{"id":1484,"date":"2023-03-29T20:42:17","date_gmt":"2023-03-30T03:42:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/?p=1484"},"modified":"2023-03-29T20:42:17","modified_gmt":"2023-03-30T03:42:17","slug":"2023-season-preview-part-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/?p=1484","title":{"rendered":"2023 Season Preview:  Part II"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a id=\"jWqwkCCoSbtSxbHAt50mEQ\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1403134764\" 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:'jWqwkCCoSbtSxbHAt50mEQ',sig:'UyiyFWdhG0dt0T0EGXvdZHsQSsMO1jBFMXt5cfpxy-U=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1403134764',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><script src=\"\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js\" async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\nHappy Opening Day Eve!\u00a0 Let&#8217;s get one more part of the 2023 season preview out of the way before the first pitch of the season.\u00a0 The remaining parts will probably have to wait until at least Friday as I will be attending the Braves\/Nats opener tomorrow afternoon and will likely be watching baseball all evening as well.<\/p>\n<p>Tonight, we&#8217;re going to cover two more teams.\u00a0 It is interesting that these two particular teams fall into this section of the preview series together because, with the exception of the champion Moonshiners, these were probably 2022&#8217;s two most pleasant surprises.\u00a0 So a fall down to the seventh and eighth places where these projections have them would be a bit disappointing.\u00a0 At the same time, it also sets them up to be pleasant surprises again this season if they were to contend for the title again.\u00a0 Not to spoil what&#8217;s to come later this week, but these two teams are within 10 projected standings points of every team but one.\u00a0 So we&#8217;re already looking at teams that could very conceivably be in the championship hunt.\u00a0 Here are the teams projected to finish in seventh and eight place in 2023.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Dom&#8217;s Demigods<\/h2>\n<p>Category &#8211; Projected Rank (2022 Rank)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Batting Average &#8211; 10th (6th)<\/li>\n<li>Home Runs &#8211; 2nd (7th)<\/li>\n<li>Runs Batted In &#8211; 7th (6th)<\/li>\n<li>Runs Scored &#8211; 4th (3rd)<\/li>\n<li>Stolen Bases &#8211;\u00a01st (7th)<\/li>\n<li>Earned Run Average &#8211; 7th (2nd)<\/li>\n<li>WHIP Ratio &#8211; 8th (2nd)<\/li>\n<li>Wins &#8211; 7th (5th)<\/li>\n<li>Saves &#8211;\u00a04th (6th)<\/li>\n<li>Strike Outs &#8211;\u00a09th (2nd)<\/li>\n<li>Total Batting Points &#8211; 3rd (5th-T)<\/li>\n<li>Total Pitching Points &#8211; 8th (2nd)<\/li>\n<li>Total Points &#8211; 8th (3rd)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Summary:<\/p>\n<p>The first thing that sticks out when looking at the Demigods projections is how wildly different the rankings are compared to their &#8217;22 finish in a wide variety of categories.\u00a0 Last year, the Demigods rode an elite power pitching staff to the second most pitching points in the league.\u00a0 This year, they are projected to be near the bottom in their best pitching categories from last year (ERA, WHIP, Ks).\u00a0 Meanwhile, they were a below average team in both power and speed on offense a year ago, but are now projected near the top in home runs and first place in stolen bases.\u00a0 All of this would make sense if they underwent a massive roster retooling in the offseason and draft, but that didn&#8217;t really happen.\u00a0 Although, the return of Fernando Tatis Jr from injury and suspension will undoubtedly give their offense a boost.\u00a0 Tatis returns to an infield that remains quite potent with Freddie Freeman and Francisco Lindor.\u00a0 They will be without Jose Altuve for the first quarter of the season though after he broke his thumb getting hit by a pitch in the WBC.\u00a0 First round draft pick Corbin Carroll should give a nice boost to an outfield that could use it.\u00a0 His speed alone does give some credence to the stolen base ranking surge.\u00a0 If the Demigods could ever get a full season out of Byron Buxton, that could be a game changer.\u00a0 These projections do have him as their top outfield producer.\u00a0 The pitching staff is essentially unchanged from last year, at least among the most important guys, making the fall in projected points quite peculiar.