{"id":961,"date":"2016-04-02T09:13:01","date_gmt":"2016-04-02T16:13:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/?p=961"},"modified":"2016-04-02T09:13:01","modified_gmt":"2016-04-02T16:13:01","slug":"2016-season-preview-part-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/?p=961","title":{"rendered":"2016 Season Preview:  Part II"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/514677422?et=_-Sw_pdKTt1nCTbY4RFQJg&#038;viewMoreLink=off&#038;sig=vUOWsu2VFQChARS1E5QveYDwFRu4SF_5PfALQH-veWQ=&#038;caption=true\" width=\"445\" height=\"297\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"display:inline-block;\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nParts two and three of the 2016 DTBL season preview will cover six teams slated to finish in the middle of the pack with very little separation. \u00a0In particular, the teams projected to finish in fourth through eighth place are bunched within 4 1\/2 points of each other. \u00a0So it wouldn&#8217;t take much for the three teams covered in this article to finish in the top half of the standings. \u00a0These teams are projected to finish safely ahead of the bottom two, but would need to significantly surpass these numbers to get into the title race. \u00a0There are signs of significant improvement over last year for two of these teams, while the third would be taking a huge step backwards if these prognostications were to come true. \u00a0Obviously, teams projected to finish in the bottom half of the standings have some weaknesses, but these three teams also have significant strengths that could carry them to higher places. \u00a0Here are the teams projected to finish in eighth, seventh and sixth places.<\/p>\n<h2>David&#8217;s\u00a0Darkhorses<\/h2>\n<p>Category &#8211; Projected Rank (2015 Rank)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Batting Average &#8211; 3rd (1st)<\/li>\n<li>Home Runs &#8211; 7th (3rd)<\/li>\n<li>Runs Batted In &#8211; 5th\u00a0(2nd)<\/li>\n<li>Runs Scored &#8211; 3rd (2nd)<\/li>\n<li>Stolen Bases &#8211; 5th (7th)<\/li>\n<li>Earned Run Average &#8211; 8th (8th)<\/li>\n<li>WHIP Ratio &#8211; 9th (10th)<\/li>\n<li>Wins &#8211; 6th (2nd-T)<\/li>\n<li>Saves &#8211; 9th (9th)<\/li>\n<li>Strike Outs &#8211; 3rd\u00a0(4th)<\/li>\n<li>Total Batting Points &#8211; 4th (2nd)<\/li>\n<li>Total Pitching Points &#8211; 8th (7th)<\/li>\n<li>Total Points &#8211; 8th (3rd)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Summary:<\/p>\n<p>Okay, this is a pretty rough looking projection for a team that finished third last year. \u00a0But if you look closely at the numbers, the drop-off from a year ago is not that significant. \u00a0The 61.5 points they earned last year was more in line with a middle of the pack team most years. \u00a0But they are still slated to drop close to 10 points, which would make an eighth place finish pretty disappointing. \u00a0On the positive side, the offense looks very strong again. \u00a0They didn&#8217;t select a hitter until the fourth round of the draft, so this lineup is mostly the same as last year. \u00a0If Bryce Harper has another season like the last one, you can probably safely assume these team power projections are on the low side. \u00a0Todd Frazier, George Springer and Xander Bogaerts are three other players who seem primed for big years. \u00a0The concern is on the mound. \u00a0Last year, Jacob deGrom pretty much carried the rotation, but a pair of Carloses have been brought in to help: \u00a0Carlos Martinez and Carlos Rodon. \u00a0Those guys have huge upside, but modest projections in ERA and WHIP. \u00a0The bullpen is definitely a weakness at the moment with Brad Boxberger and Carson Smith hurt. \u00a0Jake McGee appears to be the only player on the roster who can be counted on for saves in April. \u00a0The Darkhorses absolutely have the talent to contend. \u00a0But we&#8217;ll have to see if they are able to outperform this iffy pitching forecast.<\/p>\n<h2>Kelly&#8217;s Cougars<\/h2>\n<p>Category &#8211; Projected Rank (2015 Rank)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Batting Average &#8211; 5th (6th)<\/li>\n<li>Home Runs &#8211; 6th (9th)<\/li>\n<li>Runs Batted In &#8211; 6th (9th)<\/li>\n<li>Runs Scored &#8211; 4th (9th)<\/li>\n<li>Stolen Bases &#8211; 8th (5th)<\/li>\n<li>Earned Run Average &#8211; 6th (6th)<\/li>\n<li>WHIP Ratio &#8211; 7th (5th)<\/li>\n<li>Wins &#8211; 3rd\u00a0(4th)<\/li>\n<li>Saves &#8211; 5th (8th)<\/li>\n<li>Strike Outs &#8211; 6th (3rd)<\/li>\n<li>Total Batting Points &#8211; 5th (10th)<\/li>\n<li>Total Pitching Points &#8211; 5th (4th)<\/li>\n<li>Total Points &#8211; 7th (9th)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Summary:<\/p>\n<p>Although