2019 ZiPS Projections – Colorado Rockies by Dan Szymborski February 14, 2019 After having typically appeared in the hallowed pages of Baseball Think Factory, Dan Szymborski’s ZiPS projections have now been released at FanGraphs for more than half a decade. The exercise continues this offseason. Below are the projections for the Colorado Rockies. ZiPS Projections 2019 2018 ALBALCHWHOUBOSCLELAANYYDETOAKTBRKCRSEATORMINTEX NLATLCHCARIMIACINCOLNYMMILLADPHIPITSDPWSNSTLSFG ALBALCHWHOUBOSCLELAANYYDETOAKTBRKCRSEATORMINTEX NLATLCHCARIMIACINCOLNYMMILLADPHIPITSDPWSNSTLSFG Batters Amusingly, Colorado’s lack of ambition this offseason may be counteracting their inability to evaluate their offensive talent. The team signed Daniel Murphy to a contract that is eminently reasonable for a player who is projected to be something like a league-average first baseman over the next two years, but has made no other significant moves. The 1.7 WAR projection for Murphy is only over 118 games, reflecting that there is some risk given that injuries limited him to just 91 games in 2018; he’ll turn 34 in April. Murphy obviously isn’t Paul Goldschmidt, but after the allowing the position to act as an Ian Desmond vanity project, leading to a -0.7 WAR and an 81 wRC+ from their starting first baseman, the Rockies should enjoy a larger improvement than most teams would have from signing him. Speaking of one of the remaining black holes on offense, it appears that Desmond will primarily play center field in 2019, with Charlie Blackmon shifting to left. With the assumption that one is unaware of what a sunk cost is, ZiPS thinks center field is the least-bad place to play Desmond; he wasn’t really a good center fielder in his year in Texas, but he also didn’t see a relative improvement in his defensive numbers when he moved to the easy end of the defensive spectrum. Without bringing dreams of Bryce Harper, who would be an amazing fit at Coors, to fruition, I’d likely go with an outfield of Blackmon, Raimel Tapia, and David Dahl, with Mike Tauchman and Yonathan Daza as the reserves. Or perhaps Colorado could go after Adam Jones. Like the Rays, the Rockies have a lot of interesting parts on offense, but unlike the Rays, they show very little inclination to let those players prove themselves or the creativity to find openings for their minor league talent. The team essentially wasted an entire year of the careers of Tapia and Ryan McMahon, giving them occasional playing time, and doing so with all the enthusiasm of a 12-year-old being forced to apologize to a younger sibling. I think Garrett Hampson is more likely to get playing time at second than the depth chart does and that he will be an adequate replacement for DJ LeMahieu there, if a minor downgrade. Pitchers I find it amazing that a team that regularly commits what could almost be described as roster construction malpractice on offense can be so brilliant at putting together a pitching rotation. The Rockies may have figured out how to find pitchers who can succeed in Coors Field, though Jon Gray’s struggles vs. his peripherals made for a confusing 2018. Going into last season, ZiPS thought