FGE

Divisions and Arms

by

Jeff Mans has a big ego, and a loud voice. Therefore, I do whatever I can to minimize his importance when at all possible. However, in this instance he deserves full credit. The basis of this article is the work that Jeff Mans put together to share with his audience on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Monday through Friday 2-4 PM EST). We discussed the topic that he was hitting on, and thought it would be great to have all the data in one spot. So, without further ado, here is a breakdown of the projected arms in each division in baseball, and some thoughts on how that might effect some of the batters in those divisions.

GENERAL NOTES

Just a quick refresher course.

There are six divisions.

Each division is made up of five teams.

Each team plays the rivals in their division 19 times.

Nineteen times four, the number of teams in the division besides the team you are looking at, gets you to 76 games in the division.

That means 47 percent of games played, 76 out of 162, will be interdivision tilts in 2019.

Obviously, it’s extremely important to have a good understanding of how the division sets up when attempting to determine the value of players. One direction to go is to look at the ballparks themselves (see Ballpark Factors), the other is what follows where we will explore the likely rotations that team will open the season with while using that information to focus on what that might mean for the hitters in those divisions.

The normal split, for the sake of setting a baseline, is about 20 right-handed starting pitchers and five left-handers. Of course, it can vary team to team.

*NOTE: We will be talking about splits below (lefty/righty stuff). A great source to find that information is the Splits work done by Ted Schuster. Here are the links: AL Hitters and NL Hitters.

Projected MLB Rotations Info: AL East

  • AL East features 18 RHP & 7 LHP. That is a lot of LHP really and gives a bump to RHH.
  • The Red Sox have 3 LHP, Yankees 2, Orioles have all RHP. Blue Jays & Rays have 1 LHP.
  • Orioles & Yankees have 3 LHP in bullpen. Red Sox, Rays & Blue Jays have 1 LHP in pen.
  • So, the RH that crush lefties and are not on the Red Sox are in the best position.
  • The lefty killers in this division get a nice bump in projections. Players like Teoscar Hernandez, Luke Voit, Brandon Drury and Matt Duffy.

 

Projected MLB Rotations Info: AL Central

  • AL Central features 20 RHP & 5 LHP. Very average, overall good for LHH.
  • The Tigers have 2 of the LHP, Sox, Royals Twins have 1. Indians have 0 LHP in rotation.
  • Indians & Royals have 3 LHP in bullpen, all other teams have 2 LHP in bullpen.
  • The lefties in AL Central get bump such as Eddie Rosario, Max Kepler, Jason Castro, Yonder Alonso, Jake Bauers, Alex Gordon and Leonys Martin.

 

Projected MLB Rotations Info: AL West & NL East

  • AL West features 16 RHP & 9 LHP. Second most LHP of any division
  • Mariners have 3 LHP, Rangers/Angles 2, A’s/Rangers 1 apiece
  • RHH get bump in AL West. Great for Astros, bad for Rangers. Marcus Semien, Jonathan Lucroy and Tim Beckham get a bump.
  • Only A’s have 2 LHP in bullpen. Rangers, Mariners, Astros & Angels have one.

 

Projected MLB Rotations Info: NL East

  • NL East features 20 RHP & 4 LHP (Braves may go LHP for Folty) Very average
  • Mets have 2 LHP, Phillies have 0, Braves, Marlins and Nats have 1 LHP in rotation
  • Braves, Mets & Nats have 3 LHP in bullpen. Marlins & Phillies have 2 LHP in pen
  • LHH are good in NL East. Brandon Nimmo, Michael Conforto, Curtis Granderson, Domonic Smith and Adam Eaton get a bump.

 

Projected MLB Rotations Info: NL Central

  • NL Central features 21 RHP & 4 LHP. Tied with NL East for least LHP in any division.
  • Cubs have 3 of the 4 LHP in division. Only Reds (A Wood) have another LHP.
  • The Brewers, Pirates and Cardinals have all RHP starting rotation entering the season.
  • The Cardinals, Pirates and Reds each of 3 LHP in their bullpens. Cubs & Brewers just 2.
  • The platoon lefties are in a great spot here. Kyle Schwarber, Colin Moran, Eric Thames, Ben Gamel, Derek Dietrich, Lonnie Chisenhall, Travis Shaw & Adam Frazier get a bump in value.

 

Projected MLB Rotations Info: NL West

  • NL Central features 13 RHP & 12 LHP. Most LHP by a country mile.
  • Dodgers, Padres & Giants each have 3 LHP, Rockies have 2 and D-Backs just 1.
  • Only Giants have 3 LHP in pen. D-Backs, Rockies & Padres have 2 LHP, Dodgers just 1.
  • The platoon RHH are in a great spot here. Chris Iannetta, Eduardo Escobar, Mark Reynolds, David Freese, Kiki Hernandez, Evan Longoria, Hunter Renfroe get a bump.