{"id":964,"date":"2016-04-05T06:54:07","date_gmt":"2016-04-05T13:54:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/?p=964"},"modified":"2016-04-05T06:54:07","modified_gmt":"2016-04-05T13:54:07","slug":"2016-season-preview-part-iii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/?p=964","title":{"rendered":"2016 Season Preview:  Part III"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"&quot;display: inline-block;\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/490520024?et=1wivMZaMTXNws0zjy8S46A&amp;viewMoreLink=on&amp;sig=7yvGeJkCeC2OuyXH_CpDWbzUAKxX_Ljnn7r3QMMjJh0=&amp;caption=true\" width=\"445\" height=\"297\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nWe&#8217;re now into the third day of games of the 2016 baseball season. \u00a0What better time to overreact to small sample sizes? \u00a0I&#8217;ll try not to do that here.\u00a0 Hopefully, I&#8217;ll be able to finish up the final article tomorrow evening.\u00a0 In part three of our season preview, we&#8217;ll look at three teams that are projected to be above average this season, but just barely. \u00a0The numbers show these teams finishing well behind the top two. \u00a0But this is where the eventual champion Jackalope were slotted a year ago. \u00a0So it certainly wouldn&#8217;t be surprising to see one or more of these teams in the running for the title down the stretch. \u00a0All of these teams have championship aspirations after slightly disappointing 2015 seasons. \u00a0One of them is a recent champion while the other two have come very close in recent years and are looking to take the next step this season. \u00a0Here are the teams projected to finish in fifth, fourth and third places.<\/p>\n<h2>Nick&#8217;s Naturals<\/h2>\n<p>Category &#8211; Projected Rank (2015 Rank)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Batting Average &#8211; 4th (5th)<\/li>\n<li>Home Runs &#8211; 5th (7th-T)<\/li>\n<li>Runs Batted In &#8211; 9th\u00a0(4th)<\/li>\n<li>Runs Scored &#8211; 8th (10th)<\/li>\n<li>Stolen Bases &#8211; 6th (8th)<\/li>\n<li>Earned Run Average &#8211; 7th (9th)<\/li>\n<li>WHIP Ratio &#8211; 5th (8th)<\/li>\n<li>Wins &#8211; 4th (2nd-T)<\/li>\n<li>Saves &#8211; 2nd (1st)<\/li>\n<li>Strike Outs &#8211; 5th (6th)<\/li>\n<li>Total Batting Points &#8211; 7th (8th)<\/li>\n<li>Total Pitching Points &#8211; 4th (5th)<\/li>\n<li>Total Points &#8211; 5th (6th)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Summary:<\/p>\n<p>You know how everyone talks about the San Francisco Giants and #EvenYearMagic?\u00a0 Well, they aren&#8217;t the only team who has won championships in each of the past three even year seasons (2010, 2012, 2014).\u00a0 Those also happen to be years in which the Naturals have won DTBL titles.\u00a0 Last year&#8217;s season preview correctly predicted that the Naturals would not come close to defending their title.\u00a0 But it was a surprisingly mediocre offense that cost them, rather than the pitching staff which appeared to be their weakness.\u00a0 This year&#8217;s projections show more of the same.\u00a0 They still have one of the most imposing offensive lineups in the league.\u00a0 Troy Tulowtizki is gone, but Miguel Cabrera, Nolan Arenado, Andrew McCutchen and Joey Votto remain.\u00a0 Even though we just saw it last year, I have a hard time believing this is a below average offensive team.\u00a0 The pitching staff looks very strong with Noah Syndergaard joining David Price and Carlos Carrasco at the top of the rotation.\u00a0 And the bullpen will feature four closers to start the year.\u00a0 Despite the modest prognostication, another even year championship certainly seems possible for the Naturals.<\/p>\n<h2>Marc&#8217;s Mavericks<\/h2>\n<p>Category &#8211; Projected Rank (2015 Rank)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Batting Average &#8211; 8th (9th)<\/li>\n<li>Home Runs &#8211; 8th-T (1st)<\/li>\n<li>Runs Batted In &#8211; 10th (10th)<\/li>\n<li>Runs Scored &#8211; 10th (8th)<\/li>\n<li>Stolen Bases &#8211; 1st (4th)<\/li>\n<li>Earned Run Average &#8211; 1st\u00a0(2nd)<\/li>\n<li>WHIP Ratio &#8211; 1st\u00a0(1st)<\/li>\n<li>Wins &#8211; 5th (6th)<\/li>\n<li>Saves &#8211; 8th (2nd)<\/li>\n<li>Strike Outs &#8211; 1st\u00a0(1st)<\/li>\n<li>Total Batting Points &#8211; 9th (6th-T)<\/li>\n<li>Total Pitching Points &#8211; 2nd\u00a0(1st)<\/li>\n<li>Total Points &#8211; 4th (2nd)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Summary:<\/p>\n<p>The past three years, the Mavericks have been projected to finish either first or second.\u00a0 That&#8217;s basically how things have turned out too.\u00a0 The Mavs have finished no worse than third the past four years.\u00a0 But this season marks the tenth anniversary of their last title.