that all five projected starters would be league-average or better and that’s pretty much what happened, though Kyle Freeland crushed his preseason projections to put up a legitimate Cy Young-esque season. ZiPS isn’t sold on Freeland being that good, but it is sold on German Marquez being a legitimate ace pitcher. Just for reference, Marquez’s 4.1 WAR projection ranks sixth among the starting pitchers who have received their official ZiPS projections for 2019. Not every team has received theirs, of course, but of the top 25 pitchers by WAR last season, only four are on teams that have not had their ZiPS post yet (Luis Severino, Max Scherzer, Freeland, and Jose Berrios). ZiPS is even optimistic about bounce back seasons from the team’s disappointing, pricey reliever trio of Wade Davis, Jake McGee, and Bryan Shaw. Combined, these three will make $35 million in 2019, but only combined for 0.4 WAR in 2018. The Rockies will take the extra projected win. Bench and Prospects A lot of the depth has faded from the system due to graduations and some disappointments, and when all is said and done, ZiPS will likely rank Colorado’s farm system in the 15-20 range. We probably can’t count on Jeff Hoffman at this point, but ZiPS still sorta believes he can be a decent No. 3 or 4 starter, and sees two of the team’s pitching prospects — Peter Lambert and Rico Garcia, the former being far more prized among prospect watchers — as being able to contribute soon. None of the pitchers otherwise really excite ZiPS; Riley Pint was injured and is prized for his stuff rather than his performance, and Ryan Castellani was terrible in Double-A. ZiPS is still quite confident about Brendan Rodgers, even if the Rockies feel no urgency in getting him into the majors. Personally, I’d be shopping Trevor Story for a real hitter in the outfield and just sticking Rodgers at short, but that’s a little aggressive for a front office that appears to place more value on veteran experience than practically any team in baseball. ZiPS was actually fairly unimpressed with the seasons of Colton Welker and Tyler Nevin. The Hangar (home of the Lancaster JetHawks) has the second-highest overall park factor in the minor leagues over the last three years, with a run multiplier (rather than factor, so the effect’s already halved) of 1.18, behind only Security Service Field of the now-defunct Colorado Springs Sky Sox (1.25). The park’s 1.36 home run multiplier was also second in the minors, behind only Greensboro (1.41). In other words, ZiPS expects a high-end offensive prospect to absolutely eviscerate opposing pitchers in Lancaster, as Rodgers did (.387/.407/.671). Garrett Hampson had an .849 OPS there and he’s known more for his defense than his offense. A.J. Reed had nearly a 1.100 OPS there! One pedantic note for 2019: for the WAR graphic, I’m using FanGraphs’ depth chart playing time, not the playing time ZiPS spits out, so there will be occasional differences in WAR totals. Ballpark graphic courtesy Eephus League. Depth charts constructed by way of those listed here at site. Batters – Counting Stats Player B Age PO G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS