{"id":472,"date":"2013-04-01T17:43:40","date_gmt":"2013-04-02T00:43:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/?p=472"},"modified":"2013-04-01T17:43:40","modified_gmt":"2013-04-02T00:43:40","slug":"2013-season-preview-part-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/?p=472","title":{"rendered":"2013 Season Preview: Part II"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Cougars pitcher Gio Gonzalez<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Last year concluded with a frantic five team race for the title on the final day of the season.\u00a0 But just two months prior to that, there were as many as seven teams right in the hunt for the championship.\u00a0 I’m not saying that will happen again this year, but there is precedent for all of the following teams to be championship contenders, even if they don’t significantly exceed their projections.\u00a0 These are the teams that are projected to finish seventh up to fifth place.\u00a0 Actually, the computed standings had two teams tied for sixth place, so I will just review them alphabetically.<\/p>\n

Charlie’s Thunder Choppers
\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Category – Projected Rank (2012 Rank)<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  • Batting Average – 10th (6th)<\/li>\n
  • Home Runs – 3rd (3rd)<\/li>\n
  • Runs Batted In – 7th (8th-T)<\/li>\n
  • Runs Scored – 8th (6th)<\/li>\n
  • Stolen Bases – 7th (6th)<\/li>\n
  • Earned Run Average – 6th (7th)<\/li>\n
  • WHIP Ratio – 10th (7th)<\/li>\n
  • Wins – 5th (6th)<\/li>\n
  • Saves – 2nd (5th-T)<\/li>\n
  • Strike Outs – 3rd (4th)<\/li>\n
  • Total Batting Points – 8th-T (6th)
    \n<\/em><\/li>\n
  • Total Pitching Points – 5th (7th-T)
    \n<\/em><\/li>\n
  • Total Points – 6th-T (6th)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The Choppers are another team that could be expected to exceed their pitching projections.\u00a0 For the second straight year, they might choose to use a sixth starting pitcher in a RP slot (Alexi Ogando).\u00a0 Ogando isn’t likely to repeat Chris Sale’s ’12 season, but he could give the Choppers a nice win and strike out boost.\u00a0 But they also have four closers on the roster, so they won’t be punting saves by any means.\u00a0 Sale is their only elite starting pitcher, but they have a lot of intriguing guys who are capable of racking up strike outs, in particular.\u00a0 On offense, it appears home runs will be their strength again this year.\u00a0 Newcomer Anthony Rizzo will attempt to pick up the slack early on while Curtis Granderson is on the shelf.\u00a0 Jose Bautista needs to stay healthy this year.\u00a0 B.J. Upton appears to be primed for a huge season, in which case he could give the Choppers a boost in power and speed categories.\u00a0 It has been a while since the Choppers were a serious title contender, but they will have a chance this year if their starting pitching pans out.<\/p>\n

    Mike’s Moonshiners
    \n<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    Category – Projected Rank (2012 Rank)<\/strong><\/p>\n

      \n
    • Batting Average – 6th (1st)<\/li>\n
    • Home Runs – 6th (7th)<\/li>\n
    • Runs Batted In – 4th (3rd)<\/li>\n
    • Runs Scored – 4th (3rd)<\/li>\n
    • Stolen Bases – 8th (5th)<\/li>\n
    • Earned Run Average – 5th (2nd)<\/li>\n
    • WHIP Ratio – 6th (6th)<\/li>\n
    • Wins –\u00a0 7th (2nd)<\/li>\n
    • Saves – 7th (4th)<\/li>\n
    • Strike Outs – 8th (8th)<\/li>\n
    • Total Batting Points – 6th (3rd)
      \n<\/em><\/li>\n
    • Total Pitching Points – 8th-T (3rd)
      \n<\/em><\/li>\n
    • Total Points – 6th-T (4th)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n

