{"id":1438,"date":"2022-04-09T08:37:03","date_gmt":"2022-04-09T15:37:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/?p=1438"},"modified":"2022-04-09T08:37:03","modified_gmt":"2022-04-09T15:37:03","slug":"2022-season-preview-part-iii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/?p=1438","title":{"rendered":"2022 Season Preview:  Part III"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a id=\"H-mCbrH0RqpR6uxnoPgpng\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1340951139\" 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:'H-mCbrH0RqpR6uxnoPgpng',sig:'z0-Gc2XoSjuhK6CwxtEotH3TDW_qH2W5MkU087u0aoo=',w:'594px',h:'391px',items:'1340951139',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><script src=\"\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js\" async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\nWe&#8217;re two days into the 2022 season.\u00a0 Not surprisingly, with most teams running their top pitchers out there for their first game or two, pitchers seem to have the upper hand so far.\u00a0 In this next installment of the season preview series, we&#8217;ll take a look a three more teams that are projected to finish with nearly identical point totals.\u00a0 What perhaps gives these teams a small leg up on the squads covered previously is that none of them are slated to finish near the bottom of the league in batting or pitching points.\u00a0 That doesn&#8217;t mean they are without holes though.\u00a0 No team can make that claim coming into this season.\u00a0 Here we have a pair of strong hitting teams with reasonable expectations to have their best finish ever and a defending champion who hasn&#8217;t finished in the middle of the pack in almost a decade.\u00a0 Here are the team&#8217;s projected to finish in the third through fifth positions of the final standings.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Kat&#8217;s Komodos<\/h2>\n<p>Category &#8211; Projected Rank (2021 Rank)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Batting Average &#8211; 4th (3rd)<\/li>\n<li>Home Runs &#8211; 6th (8th)<\/li>\n<li>Runs Batted In &#8211;\u00a02nd (8th)<\/li>\n<li>Runs Scored &#8211; 6th (7th-T)<\/li>\n<li>Stolen Bases &#8211; 4th (1st)<\/li>\n<li>Earned Run Average &#8211; 8th (10th)<\/li>\n<li>WHIP Ratio &#8211; 10th (10th)<\/li>\n<li>Wins &#8211;\u00a01st (6th-T)<\/li>\n<li>Saves &#8211; 5th (4th)<\/li>\n<li>Strike Outs &#8211;\u00a07th (10th)<\/li>\n<li>Total Batting Points &#8211; 3rd-T (5th)<\/li>\n<li>Total Pitching Points &#8211;\u00a07th (10th)<\/li>\n<li>Total Points &#8211; 5th (9th)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Summary:<\/p>\n<p>Since joining the league in 2018, the Komodos have been looking to make their first run up the standings, having yet to finish higher than eighth place.\u00a0 This could be the year they do it.\u00a0 They have had a pretty strong offensive squad for a while now, but the pitching staff has been an anchor.\u00a0 While these projections don&#8217;t show the pitching to be among the league&#8217;s best, it does show signs of improvement.\u00a0 Let&#8217;s start with their strong batting lineup though.\u00a0 In the past two drafts, the Komodos have been able to add a pair of the most dynamic young stars of the game in outfielder Luis Robert and shortstop Wander Franco.\u00a0 Robert&#8217;s injury early last season set the Komodos back, but his return for the final two months launched the upward trajectory of this team.\u00a0 If he can stay healthy for a full season this time around, he could be a MVP candidate.\u00a0 Speaking of MVP candidates, Jose Ramirez has annually become one of those.\u00a0 This year should be no exception.\u00a0 He has probably become the most consistent producer of both home runs and stolen bases in the entire league.\u00a0 Franco joins Corey Seager to give the Komodos an enviable shortstop duo.\u00a0 The ageless Nelson Cruz moves over to first base for this first time in his DTBL career after playing in the field for the first time since 2018 for a single game last year.\u00a0 That shouldn&#8217;t be a problem for the Komodos though, as they were a little thin at that position anyway.\u00a0 Yordan Alvarez and Starling Marte are the other stars of the outfield besides Robert.\u00a0 An important player for this team will be Cody Bellinger, who has struggled mightily for a couple years since finishing third in the MVP race in 2019.