this projection only shows a two place jump, I think the Cougars are one of the most improved teams in the league. \u00a0First of all, their ninth place finish was a little misleading due to the tightness of the race to the bottom. \u00a0They actually looked like one of the stronger teams in the league early last season. \u00a0But a late season collapse sent them spiraling to 9th. \u00a0For quite some time now, they have had a very solid pitching staff but have been waiting for the offense to catch up. \u00a0Well, that time appears to have arrived. \u00a0The Cougars are actually projected to finish in the top half of the league in both batting and pitching points. \u00a0But the closeness of these middle teams has them just seventh overall. \u00a0The offense is much improved. \u00a0Kris Bryant will provide an immediate power boost, joining forces with holdovers Chris Davis and Jose Abreu. \u00a0Charlie Blackmon and Michael Brantley are two very underrated players as well. \u00a0This should be the best offensive team the Cougars have fielded since 2010. \u00a0The pitching staff is largely the same as last year, led by Madison Bumgarner and Chris Archer. \u00a0But the potential for a big boost here would be getting a full season out of Adam Wainwright. \u00a0The bullpen looks pretty strong with Cody Allen and David Robertson, but Drew Storen losing the closer gig in Toronto isn&#8217;t helpful. \u00a0Overall, this is a very solid team. \u00a0I&#8217;m betting the over on seventh place.<\/p>\n<h2>Kevin&#8217;s\u00a0Kings<\/h2>\n<p>Category &#8211; Projected Rank (2015 Rank)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Batting Average &#8211; 2nd (8th)<\/li>\n<li>Home Runs &#8211; 2nd-T\u00a0(7th-T)<\/li>\n<li>Runs Batted In &#8211; 4th (5th)<\/li>\n<li>Runs Scored &#8211; 5th (3rd)<\/li>\n<li>Stolen Bases &#8211; 2nd\u00a0(3rd)<\/li>\n<li>Earned Run Average &#8211; 10th (10th)<\/li>\n<li>WHIP Ratio &#8211; 8th\u00a0(6th)<\/li>\n<li>Wins &#8211; 10th\u00a0(10th)<\/li>\n<li>Saves &#8211; 3rd (3rd)<\/li>\n<li>Strike Outs &#8211; 9th\u00a0(9th)<\/li>\n<li>Total Batting Points &#8211; 1st (4th)<\/li>\n<li>Total Pitching Points &#8211; 9th\u00a0(10th)<\/li>\n<li>Total Points &#8211; 6th (10th)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Summary:<\/p>\n<p>This entire section requires a huge asterisk after news hit last night that A.J. Pollock broke his elbow. \u00a0Pollock was easily the Kings best, most irreplaceable offensive player last year. \u00a0So these projections showing them leading the league in batting points seems highly unlikely. \u00a0Having said that, the Kings still have far more talent than most teams coming off a last place season. \u00a0The offense was actually pretty good in 2015, but they were torpedoed by an awful pitching staff. \u00a0It looks to be the same story heading into 2016. \u00a0Carlos Correa and David Peralta will add to a strong group of returning hitters including Mookie Betts, Robinson Cano and Carlos Gonzalez. \u00a0If they are able to get bounce-back seasons out of Jay Bruce and Jonathan LuCroy, they definitely could have one of the best hitting teams in the league, even without Pollock. \u00a0The pitching staff, on the other hand, is still a huge problem. \u00a0It was basically Max Scherzer and a bunch of stiffs last year. \u00a0They are hoping Marcus Stroman can lend a hand and are hopeful for a bounce-back year from Jeff Samardzija. \u00a0The bullpen is a strength. \u00a0They will enter the season with four closers. \u00a0The Kings seem like a safe bet to improve on last year&#8217;s disaster. \u00a0But if they don&#8217;t get several pitchers to take their games to another level, another finish in the bottom half of the standings seems likely.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Parts two and three of the 2016 DTBL season preview will cover six teams slated to finish in the middle of the pack with very little separation. \u00a0In particular, the teams projected to finish in fourth through eighth place are bunched within 4 1\/2 points of each other. \u00a0So it wouldn&#8217;t take much for the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,11,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-961","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cougars","category-darkhorses","category-kings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/961","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=961"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/961\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":963,"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/961\/revisions\/963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}