{"id":1442,"date":"2022-04-11T19:45:19","date_gmt":"2022-04-12T02:45:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/?p=1442"},"modified":"2022-04-11T19:45:19","modified_gmt":"2022-04-12T02:45:19","slug":"2022-season-preview-part-iv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/?p=1442","title":{"rendered":"2022 Season Preview:  Part IV"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a id=\"MVgPZqunTPZ-T8dLyv3foQ\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1345215004\" 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:'MVgPZqunTPZ-T8dLyv3foQ',sig:'uI5w4L8akROiGIIU83OdOHfrufvynyy79A3SiSQTpmY=',w:'594px',h:'426px',items:'1345215004',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><script src=\"\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js\" async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\nWe&#8217;ve reached the final edition of the 2022 DTBL season preview.\u00a0 As I&#8217;ve been stating every step of the way, this year&#8217;s projections show a very tight race from top to bottom.\u00a0 No team is loaded enough to feel confident about winning the league.\u00a0 But conversely, every team should like their chances of being a contender.\u00a0 These top two teams are separated by just a single point and the team slated to finish third (Kings) is just one point behind second.\u00a0 The full projected standings can be found at the bottom of this post.<\/p>\n<p>As it turns out, the top two projected teams are the same as last year, in the same order.\u00a0 Obviously, that didn&#8217;t prove to mean much a year ago as neither team wound up being a serious title contender, for a variety of reasons.\u00a0 However, it is a sign that these are two very talented rosters again this year.\u00a0 One is expected to have a very good pitching staff with a mediocre offense while the other is pegged as the projected batting point leader, but near the bottom of the barrel in pitching.\u00a0 Here are the pair of teams at the top of the 2022 DTBL projected standings.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>David&#8217;s Darkhorses<\/h2>\n<p>Category &#8211; Projected Rank (2021 Rank)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Batting Average &#8211; 9th (9th)<\/li>\n<li>Home Runs &#8211; 2nd (6th)<\/li>\n<li>Runs Batted In &#8211;\u00a03rd (7th)<\/li>\n<li>Runs Scored &#8211; 3rd (4th)<\/li>\n<li>Stolen Bases &#8211;\u00a09th (2nd)<\/li>\n<li>Earned Run Average &#8211;\u00a01st (6th)<\/li>\n<li>WHIP Ratio &#8211;\u00a02nd (3rd)<\/li>\n<li>Wins &#8211;\u00a07th (8th-T)<\/li>\n<li>Saves &#8211; 4th (2nd)<\/li>\n<li>Strike Outs &#8211;\u00a08th (6th)<\/li>\n<li>Total Batting Points &#8211; 6th (7th)<\/li>\n<li>Total Pitching Points &#8211;\u00a03rd (6th)<\/li>\n<li>Total Points &#8211;\u00a02nd (5th)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Summary:<\/p>\n<p>Last year, the Darkhorses fell well short in their attempt to defend their 2020 championship.\u00a0 They were unable to meet expectations with the bats or on the mound, in large part due to several of their best players missing significant time with injuries.\u00a0 Offensively, not too much has changed with the roster construction as their first five draft picks were all used on pitchers.\u00a0 There wasn&#8217;t much reason to shake things up in the infield.\u00a0 Joey Votto, Brandon Lowe, Xander Bogaerts, Matt Chapman and Tommy Edman give them above average players at every spot.\u00a0 J.T. Realmuto might be the best catcher in the league.\u00a0 With better health and a bounceback from Christian Yelich, the outfield could be excellent as well.\u00a0 Bryce Harper was easily their best hitter a year ago and probably will be this year too.\u00a0 A full healthy season from George Springer would be a welcome change from 2021.\u00a0 The Darkhorses aren&#8217;t going to steal as many bases as last season, but they should improve in most of the other offensive categories.\u00a0 The pitching staff went through a major makeover, but one holdover is the most important piece.\u00a0 Unfortunately though, Jacob deGrom is expected to miss the first two months of the season with an arm injury.\u00a0 So he&#8217;s not a good bet to reach the 8.8 PAR projection that was from before his prognosis was fully known.\u00a0 Jose Berrios will be asked to pick up the slack, along with three newcomers:\u00a0 Logan Webb, Sonny Gray and Adam Wainwright.\u00a0 The Darkhorses probably can&#8217;t afford any of those guys to not pan out.\u00a0 The save projection of fourth makes sense, but it won&#8217;t come the way these projections read as Kenley Jansen was yet to sign with the Braves when these numbers were compiled.\u00a0 Conversely, Blake Treinein looked likely to be the Dodgers closer when the Darkhorses drafted him, but that changed with the Dodgers trade for Craig Kimbrel.\u00a0 Taylor Rogers was also traded last week, but possibly to a better situation in San Diego.\u00a0 Meanwhile, the one reliever whose outlook hasn&#8217;t changed at all is Liam Hendriks who remains one of the best closers in the game.