      And here we have our first appearance from one of the “Big 5” who chased the title on the final day of the season.\u00a0 This might be the most surprising projection of all.\u00a0 Let’s not forget that the Moonshiners came within 1 1\/2 points of winning the title last year and were the league’s most balanced team.\u00a0 They were the only team to accumulate over 30 batting and pitching points.\u00a0 So why the gloomy forecast for this season?\u00a0 Well, they only had one draft pick in the first three rounds this year, so they didn’t have an opportunity to significantly pad their projections with one or two acquisitions.\u00a0 But that doesn’t mean this team won’t contend.\u00a0 The biggest key is for R.A. Dickey to not take an enormous step backwards like he is projected to do.\u00a0 Dickey, Jered Weaver and Yovani Gallardo lead the rotation that will be a bit thin until Brandon Beachy returns from Tommy John surgery.\u00a0 The bullpen only has two definite closers, but first round pick Fernando Rodney is good enough to make sure they aren’t buried in saves.\u00a0 They have solid players across the board on offense, so I just don’t see them finishing in the bottom half of the league in batting points.\u00a0 Prince Fielder, David Wright and Desmond Jennings are three players who I expect to easily exceed their projected numbers.\u00a0 I strongly believe the Moonshiners will contend for their first DTBL title again this year.<\/p>\n

      Kelly’s Cougars
      \n<\/strong><\/h2>\n

      Category – Projected Rank (2012 Rank)<\/strong><\/p>\n

        \n
      • Batting Average – 7th (10th)<\/li>\n
      • Home Runs – 4th (9th)<\/li>\n
      • Runs Batted In – 5th (8th-T)<\/li>\n
      • Runs Scored – 9th (9th)<\/li>\n
      • Stolen Bases – 10th (3rd)<\/li>\n
      • Earned Run Average – 3rd (5th)<\/li>\n
      • WHIP Ratio – 5th (4th)<\/li>\n
      • Wins –\u00a0 1st (1st)<\/li>\n
      • Saves – 6th (9th)<\/li>\n
      • Strike Outs – 6th (7th)<\/li>\n
      • Total Batting Points – 8th-T (9th)
        \n<\/em><\/li>\n
      • Total Pitching Points – 2nd (5th)
        \n<\/em><\/li>\n
      • Total Points – 5th (8th)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        Summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n

        Now here is a real sleeper candidate.\u00a0 The Cougars have not finished in the top half of the league since 2004.\u00a0 But this definitely looks like a team that is capable of making a big leap forward.\u00a0 The most interesting thing in these projections is the Cougars shift from a speed to a power team.\u00a0 In light of some spring training injuries, I think fourth in home runs is a little unrealistic, but they certainly do have more power on the roster.\u00a0 They will need to overcome early injuries to Mark Teixeira and Brett Lawrie though.\u00a0 Assuming he isn’t out too long, expect a big bounce-back season from Lawrie to help justify his status as the #1 pick in last year’s draft.\u00a0 The pitching staff is very good.\u00a0 I don’t think it is possible for Kris Medlen to repeat his performance as a starter last year, but he won’t need to.\u00a0 Gio Gonzalez, Madison Bumgarner and Adam Wainwright join Medlen as four legitimate aces.\u00a0 5th place may seem like an awfully optimistic prediction for this team, but I think it is quite possible they will finally make their return to the top half of the standings.<\/p>\n

        I didn’t get around to doing any previews yesterday, so I’m a day behind schedule.\u00a0 My new goal is two more teams tomorrow (Tuesday) and then the top two championship contenders (according to the projections) on Wednesday.\u00a0 I hope you are enjoying the first full day of baseball!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Last year concluded with a frantic five team race for the title on the final day of the season.\u00a0 But just two months prior to that, there were as many as seven teams right in the hunt for the championship.\u00a0 I’m not saying that will happen again this year, but there is precedent for all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,8,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-choppers","category-cougars","category-moonshiners"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472","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\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=472"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":476,"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472\/revisions\/476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}