Nolan Arenado R 28 3B 154 589 100 170 39 4 36 118 63 118 2 3 Trevor Story R 26 SS 146 549 81 144 34 5 33 99 48 180 20 4 Charlie Blackmon L 32 LF 147 593 112 177 32 7 29 77 52 125 12 7 Brendan Rodgers R 22 SS 117 460 60 130 27 3 17 62 25 99 10 4 Garrett Hampson R 24 2B 126 494 66 139 23 8 8 48 47 95 32 7 Mike Tauchman L 28 CF 132 459 66 129 24 6 12 56 45 94 14 10 Daniel Murphy L 34 1B 118 438 64 138 32 2 17 75 34 54 3 1 Raimel Tapia L 25 CF 141 516 70 151 31 8 10 58 28 103 19 6 David Dahl L 25 LF 115 418 57 114 23 4 24 76 29 124 11 5 Ryan McMahon L 24 3B 144 461 58 123 27 4 16 62 39 144 7 3 Josh Fuentes R 26 3B 133 511 62 141 29 7 13 63 20 113 3 5 Brett Nicholas L 30 C 109 404 50 107 24 1 12 57 26 88 1 2 Tony Wolters L 27 C 77 222 27 50 9 3 3 27 27 55 2 1 Daniel Castro R 26 SS 109 371 39 101 18 1 4 35 17 45 2 1 Chris Iannetta R 36 C 91 264 30 59 13 0 10 34 40 81 0 0 Peter Mooney L 28 SS 97 330 38 84 15 2 5 33 30 53 2 2 Carlos Gonzalez L 33 RF 128 463 66 119 28 2 19 64 40 118 4 1 Ian Desmond R 33 CF 139 512 73 130 21 4 17 76 42 137 18 5 Patrick Valaika R 26 2B 131 380 44 88 20 2 14 48 21 106 4 3 Yonathan Daza R 25 CF 107 437 50 127 23 4 3 40 16 81 9 10 Mark Reynolds R 35 1B 113 340 43 82 15 1 17 56 39 112 1 1 Dom Nunez L 24 C 98 348 41 74 12 1 8 34 41 94 7 4 Brian Serven R 24 C 75 271 31 63 14 2 6 26 18 75 1 4 Tom Murphy R 28 C 94 325 40 73 20 3 14 50 20 125 3 2 Jan Vazquez B 28 C 61 183 22 42 8 1 4 17 19 57 1 2 Noel Cuevas R 27 RF 119 389 46 106 17 5 8 41 19 80 8 6 Alan Trejo R 23 SS 113 448 48 107 21 3 8 43 23 128 4 8 Chris Rabago R 26 C 77 266 28 60 12 3 3 22 21 72 9 4 Elliot Soto R 29 SS 80 249 27 61 9 2 1 20 25 51 3 2 Roberto Ramos L 24 1B 117 440 56 105 21 2 17 53 39 166 4 2 Shawn O’Malley R 31 2B 73 215 25 55 8 2 3 21 15 48 5 3 Bret Boswell L 24 3B 118 476 60 111 15 5 18 56 26 173 6 5 Vince Fernandez L 23 LF 115 434 56 92 17 4 15 50 47 200 8 8 Derrik Gibson R 29 2B 86 302 35 73 11 6 4 28 27 74 6 3 Michael Saunders L 32 RF 94 321 42 77 18 3 9 39 34 87 2 2 Drew Butera R 35 C 62 143 15 33 7 1 3 19 11 35 0 0 Matt Holliday R 39 LF 78 256 31 63 13 0 9 36 34 68 0 0 Colton Welker R 21 3B 116 465 57 122 23 1 10 50 32 129 4 5 Tyler Nevin R 22 1B 106 418 50 112 19 2 9 42 29 106 6 6 Stephen Cardullo R 31 LF 95 291 35 72 16 3 6 32 23 61 3 1 Brian Mundell R 25 1B 127 474 58 124 27 1 8 45 44 94 3 4 Drew Weeks R 26 LF 107 403 47 95 15 3 10 42 28 114 9 8 Sam Hilliard L 25 RF 123 472 54 109 16 4 10 44 38 179 20 14 Batters – Rate Stats Player PA BA OBP SLG OPS+ ISO BABIP RC/27 Def WAR No. 1 Comp Nolan Arenado 663 .289 .356 .552 123 .263 .308 7.4 9 4.5 Ron Cey Trevor Story 605 .262 .326 .523 108 .260 .330 6.5 1 3.3 Frankie Crosetti Charlie Blackmon 660 .298 .363 .523 119 .224 .337 7.3 1 3.0 Larry Herndon Brendan Rodgers 500 .283 .331 .465 97 .183 .328 5.8 2 2.0 Zoilo Versalles Garrett Hampson 552 .281 .343 .409 88 .128 .335 5.7 5 1.9 Willie Harris Mike Tauchman 513 .281 .344 .438 95 .157 .331 5.5 5 1.7 Brian McRae Daniel Murphy 479 .315 .365 .514 117 .199 .330 7.4 -1 1.7 Al Oliver Raimel Tapia 554 .293 .330 .442 92 .149 .350 5.7 1 1.5 Steve Finley David Dahl 450 .273 .321 .519 106 .246 .333 6.2 2 