\u00a0 The perennial contender will likely resume that role again this season, although these projections are not quite as optimistic.\u00a0 They still have the league&#8217;s best pitching staff, by far, even though they are not projected to lead the league in pitching points.\u00a0 That&#8217;s only because of wins and saves, the former which is nearly impossible to predict.\u00a0 They are a solid #1 in the other three pitching categories, giving them plenty of room for error.\u00a0 Clayton Kershaw, Matt Harvey and Stephen Strasburg continue to be an enviable top three who all would be clear aces on most other teams.\u00a0 The bullpen is borderline unfair with four of the best relievers in baseball, although Aroldis Chapman will miss time due to a suspension.\u00a0 They won&#8217;t rack up saves since three of them play for the same team, but Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller and Kenley Jansen will basically assure the Mavericks of winning the strike out category.\u00a0 The questions are all on offense.\u00a0 These projections are not kind, but that is largely because they are depending on a ton of young players without proven track records along with several veterans who have had trouble staying healthy in recent years.\u00a0 They are a pretty good bet to exceed the counting category projections assuming these guys stay on the field.\u00a0 It won&#8217;t be the least bit surprising if the Mavericks are one of the best teams in the league again this year.<\/p>\n<h2>Dom&#8217;s Demigods<\/h2>\n<p>Category &#8211; Projected Rank (2015 Rank)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Batting Average &#8211; 1st\u00a0(3rd)<\/li>\n<li>Home Runs &#8211; 8th-T\u00a0(5th)<\/li>\n<li>Runs Batted In &#8211; 2nd\u00a0(3rd)<\/li>\n<li>Runs Scored &#8211; 2nd\u00a0(7th)<\/li>\n<li>Stolen Bases &#8211; 3rd\u00a0(6th)<\/li>\n<li>Earned Run Average &#8211; 4th (7th)<\/li>\n<li>WHIP Ratio &#8211; 4th\u00a0(7th)<\/li>\n<li>Wins &#8211; 8th\u00a0(9th)<\/li>\n<li>Saves &#8211; 10th\u00a0(5th)<\/li>\n<li>Strike Outs &#8211; 4th\u00a0(8th)<\/li>\n<li>Total Batting Points &#8211; 3rd\u00a0(3rd)<\/li>\n<li>Total Pitching Points &#8211; 6th\u00a0(8th-T)<\/li>\n<li>Total Points &#8211; 3rd\u00a0(5th)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Summary:<\/p>\n<p>The Demigods were very close to winning their first championship in 2014 and entered last year with lofty expectations.\u00a0 Unfortunately for them, their pitching staff was unable to maintain its dominance, causing them to finish a disappointing fifth.\u00a0 This year, things could be setting up perfectly for them to make another run.\u00a0 They should finally get a full year out of Jose Fernandez, who along with Corey Kluber, Johnny Cueto and Cole Hamels, certainly have the potential to be the best non-Mavericks rotation.\u00a0 Remember, just two years ago, they led the league in pitching points.\u00a0 This group could be just as strong.\u00a0 However, the bullpen is not great.\u00a0 Trevor Rosenthal is the only certain closer on the team.\u00a0 So punting saves may be necessary.\u00a0 With the bats, they look pretty strong as well.\u00a0 First round pick Francisco Lindor joins a hitting roster that is very steady from 1 through 14.\u00a0 Really, their offensive strength is their lack of weak spots.\u00a0 Buster Posey, Jose Altuve, Freddie Freeman and J.D. Martinez are largely underrated superstars.\u00a0 Perhaps expectations aren&#8217;t quite as high this year for the Demigods, but this is a very strong team.\u00a0 They are by far the most balanced of any of the teams covered so far.\u00a0 There is a bit of a gap between them and the top two in these projections, but they are also a safe third ahead of the rest of the pack.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We&#8217;re now into the third day of games of the 2016 baseball season. \u00a0What better time to overreact to small sample sizes? \u00a0I&#8217;ll try not to do that here.\u00a0 Hopefully, I&#8217;ll be able to finish up the final article tomorrow evening.\u00a0 In part three of our season preview, we&#8217;ll look at three teams that are [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,3,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-demigods","category-mavericks","category-naturals"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/964","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=964"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/964\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":966,"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/964\/revisions\/966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}