\u00a0 All in all, it is a strong bullpen that should boost the pitching staff as a whole.\u00a0 The Darkhorses should be a better team across the board in 2022.\u00a0 Winning their second title in three years is a very reasonable expectation.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Marc&#8217;s Mavericks<\/h2>\n<p>Category &#8211; Projected Rank (2021 Rank)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Batting Average &#8211; 3rd (1st)<\/li>\n<li>Home Runs &#8211;\u00a01st (5th)<\/li>\n<li>Runs Batted In &#8211;\u00a01st (5th)<\/li>\n<li>Runs Scored &#8211;\u00a02nd (7th-T)<\/li>\n<li>Stolen Bases &#8211; 8th (7th)<\/li>\n<li>Earned Run Average &#8211; 6th (3rd)<\/li>\n<li>WHIP Ratio &#8211; 7th (2nd)<\/li>\n<li>Wins &#8211;\u00a03rd (1st-T)<\/li>\n<li>Saves &#8211; 10th (5th)<\/li>\n<li>Strike Outs &#8211; 6th (9th)<\/li>\n<li>Total Batting Points &#8211; 1st (4th)<\/li>\n<li>Total Pitching Points &#8211; 8th (2nd)<\/li>\n<li>Total Points &#8211;\u00a01st (3rd)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Summary:<\/p>\n<p>Like the Darkhorses, the Mavericks were unable to meet the lofty pre-season expectations a year ago, in large part due to significant injuries to key players.\u00a0 None more crippling than losing Mike Trout for a majority of the season.\u00a0 With Trout, Juan Soto and Aaron Judge, the Mavericks have an outfield that simply can&#8217;t be matched.\u00a0 All three of those guys have PAR projections among the best in the league.\u00a0 So the outfield is already elite, and that&#8217;s before even mentioning Eloy Jimenez, who was another player that missed a majority of the season last year, and Nick Castellanos.\u00a0 The infield may not be quite as good, because how could it be?\u00a0 That said, Ozzie Albies and Manny Machado are both among the best players in the league at their respective positions.\u00a0 First round draft pick Jazz Chisholm should provide a boost as well.\u00a0 They bought low on Yoan Moncada, Gleyber Torres and Miguel Sano, three\u00a0infielders who have had elite fantasy seasons in the not too distant past.\u00a0 Yasmani Grandal and Tyler Stephenson form a nice caching duo.\u00a0 Where things get a little dicey is with the pitching staff, which is a little strange considering how reliable that crew has been for years.\u00a0 The rotation is led by a pair of Dodger lefties, Clayton Kershaw and Juio Urias.\u00a0 Jack Flaherty&#8217;s shoulder injury is a cause for concern.\u00a0 Pablo Lopez and Tyler Mahle were unsung heroes a year ago and may need to be again.\u00a0 Michael Kopech is now a full time starter from the beginning of the season for the first time in his big league career.\u00a0 There is a lot of intrigue in this group, but also a lot of question marks.\u00a0 The bullpen is not a strength as they do not currently have any pitchers who are safe bets to rack up a lot of saves.\u00a0 Andrew Kittredge and Aaron Ashby could be useful contributors depending on how they are utilized by their MLB teams.\u00a0 It is unlikely the Mavericks will finish far from the bottom in saves.\u00a0 While it is hard to know what to expect from this pitching staff, it should be good enough to keep them in the mix.\u00a0 It would be a major surprise if the offense isn&#8217;t among the league&#8217;s best.\u00a0 Since winning the league in 2017, the Mavericks have finished between third and sixth each season.\u00a0 That would seem to be the floor again this year, with the ceiling most definitely being another league title.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>And with that, we have concluded the preview of the 2022 DTBL season.\u00a0 Here are the full projected standings and team point totals for the ten categories:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/spreadsheets\/d\/e\/2PACX-1vSvhGFzRA3EKlMVxfBiWchugDbgJdYNpg3HblOge2JhdrKyHLBl05BiGlReFvldQlkZsmm01c_jpPP_\/pubhtml?gid=13&amp;single=true&amp;widget=true&amp;headers=false\" width=\"440\" height=\"510\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Good luck to everyone on what should be one of the most competitive seasons we&#8217;ve ever seen.\u00a0 May the best team win!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Embed from Getty Images We&#8217;ve reached the final edition of the 2022 DTBL season preview.\u00a0 As I&#8217;ve been stating every step of the way, this year&#8217;s projections show a very tight race from top to bottom.\u00a0 No team is loaded enough to feel confident about winning the league.\u00a0 But conversely, every team should like their [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-darkhorses","category-mavericks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1442","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=1442"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1442\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1448,"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1442\/revisions\/1448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}