1.4 Cody Ross Ryan McMahon 507 .267 .325 .447 91 .180 .355 5.4 3 1.3 Jeff Blauser Josh Fuentes 546 .276 .311 .436 85 .160 .332 4.9 5 1.1 Robb Quinlan Brett Nicholas 436 .265 .313 .418 81 .153 .313 4.7 -2 0.7 Ed Ott Tony Wolters 255 .225 .319 .333 64 .108 .287 3.7 6 0.5 Doug Newstrom Daniel Castro 395 .272 .304 .358 66 .086 .301 4.0 7 0.5 David Milstien Chris Iannetta 311 .223 .332 .386 80 .163 .283 4.5 -3 0.3 Rick Dempsey Peter Mooney 368 .255 .319 .358 70 .103 .290 4.1 2 0.3 John Tamargo Carlos Gonzalez 507 .257 .316 .449 89 .192 .307 5.2 -1 0.3 Troy O’Leary Ian Desmond 563 .254 .315 .410 80 .156 .316 4.8 -6 0.2 Doug Clark Patrick Valaika 410 .232 .272 .405 67 .174 .285 3.8 6 0.2 Scott White Yonathan Daza 462 .291 .319 .382 75 .092 .351 4.3 2 0.2 Aaron Mathews Mark Reynolds 383 .241 .321 .441 89 .200 .308 5.0 -1 0.1 Larry Parrish Dom Nunez 397 .213 .299 .322 56 .109 .268 3.3 5 0.0 Brian Moon Brian Serven 302 .232 .286 .365 62 .133 .300 3.4 3 0.0 Joe Depastino Tom Murphy 349 .225 .275 .434 74 .209 .317 4.1 -3 0.0 Jayhawk Owens Jan Vazquez 211 .230 .317 .350 68 .120 .311 3.7 -1 0.0 Dave Parrish Noel Cuevas 416 .272 .312 .404 78 .131 .326 4.6 4 0.0 Chad Mottola Alan Trejo 484 .239 .281 .353 58 .114 .317 3.2 9 0.0 Juan Delgado Chris Rabago 295 .226 .288 .327 54 .102 .298 3.3 3 -0.1 Luis Taveras Elliot Soto 281 .245 .314 .309 58 .064 .305 3.4 2 -0.1 Frank Kellner Roberto Ramos 486 .239 .305 .411 78 .173 .342 4.5 3 -0.2 Rick Sofield Shawn O’Malley 240 .256 .308 .353 66 .098 .317 3.9 0 -0.2 Chico Ruiz Bret Boswell 513 .233 .277 .399 67 .166 .326 3.8 2 -0.3 Ray Thoma Vince Fernandez 488 .212 .296 .373 67 .161 .352 3.6 8 -0.3 Steve Howard Derrik Gibson 335 .242 .306 .358 66 .116 .308 3.9 -2 -0.4 Zach Sorensen Michael Saunders 358 .240 .316 .399 78 .159 .302 4.4 -2 -0.4 Dann Howitt Drew Butera 157 .231 .288 .357 61 .126 .286 3.6 -4 -0.5 Joe Oliver Matt Holliday 295 .246 .336 .402 84 .156 .302 4.8 -7 -0.5 Eddie Williams Colton Welker 506 .262 .310 .381 72 .118 .344 4.2 -4 -0.5 Aurelio Rodriguez Tyler Nevin 453 .268 .318 .388 76 .120 .340 4.4 0 -0.6 Wes Bankston Stephen Cardullo 320 .247 .304 .385 72 .137 .295 4.2 -3 -0.7 Mike McCain Brian Mundell 528 .262 .326 .373 75 .112 .312 4.3 -4 -1.0 Tim McWilliam Drew Weeks 440 .236 .290 .362 63 .127 .305 3.5 -6 -1.7 Choo Freeman Sam Hilliard 517 .231 .288 .345 58 .114 .350 3.3 0 -1.7 Jalal Leach Pitchers – Counting Stats Player T Age W L ERA G GS IP H ER HR BB SO German Marquez R 24 15 8 3.82 33 33 190.7 182 81 26 52 208 Jon Gray R 27 12 8 4.40 32 32 174.0 176 85 23 55 176 Kyle Freeland L 26 13 10 4.54 32 31 180.3 191 91 25 63 141 Antonio Senzatela R 24 10 7 4.47 35 23 137.0 141 68 18 47 112 Tyler Anderson L 29 8 7 4.92 28 27 146.3 152 80 26 49 129 Chi Chi Gonzalez R 27 9 7 4.84 21 19 102.3 114 55 10 44 57 Jeff Hoffman R 26 8 7 5.05 29 24 123.0 132 69 17 55 103 Rico Garcia R 25 10 9 5.30 25 23 130.7 151 77 21 50 99 Peter Lambert R 22 9 9 5.37 27 27 137.3 165 82 25 34 89 Scott Oberg R 29 5 3 3.74 67 0 65.0 62 27 6 22 60 Wade Davis R 33 5 3 3.72 61 0 55.7 44 23 7 27 70 Chad Bettis R 30 5 5 5.36 26 22 122.7 138 73 20 46 84 Seung-hwan Oh R 36 5 3 4.03 64 0 58.0 55 26 10 15 61 