For the twentieth consecutive season, the ZiPS projection system is unleashing a full set of prognostications. For extra info on the ZiPS projections, please seek the advice of this 12 months’s introduction and MLB’s glossary entry. The workforce order is chosen by lot, and the following workforce up is the Tampa Bay Rays.

Batters

With the sudden collapse of the Cardinals, the Rays are arguably the holders of the crown within the solid-but-not-spectacular division. With one problematic exception, simply trying on the depth chart, you see an entire bunch of twos and threes however no apparent MVP candidates, until Yandy Díaz finds but one other further gear in him. But there’s additionally virtually nowhere on the diamond the place you anticipate an enormous collapse if pressured to search out an emergency fill-in. Manuel Margot can capably take any outfield job handily, and elsewhere, Curtis Mead, Vidal Bruján, Junior Caminero, and Jonathan Aranda can cowl most something wanted exterior of catcher.

It’s onerous, nonetheless, to disregard the Wander Franco scenario when discussing how good the Rays might be subsequent 12 months. The authorized scenario is one thing for the Dominican Republic to deal with, however the Rays nonetheless need to do their baseball planning round it, and as of proper now, they've an All-Star with MVP upside who might by no means play once more on account of some severe allegations in his dwelling nation. Four wins is a reasonably large swing, and there isn’t actually an appropriate store-brand generic model of him that the Rays can give you as a Plan B. That may very well be Carson Williams quickly, however the begin of 2024 appears to be a bit too rapidly; his modest .202/.274/.366 projections in ZiPS is a whopping 60 factors decrease than his Steamer projection.

I anticipate the workforce to do its common greenback retailer buying and discover one other catcher, one other candidate for shortstop, and possibly an additional bat for designated hitter, which appears to be the weakest spot in ZiPS. On that final level, ZiPS is unquestionably not bullish on Harold Ramírez repeating his 2023 numbers.

Pitchers

Losing Shane McClanahan for a 12 months is brutal. The Rays misplaced greater than their fair proportion of beginning pitchers this season, however he was one of many key components that made the accidents to Shane Baz, Jeffrey Springs, and Drew Rasmussen survivable. Now, although, McClanahan is out for 2024, Springs and Rasmussen are each prone to miss a big a part of the season, and Baz’s precise return may be very a lot up within the air.

Even if you happen to’re very optimistic in counting on the well being of Tyler Glasnow, he is probably not again in Tampa subsequent season. That means lots of the Rays’ pitching destiny is within the arms of Zach Eflin and Aaron Civale, although ZiPS a minimum of is bullish on each of them for ’24. Taj Bradley’s stint within the majors got here with some actual hiccups, however lots of the issue is the house run fee, which is extraordinarily risky for pitchers. ZiPS a minimum of thinks he'll take a spot in the course of the rotation sooner or later, and the Steamer projection is almost similar. Maybe Tampa will repair Cal Quantrill or one thing!

ZiPS is often exuberant in regards to the Rays’ bullpen, however this time round, as an alternative of the standard 10–12 pitchers on the depth chart projected to be above common, I’m solely counting seven or eight. They nonetheless have lots of fascinating choices that no person has ever heard of, like Chris Gau and Cameron Leonard, nevertheless it’s really sparser in that division than most seasons. I anticipate to see the Rays hand out NRIs to a larger-than-typical variety of minor league FA relievers this spring. Adam Leverett is one other title to recollect, lately picked up from the Phillies in a quiet commerce. Don’t be stunned at that platoon break up projection; he’s had notable reverse splits within the minors due primarily to his greatest pitch being a full of life changeup with some good fade. If transformed to full-time reduction, ZiPS tasks a 3.89 ERA/108 ERA+, making him doubtlessly one other helpful participant plucked from the Island of Misfit Toys.

Ballpark graphic courtesy Eephus League. Depth charts constructed by means of these listed right here.

Batters – Standard

Batters – Advanced

Batters – Top Near-Age Offensive Comps

Batters – eightieth/twentieth Percentiles

Batters – Projected Splits

Pitchers – Standard

Pitchers – Advanced

Pitchers – Top Near-Age Comps

Pitchers – Splits and Percentiles

Players are listed with their most up-to-date groups wherever attainable. This consists of gamers who're unsigned or have retired, gamers who will miss 2024 on account of damage, and gamers who had been launched in 2023. So sure, if you happen to see Joe Schmoe, who stop baseball again in August to type a Belgian Death Metal Skiffle Band that solely performs songs by Franz Schubert, he’s nonetheless listed right here deliberately. ZiPS is assuming a league with an ERA of 4.33.

Hitters are ranked by zWAR, which is to say, WAR values as calculated by me, Dan Szymborski, whose surname is spelled with a z. WAR values may differ barely from people who seem within the full launch of ZiPS. Finally, I'll advise anybody towards — and may karate chop anybody responsible of — merely including up WAR totals on a depth chart to provide projected workforce WAR.

As all the time, incorrect projections are both brought on by flaws within the bodily actuality of the universe or by the skillful sabotage of our buddy and former editor. You can, nonetheless, nonetheless get mad at me on Twitter.

Content Source: blogs.fangraphs.com