2019 ZiPS Projections – Seattle Mariners

January 23, 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 Seattle Mariners.

ZiPS Projections

2019 2018

BAL	CHW	HOU
BOS	CLE	LAA
NYY	DET	OAK
TBR	KCR	SEA
TOR	MIN	TEX

ATL	CHC	ARI
MIA	CIN	COL
NYM	MIL	LAD
PHI	PIT	SDP
WSN	STL	SFG

Batters

Jerry Dipoto’s may be a one-man Hot Stove League, but at least based on the roster as of now — everybody could be traded by March — Seattle seems to still be in something of a no man’s land when it comes to rebuild. The Mariners aren’t actually bad, but it’s hard to envision them being that relevant in the AL West. There are a lot of older players here, but not many who really have all that much flip-potential. Sure, you can play some combination of Ryon Healy and Jay Bruce at first, or shift Edwin Encarnacion to first and make Bruce the full-time DH, or play Tim Beckham more than J.P. Crawford, but to what end?

ZiPS is still rooting for a Kyle Seager comeback, but I’m a little less sanguine at this point. On the plus side, it thinks Mitch Haniger is for real and sees at least some value in Dan Vogelbach, even if the Mariners don’t seem to. And yes, I know Ichiro is pretty much just coming back for the M’s and A’s games in Japan, but ZiPS doesn’t know those circumstances.

Pitchers

The Sad Tale of Felix Hernandez, as told by his yearly top comps:

2013: Greg Maddux
2014: Roy Oswalt
2015: Mike Mussina
2016: Kevin Brown
2017: Dave Stieb
2018: Mike LaCoss
2019: Aaron Sele

As disappointing as it feels, at this point, King Felix may be happy just to have a better end to his reign than Edward II did.

The rotation lost its high end in the short-term with the James Paxton trade, but while the pitchers at the top have similar projections to the Orioles’ two top starters — a damning comp if ever there was one — it’s also a deeper group. They’re not likely to be good, but the Mariners have just enough of them that the situation isn’t unbearably bleak. That’s a bit how I think of a turkey burger; I wouldn’t seek one out, but hey, it’s actual food. There are a lot of unknowns with two of Seattle’s pitchers — Yusei Kikuchi and Justus Sheffield — so there’s legitimate upside here.

Will it be enough to make the team a contender? No, but if we’re just talking about 2019 wins rather than the big picture planning stuff needed for the next good Mariners team, Seattle going .500 wouldn’t be all that odd, especially since ZiPS still projects the bullpen as adequate, which is probably the system’s biggest source of disagreement with Steamer when it comes to this roster.

Bench and Prospects

There are essentially two prospects in the high minors who ZiPS likes over the long-term: Sheffield and Justin Dunn. Jarred Kelenic hasn’t left rookie ball yet, so I don’t think we’re at the stage where ZiPS has much to contribute. But if Kelenic matches the .286/.371/.468 line from his debut at higher levels, I’m sure the computer will like him just fine.

After that? Pretty much nothing as far as ZiPS is concerned. It sees Shed Long as a role player who might have some pop, and Braden Bishop has defensive value, but there’s little algorithmic interest in players like Kyle Lewis or Evan White. Lewis in particular still hasn’t had a breakout with the bat and the knee injuries cloud whether he’ll be able to play centerfield, which is probably a necessity for his future value.