D.J. Johnson R 29 4 3 4.03 52 0 60.3 57 27 6 28 62 Sam Howard L 26 6 7 5.77 25 22 107.7 126 69 20 45 80 Chris Rusin L 32 3 2 4.55 53 0 63.3 66 32 8 22 49 Heath Holder R 26 5 4 4.85 46 2 72.3 72 39 9 42 72 Bryan Shaw R 31 5 4 4.60 66 0 60.7 62 31 8 26 55 Yency Almonte R 25 6 6 5.68 28 17 90.3 104 57 16 42 68 Sean Nolin L 29 4 4 5.51 24 12 63.7 70 39 11 31 51 Jake McGee L 32 3 2 4.59 57 0 49.0 50 25 8 15 46 Carlos Estevez R 26 4 3 4.59 51 0 49.0 48 25 7 20 49 Santiago Casilla R 38 2 2 4.83 41 0 41.0 40 22 5 22 35 Alec Asher R 27 5 6 5.90 25 17 100.7 123 66 20 35 58 Matt Pierpont R 28 4 3 4.94 47 0 54.7 57 30 8 23 51 Reid Humphreys R 24 2 2 4.89 45 0 38.7 37 21 6 22 40 Mitch Horacek L 27 3 3 5.07 47 0 55.0 56 31 8 33 53 Austin House R 28 3 3 5.29 41 0 49.3 55 29 6 25 33 Mike Dunn L 34 2 2 5.40 45 0 33.3 33 20 5 22 32 Brett Oberholtzer L 29 6 8 6.26 23 21 113.7 145 79 24 45 70 Scott McGough R 29 4 5 5.54 41 1 65.0 72 40 13 27 58 Logan Cozart R 26 5 6 5.52 51 0 58.7 66 36 9 27 43 Rayan Gonzalez R 28 1 1 6.12 27 0 25.0 28 17 4 16 18 Jairo Diaz R 28 2 2 5.88 34 0 33.7 35 22 4 25 28 Ryan Castellani R 23 7 10 6.34 26 26 126.3 155 89 22 70 75 Harrison Musgrave L 27 5 6 6.26 32 12 83.3 97 58 19 37 62 Evan Grills L 27 5 6 6.44 19 16 88.0 113 63 22 24 57 Shane Broyles R 27 2 2 5.71 43 0 52.0 53 33 10 33 57 Ben Bowden L 24 4 4 5.79 48 0 46.7 47 30 9 33 51 Jesus Tinoco R 24 8 11 6.41 25 25 125.0 155 89 29 52 89 David Holmberg L 27 6 8 6.45 26 18 106.0 134 76 24 42 59 Keith Hessler L 30 2 3 5.92 45 0 51.7 56 34 9 33 46 Mason Melotakis L 28 2 2 6.62 29 0 34.0 41 25 8 20 24 Jordan Foley R 25 3 4 6.34 36 2 55.3 60 39 10 45 51 David Holman R 29 4 5 6.99 21 7 64.3 85 50 15 27 30 Zach Jemiola R 25 4 6 7.33 16 16 84.7 115 69 21 39 37 Pitchers – Rate Stats Player TBF K/9 BB/9 HR/9 BABIP ERA+ ERA- FIP WAR No. 1 Comp German Marquez 802 9.82 2.45 1.23 .307 130 77 3.68 4.5 Roy Oswalt Jon Gray 748 9.10 2.84 1.19 .314 109 92 3.91 2.9 Jeff Weaver Kyle Freeland 789 7.04 3.14 1.25 .301 106 95 4.57 2.7 Curt Simmons Antonio Senzatela 594 7.36 3.09 1.18 .299 107 93 4.36 2.0 Milt Pappas Tyler Anderson 633 7.93 3.01 1.60 .296 98 103 4.78 1.7 Jim Abbott Chi Chi Gonzalez 462 5.01 3.87 0.88 .301 99 101 4.74 1.3 Don Welchel Jeff Hoffman 552 7.54 4.02 1.24 .309 95 105 4.74 1.2 Steve Arlin Rico Garcia 592 6.82 3.44 1.45 .315 90 111 5.08 1.0 Mike LaCoss Peter Lambert 608 5.83 2.23 1.64 .310 89 112 5.14 1.0 Carlos Silva Scott Oberg 277 8.31 3.05 0.83 .301 128 78 3.66 0.9 Kent Tekulve Wade Davis 237 11.32 4.37 1.13 .282 129 77 3.83 0.9 Jason Isringhausen Chad Bettis 547 6.16 3.38 1.47 .301 90 112 5.15 0.9 Bennie Daniels Seung-hwan Oh 243 9.47 2.33 1.55 .292 123 81 4.22 0.8 Jeff Reardon D.J. Johnson 265 9.25 4.18 0.90 .307 119 84 3.93 0.6 Jeff Cornell Sam Howard 492 6.69 3.76 1.67 .311 83 120 5.50 0.4 Jake Chapman Chris Rusin 275 6.96 3.13 1.14 .299 106 95 4.38 0.3 Billy Hoeft Heath Holder 331 8.96 5.23 1.12 .310 99 101 4.73 0.3 Alan Mills Bryan Shaw 267 8.16 3.86 1.19 .305 104 96 4.39 0.3 Dwight Bernard Yency Almonte 415 6.77 4.18 1.59 .310 84 118 5.51 0.3 Sean White Sean Nolin 290 7.21 4.38 1.55 .304 87 115 5.40 0.3 Mike Kekich Jake McGee 211 8.45 2.76 