Rox Pile
Fansided

Are the 2020 Colorado Rockies the second-best NL West team?

By Noah Yingling

DENVER, CO - AUGUST 27: A general view of the stadium as the Boston Red Sox face the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on August 27, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - AUGUST 27: A general view of the stadium as the Boston Red Sox face the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on August 27, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 7
Next
WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 07: Justin Turner #10 of the Los Angeles Dodgers rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run in the first inning of game four of the National League Division Series against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on October 07, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 07: Justin Turner #10 of the Los Angeles Dodgers rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run in the first inning of game four of the National League Division Series against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on October 07, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /

The Dodgers are not as much of a run-away in the 2019 bWAR department as you may think, but they do have a few things of note.

Overall, their projected 26-man roster had a bWAR of 44.8 in 2019. For comparison, the D’Backs projected roster was at 44.1.

Here’s the breakdown :

  • Starting lineup: 30.7 bWAR
  • Bench (5 players): 4.0 bWAR
  • Starting rotation: 8.9 bWAR
  • Bullpen (8 man bullpen): 1.2 bWAR

This may be a bit lower than you’d expect for a few reasons.

  • Hyun-Jin Ryu signed with Toronto in free agency. His 2019 bWAR was 5.3.
  • David Freese retired and Rich Hill signed with Minnesota in free agency. They each had WARs of 1.4.
  • Russell Martin is not factored in since he hasn’t re-signed, or signed elsewhere. His bWAR was 0.8.
  • Gavin Lux is slated to be the everyday 2nd baseman. He only posted a 0.3 bWAR but he only played in 18 games
  • Justin Turner, Corey Seager, Joc Pederson, and Alex Verdugo all only started between 82 and 125 games. They all posted bWARs between 3.1 and 4.0 in that span, though.

With those caveats, it’s easy to see why the Dodgers are still the cream of the crop not only in the NL West but the NL and baseball, in general.

Home/Colorado Rockies News