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
Mitch Haniger	R	28	RF	151	559	80	146	31	3	24	84	59	147	9	4
Kyle Seager	L	31	3B	147	558	67	137	33	1	22	82	48	123	2	3
Mallex Smith	L	26	CF	138	476	60	123	21	9	4	37	43	109	37	11
Edwin Encarnacion	R	36	DH	127	463	68	109	17	1	26	85	68	126	2	0
Dan Vogelbach	L	26	1B	128	439	64	109	19	0	19	65	71	111	1	1
Domingo Santana	R	26	RF	136	437	58	101	19	1	22	57	60	187	6	3
J.P. Crawford	L	24	SS	123	429	52	95	16	4	8	43	55	124	6	3
Dee Gordon	L	31	2B	141	577	75	164	18	7	3	33	18	88	39	14
Denard Span	L	35	LF	121	438	60	113	21	4	10	48	43	73	9	5
Jay Bruce	L	32	RF	119	429	52	100	22	2	19	69	46	119	3	3
Dylan Moore	R	26	3B	121	430	49	91	19	3	10	41	35	114	16	6
Omar Narvaez	L	27	C	94	290	30	74	11	1	6	24	34	58	0	1
Shed Long	L	23	2B	125	468	56	107	18	4	12	49	43	146	13	5
Cameron Maybin	R	32	CF	118	379	48	92	17	2	7	38	41	91	16	6
Tim Beckham	R	29	SS	117	415	48	98	18	3	13	46	30	125	3	3
Ryon Healy	R	27	1B	143	553	62	139	25	1	24	80	28	135	0	1
Kaleb Cowart	B	27	3B	128	437	49	95	23	3	9	48	34	130	11	3
David Freitas	R	30	C	79	270	29	64	15	1	4	24	20	60	0	0
Braden Bishop	R	25	CF	101	420	47	95	16	1	5	31	29	102	7	3
Austin Nola	R	29	C	87	295	29	66	15	0	2	25	25	61	2	1
Mike Marjama	R	29	C	75	275	29	63	16	2	7	32	13	63	2	2
Tito Polo	R	24	CF	93	359	41	82	12	4	7	32	23	107	24	10
Andrew Aplin	L	28	RF	89	310	36	65	12	1	4	26	35	78	7	3
Kris Negron	R	33	2B	123	382	43	79	11	3	10	36	28	137	10	3
Ian Miller	L	27	CF	119	472	49	110	14	3	2	31	30	108	29	7
Jose Lobaton	B	34	C	52	152	15	31	5	1	4	17	17	45	1	0
Joe DeCarlo	R	25	C	85	310	36	57	12	1	10	33	30	119	1	1
Tim Lopes	R	25	2B	121	453	44	104	18	2	3	34	30	103	16	9
Donnie Walton	B	25	2B	106	405	43	88	18	2	6	34	31	90	8	5
Kyle Lewis	R	23	CF	87	341	34	74	16	0	10	37	21	117	2	0
Dom Thompson-Williams	L	24	CF	99	369	42	78	13	2	13	39	25	134	13	10
Daniel Muno	B	30	3B	77	243	26	49	10	1	3	19	29	80	3	4
Dario Pizzano	L	28	LF	107	397	42	94	18	3	9	42	28	67	1	1
Evan White	R	23	1B	125	510	55	113	21	4	12	53	35	137	3	4
Jake Fraley	L	24	LF	67	245	26	52	11	4	3	23	19	71	10	9
Yonathan Mendoza	B	25	SS	98	350	37	80	10	1	2	22	29	65	4	1
Orlando Calixte	R	27	SS	126	431	46	95	15	3	11	44	25	121	13	3
Dustin Ackley	L	31	LF	95	306	33	66	13	2	5	28	31	58	1	1
Ichiro Suzuki	L	45	LF	76	128	12	29	3	0	1	8	9	24	0	0
Eric Filia	L	26	RF	96	378	42	93	16	1	4	32	35	47	3	3
Chris Mariscal	R	26	2B	117	448	44	89	14	2	7	37	36	163	4	2
Jayson Werth	R	40	LF	49	178	20	35	9	0	5	18	19	53	1	1
Kirk Nieuwenhuis	L	31	RF	98	277	30	48	13	1	6	26	36	117	4	2
Joey Curletta	R	25	1B	126	465	54	91	21	1	17	60	49	182	2	1
Logan Taylor	R	25	3B	116	435	45	85	16	1	11	44	34	167	4	4
Anthony Jimenez	R	23	CF	105	396	35	79	16	1	7	34	17	142	13	9
Joe Rizzo	L	21	3B	128	500	44	97	17	2	8	43	35	164	5	1
Beau Amaral	L	28	RF	97	347	34	73	12	1	3	27	22	102	6	3
Adam Law	R	29	2B	101	349	30	70	14	1	2	23	19	96	6	3