\u00a0 Walker Buehler has been carrying the Komodos pitching staff for years.\u00a0 He might have some help now.\u00a0 Young lefty Shane McClanahan was a very nice second round pickup.\u00a0 Veteran Nathan Eovaldi is a reliable contributor as well.\u00a0 A pair of Astros pitchers, Framber Valdez and Luis Garcia, provide solid depth to the rotation.\u00a0 The bullpen looks very good as well, and got a boost last week when Craig Kimbrel was traded to the Dodgers.\u00a0 These projections don&#8217;t account for the fact that he should be a safe bet for a large save total.\u00a0 Aroldis Chapman and Mark Melancon make it very likely the Komodos will finish near the top of the league in saves.\u00a0 This is the highest the Komodos have been projected to finish since they joined the league.\u00a0 And looking at the roster, that checks out.\u00a0 This is their strongest squad yet.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Dom&#8217;s Demigods<\/h2>\n<p>Category &#8211; Projected Rank (2021 Rank)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Batting Average &#8211; 2nd (4th)<\/li>\n<li>Home Runs &#8211; 8th (3rd)<\/li>\n<li>Runs Batted In &#8211; 9th (6th)<\/li>\n<li>Runs Scored &#8211; 1st (5th)<\/li>\n<li>Stolen Bases &#8211;\u00a02nd (9th)<\/li>\n<li>Earned Run Average &#8211; 5th (7th)<\/li>\n<li>WHIP Ratio &#8211; 5th (7th)<\/li>\n<li>Wins &#8211; 9th (3rd)<\/li>\n<li>Saves &#8211; 7th (10th)<\/li>\n<li>Strike Outs &#8211;\u00a03rd (3rd)<\/li>\n<li>Total Batting Points &#8211;\u00a03rd-T (4th)<\/li>\n<li>Total Pitching Points &#8211; 6th (7th)<\/li>\n<li>Total Points &#8211; 4th (6th)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Summary:<\/p>\n<p>The Demigods were a better team last year than their sixth place finish might have indicated.\u00a0 Unfortunately, one of the reasons why they fell short of expectations may be playing out again this year.\u00a0 Their best player, Fernando Tatis Jr, missed time during two stretches with a shoulder injury, yet still managed to finish in the top five in Batting PAR.\u00a0 This year, they will be without Tatis for a quite a while with him recovering from a broken wrist.\u00a0 Wrist injuries have a history of sapping players of power even when they do return.\u00a0 So that&#8217;s not great for the Demigods.\u00a0 On a positive note though, this team has plenty of other great hitters.\u00a0 Freddie Freeman moves to Los Angeles where he will be a key cog in the Dodgers juggernaut lineup, which also contains Demigods third baseman Justin Turner.\u00a0 C.J. Cron, Jose Altuve, Francisco Lindor and Josh Donaldson join them to form what might be the league&#8217;s deepest infield.\u00a0 If you include catchers in that, their standing is even stronger as Willson Contreras and Mitch Garver are among the best catching duos.\u00a0 The outfield doesn&#8217;t have quite as much depth, but there is upside there.\u00a0 People say this every year, but, if Byron Buxton can just stay healthy, he could be one of the best players in the game.\u00a0 Ketel Marte, J.D. Martinez and Austin Meadows are all solid contributors.\u00a0 While the Demigods may not be elite in the power categories, they are likely to finish near the top in batting average, runs and stolen bases.\u00a0 On the pitching front, the rotation welcomes AL Cy Young winner Robbie Ray who has the benefit of no longer pitching in the AL East, as he signed with the Mariners this winter.\u00a0 Freddy Peralta jumps from the bullpen to a rotation spot.\u00a0 Aaron Nola, Max Fried and Joe Musgrove return to give the Demigods a full rotation of five pitchers with PAR projections north of 4.\u00a0 They are the only team in the league that can make that claim.\u00a0 The past two years, the Demigods have completely punted the saves category, recording a grand total of 18 over two seasons.\u00a0 That included two of the three lowest team save totals in league history.\u00a0 This figures to change this year with Gregory Soto likely to be the Tigers closer, David Bednar in the mix for the Pirates and Diego Castillo and Ken Giles both among the Mariners committee approach.\u00a0 The bullpen is still a weakness for the Demigods, but might actually earn them a couple points this year.\u00a0 The Demigods have an excellent shot at finishing in the top half for the first time since 2018 and could even win the whole thing for the first time if things break their way.