1.47 .300 105 96 4.44 0.2 Brian Shouse Carlos Estevez 215 9.00 3.67 1.29 .301 105 96 4.42 0.2 Gerry Hannahs Santiago Casilla 186 7.68 4.83 1.10 .292 103 97 4.93 0.2 Ted Abernathy Alec Asher 459 5.19 3.13 1.79 .304 81 123 5.83 0.1 Pat Ahearne Matt Pierpont 243 8.40 3.79 1.32 .310 97 103 4.61 0.1 Mike Gardner Reid Humphreys 174 9.31 5.12 1.40 .298 98 102 4.96 0.1 Anthony Chavez Mitch Horacek 253 8.67 5.40 1.31 .308 95 106 5.08 0.0 Bobby Sprowl Austin House 227 6.02 4.56 1.09 .306 91 110 5.10 -0.1 Gary Wagner Mike Dunn 154 8.64 5.94 1.35 .298 89 113 5.25 -0.1 Marshall Bridges Brett Oberholtzer 527 5.54 3.56 1.90 .316 77 130 5.98 -0.2 Dave Otto Scott McGough 292 8.03 3.74 1.80 .309 87 115 5.35 -0.2 Rob Marquez Logan Cozart 267 6.60 4.14 1.38 .308 87 115 5.21 -0.2 Andy Nezelek Rayan Gonzalez 118 6.48 5.76 1.44 .304 78 128 5.83 -0.3 Tom Dukes Jairo Diaz 161 7.49 6.68 1.07 .304 82 123 5.44 -0.3 Newt Kimball Ryan Castellani 601 5.34 4.99 1.57 .311 76 132 6.06 -0.3 Carlos Paredes Harrison Musgrave 382 6.70 4.00 2.05 .300 77 131 6.10 -0.3 John Shea Evan Grills 399 5.83 2.45 2.25 .313 74 134 6.09 -0.3 Randy Marshall Shane Broyles 242 9.87 5.71 1.73 .309 84 119 5.53 -0.3 Mike MacDougal Ben Bowden 220 9.84 6.36 1.74 .306 83 121 5.79 -0.3 Justin Lamber Jesus Tinoco 579 6.41 3.74 2.09 .313 75 134 6.16 -0.3 David Pauley David Holmberg 491 5.01 3.57 2.04 .306 74 134 6.34 -0.4 Omar Daal Keith Hessler 243 8.01 5.75 1.57 .309 81 123 5.72 -0.4 Mark Watson Mason Melotakis 162 6.35 5.29 2.12 .306 73 138 6.74 -0.5 Danny Young Jordan Foley 271 8.30 7.32 1.63 .311 76 132 6.31 -0.5 Darin Moore David Holman 303 4.20 3.78 2.10 .308 69 146 6.69 -0.7 Wes Wilkerson Zach Jemiola 406 3.93 4.15 2.23 .309 65 153 7.06 -1.0 Brian Ahern Disclaimer: ZiPS projections are computer-based projections of performance. Performances have not been allocated to predicted playing time in the majors — many of the players listed above are unlikely to play in the majors at all in 2019. ZiPS is projecting equivalent production — a .240 ZiPS projection may end up being .280 in AAA or .300 in AA, for example. Whether or not a player will play is one of many non-statistical factors one has to take into account when predicting the future. Players are listed with their most recent teams, unless I have made a mistake. This is very possible, as a lot of minor-league signings go generally unreported in the offseason. ZiPS’ projections are based on the American League having a 4.29 ERA and the National League having a 4.15 ERA. Players who are expected to be out due to injury are still projected. More information is always better than less information, and a computer isn’t the tool that should project the injury status of, for example, a pitcher who has had Tommy John surgery. Both hitters and pitchers are ranked by projected zWAR — which is to say, WAR values as calculated by me, Dan Szymborski, whose surname is spelled with a z. WAR values might differ slightly from those which appear in full release of ZiPS. Finally, I will advise anyone against — and might karate chop anyone guilty of — merely adding up WAR totals on a depth chart to produce projected team WAR.