\u00a0 The rotation brings back Max Fried, Aaron Nola, Joe Musgrove, Zac Gallen and Robbie Ray, all of whom had good seasons a year ago and are projected to be well above average again this year.\u00a0 They even added Kyle Wright to supplement this core.\u00a0 As long as most of these guys stay healthy, I do not see them falling near the bottom of the league in ERA, WHIP and strikeouts.\u00a0 The bullpen is decent, but perhaps in a precarious spot with a couple closers on bad teams in David Bednar and Kyle Finnegan.\u00a0 I think there is good reason for the Demigods to be optimistic following their third place finish a year ago, despite these projections.\u00a0 This is a solid roster top to bottom.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Kat&#8217;s Komodos<\/h2>\n<p>Category &#8211; Projected Rank (2022 Rank)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Batting Average &#8211; 4th (4th)<\/li>\n<li>Home Runs &#8211; 7th (2nd)<\/li>\n<li>Runs Batted In &#8211;\u00a02nd (2nd)<\/li>\n<li>Runs Scored &#8211; 8th (2nd)<\/li>\n<li>Stolen Bases &#8211;\u00a06th (6th)<\/li>\n<li>Earned Run Average &#8211; 5th (7th)<\/li>\n<li>WHIP Ratio &#8211; 10th (9th)<\/li>\n<li>Wins &#8211;\u00a01st (4th)<\/li>\n<li>Saves &#8211;\u00a09th (5th)<\/li>\n<li>Strike Outs &#8211; 4th (7th)<\/li>\n<li>Total Batting Points &#8211; 5th-T (3rd)<\/li>\n<li>Total Pitching Points &#8211; 6th (6th-T)<\/li>\n<li>Total Points &#8211; 7th (4th)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Summary:<\/p>\n<p>The Komodos have a pretty exciting young core of hitters returning this season.\u00a0 Much like the Demigods pitching staff, the Komodos have basically the same offense as last year.\u00a0 Jose Ramirez remains one of the most dependable stars in the game and could be a legit 30\/30 threat this season with the expected increase in steals across the league.\u00a0 With a full season under his belt, Wander Franco could be on the verge of breaking into the upper stratosphere of players in &#8217;23.\u00a0 He is paired with another consistently solid shortstop in Corey Seager.\u00a0 Meanwhile, Willy Adames has quietly become a force at that position as well.\u00a0 The newcomer to the infield is Thairo Estrada, who has a chance to become an elite power\/speed guy too.\u00a0 The Komodos probably have the best outfield of any team covered so far, led by Yordan Alvarez.\u00a0 The duo of Luis Robert and Starling Marte are coming off injury plagued seasons, but both remain elite talents when healthy.\u00a0 If Cody Bellinger were to return to his old form, this would be a tough outfield to beat.\u00a0 The pitching staff has some question marks going into the season, but it is worth noting these projections already take into account that Walker Buehler is likely to miss the entire season recovering from Tommy John surgery.\u00a0 Luckily for the Komodos, their two breakout pitching stars from a year ago, Shane McClanahan and Framber Valdez are back for more this season.\u00a0 The Komodos pitching staff will probably go as the Astros go, because after McClanahan, their top three hurlers all play in Houston:\u00a0 Valdez, Luis Garcia and first round pick Cristian Javier.\u00a0 I can think of worse teams to be saturated with than the defending World Series champs.\u00a0 It is hard to project what the Komodos will get from their relievers.\u00a0 Devin Williams is the only sure thing closer on the roster.\u00a0 Jhoan Duran and Rafael Montero (another Astro) have nasty enough stuff to help ERA, WHIP and strikeout totals even if they don&#8217;t get many saves.\u00a0 The Komodos will look to build off of their first ever top half finish a year ago.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Embed from Getty Images Happy Opening Day Eve!\u00a0 Let&#8217;s get one more part of the 2023 season preview out of the way before the first pitch of the season.\u00a0 The remaining parts will probably have to wait until at least Friday as I will be attending the Braves\/Nats opener tomorrow afternoon and will likely be [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-demigods","category-komodos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1484","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=1484"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1484\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1486,"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1484\/revisions\/1486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}