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Kevin&#8217;s Kings<\/h2>\n<p>Category &#8211; Projected Rank (2021 Rank)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Batting Average &#8211; 6th (8th)<\/li>\n<li>Home Runs &#8211;\u00a03rd (1st)<\/li>\n<li>Runs Batted In &#8211; 4th (1st)<\/li>\n<li>Runs Scored &#8211; 5th (1st)<\/li>\n<li>Stolen Bases &#8211; 7th (8th)<\/li>\n<li>Earned Run Average &#8211;\u00a03rd (2nd)<\/li>\n<li>WHIP Ratio &#8211; 4th (1st)<\/li>\n<li>Wins &#8211; 4th (1st-T)<\/li>\n<li>Saves &#8211; 8th (8th)<\/li>\n<li>Strike Outs &#8211;\u00a05th (1st)<\/li>\n<li>Total Batting Points &#8211; 5th (2nd-T)<\/li>\n<li>Total Pitching Points &#8211;\u00a04th (1st)<\/li>\n<li>Total Points &#8211;\u00a03rd (1st)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Summary:<\/p>\n<p>Since I never got around to writing a championship article for the 2021 Kings, let me quickly sum it up here.\u00a0 They were not a vintage championship squad.\u00a0 They took advantage of competition that was weakened due to injuries and other unfortunate circumstances.\u00a0 The Kings were by far the least affected team among the title contenders in those areas last season.\u00a0 Will they be so lucky again this year?\u00a0 Well, they are the only team in the entire league that is projected to finish in the top half of the league in both batting and pitching points.\u00a0 So on solid balance alone, they ought to have a shot.\u00a0 The Kings surprisingly led the league in the power categories a year ago.\u00a0 Don&#8217;t expect a repeat of that.\u00a0 The offense is pretty solid across the board though.\u00a0 The infield is led by three guys who changed MLB uniforms this off-season:\u00a0 Matt Olson, Marcus Semien and Carlos Correa.\u00a0 The breakout of third baseman Austin Riley was a key to the Kings title run.\u00a0 Josh Bell is the main addition here, in quest of holding onto the power category leads.\u00a0 Will Smith is one of the best catchers in the game, and hasn&#8217;t slapped anyone recently, as far as I know.\u00a0 Another major figure in the Kings &#8217;21 breakthrough was outfielder Tyler O&#8217;Neil, who they picked up as an undrafted free agent early in the season.\u00a0 He and Mookie Betts have the Kings highest batting PAR projections.\u00a0 Randy Arozarena, A.J. Pollock and Dylan Carlson join them to make up a very good outfield.\u00a0 The Kings easily led the league in pitching points last year.\u00a0 That will be tough to duplicate.\u00a0 However, they used their first round pick on Trevor Rogers to provide support to Max Scherzer, Zack Wheeler and Frankie Montas.\u00a0 At some point, you have to figure Scherzer will slow down.\u00a0 He has held a spot as one of baseball&#8217;s best pitchers for basically a decade straight now.\u00a0 Wheeler appears ready to take the reigns as the staff ace if necessary though.\u00a0 This is still a very strong rotation, but perhaps not as deep as a few other teams.\u00a0 The bullpen is not great, as they have been scraping by without any elite closers for several years now.\u00a0 Not one of their relievers is on firm ground as a closer.\u00a0 Matt Barnes and Camilo Doval are the most likely to get saves.\u00a0 Paul Sewald figures to give them a boost in other categories.\u00a0 The past seven years, the roller coaster Kings have either finished in a bottom two spot or won the league every time.\u00a0 So will this version be a bottom feeder or a champion?\u00a0 There seems to be no other possibility.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Embed from Getty Images We&#8217;re two days into the 2022 season.\u00a0 Not surprisingly, with most teams running their top pitchers out there for their first game or two, pitchers seem to have the upper hand so far.\u00a0 In this next installment of the season preview series, we&#8217;ll take a look a three more teams that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,9,31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-demigods","category-kings","category-komodos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1438","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=1438"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1438\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1441,"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1438\/revisions\/1441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}