where I think they may have a hard time reaching these projections is on the mound.\u00a0 The methodology used to create these numbers may be inflating the pitching numbers a bit because of the lack of depth in the rotation.\u00a0 With Luis Severino out for the year, the Jackalope only have five healthy starting pitchers entering the season.\u00a0 So the gaudy numbers of Gerrit Cole aren&#8217;t weighed down by any depth pieces.\u00a0 If the rotation stays completely healthy, they should be in good shape.\u00a0 If not&#8230; well, things could get ugly.\u00a0 Luis Castillo and Tyler Glasnow will be Cole&#8217;s sidekicks.\u00a0 Dinelson Lamet was a nice addition to the rotation.\u00a0 The bullpen is a concern.\u00a0 Raisel Iglesias is the only closer with pretty good job security.\u00a0 Sean Doolittle should get the bulk of the save opportunities early on though.\u00a0 Clearly, the Jackalope have the talent needed to win the title despite four straight seasons in the bottom half of the league.\u00a0 But I&#8217;m not sure I would anoint them as the favorites, as these projections do.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Now that we&#8217;ve taken a glance at all ten teams, it is time to post the full projected standings.\u00a0 First, here are the numbers my spreadsheets spit out for this 60-game schedule:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/spreadsheets\/d\/e\/2PACX-1vTw6AoJ7R7on2hCBNig5rPobNkmdkIRT4zKe-WtMu-2QF-_sWI_DvqU7RCbw4b-EYWbml3cUFIq_rmY\/pubhtml?gid=13&amp;single=true&amp;widget=true&amp;headers=false\" width=\"400\" height=\"500\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>And here is what my original 162-game projections looked like when I compiled them after the draft in late March. Keep in mind that these were computed using projections for some players who have since gotten hurt or opted out of the season:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/spreadsheets\/d\/e\/2PACX-1vQcchGhdudRYXbxG6vt6H9VMXObcn1nssOeRHfa3mPEffA4EaH9g926j_9sl6Yb-93m643ozZqD-Ucb\/pubhtml?gid=13&amp;single=true&amp;widget=true&amp;headers=false\" width=\"400\" height=\"500\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Baseball is back! I hope you enjoy the start of the season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Embed from Getty Images It&#8217;s Opening Day!\u00a0 Nearly four months after the originally scheduled start of the 2020 season, we will finally be able to watch live baseball games that count, starting with the World Series Champion Nationals hosting Gerrit Cole and the Yankees.\u00a0 While I&#8217;m disappointed I won&#8217;t be able to attend that game, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-darkhorses","category-jackalope"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1342","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=1342"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1342\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1345,"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1342\/revisions\/1345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}