Batters – Rate Stats

Player	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS+	ISO	BABIP	RC/27	Def	WAR	No. 1 Comp
Mitch Haniger	.261	.339	.456	118	.195	.314	5.7	6	3.6	Jermaine Dye
Kyle Seager	.246	.310	.427	102	.181	.278	4.7	2	2.4	Todd Zeile
Mallex Smith	.258	.325	.366	92	.107	.328	4.7	4	2.2	Luis Polonia
Edwin Encarnacion	.235	.337	.445	115	.210	.267	5.3	0	2.1	Ben Oglivie
Dan Vogelbach	.248	.353	.421	114	.173	.291	5.3	-1	1.9	Mario Valdez
Domingo Santana	.231	.329	.430	109	.199	.346	5.0	-2	1.5	Ron Swoboda
J.P. Crawford	.221	.316	.333	81	.112	.293	3.7	2	1.4	Rance Mulliniks
Dee Gordon	.284	.311	.355	85	.071	.331	4.4	-1	1.2	Fernando Vina
Denard Span	.258	.328	.393	99	.135	.290	4.7	-3	0.8	John Stone
Jay Bruce	.233	.307	.427	101	.193	.278	4.5	-3	0.7	Tom Brunansky
Dylan Moore	.212	.282	.340	72	.128	.265	3.4	5	0.7	Mike Moriarty
Omar Narvaez	.255	.334	.362	94	.107	.301	4.3	-6	0.7	Mike LaValliere
Shed Long	.229	.298	.361	82	.132	.306	3.8	-2	0.6	Jason Donald
Cameron Maybin	.243	.318	.354	87	.111	.302	4.1	-4	0.6	Ryan Freel
Tim Beckham	.236	.291	.388	86	.152	.307	3.9	-6	0.6	Chris Woodward
Ryon Healy	.251	.290	.430	96	.179	.292	4.5	-3	0.4	Reggie Montgomery
Kaleb Cowart	.217	.275	.346	71	.128	.289	3.4	3	0.4	Mike Turgeon
David Freitas	.237	.295	.344	77	.107	.291	3.6	-2	0.4	Yorvit Torrealba
Braden Bishop	.226	.284	.305	64	.079	.288	3.0	6	0.3	Rodney Nealeigh
Austin Nola	.224	.291	.295	64	.071	.276	3.0	2	0.3	Dave Van Gorder
Mike Marjama	.229	.273	.378	78	.149	.273	3.5	-3	0.2	Yamid Haad
Tito Polo	.228	.289	.343	75	.114	.306	3.6	-2	0.2	Carlos Gomez
Andrew Aplin	.210	.293	.294	64	.084	.268	3.0	7	0.1	Michael Tullier
Kris Negron	.207	.271	.330	66	.123	.294	3.2	2	0.1	Dave Matranga
Ian Miller	.233	.284	.288	60	.055	.298	3.2	4	0.1	Keiunta Span
Jose Lobaton	.204	.287	.329	71	.125	.262	3.3	-1	0.0	Keith McDonald
Joe DeCarlo	.184	.272	.326	65	.142	.260	2.9	-2	-0.1	Marc Sullivan
Tim Lopes	.230	.280	.298	61	.068	.291	2.9	5	-0.1	Ron Marigny
Donnie Walton	.217	.282	.316	66	.099	.265	3.0	0	-0.2	Greg Fulton
Kyle Lewis	.217	.264	.352	69	.135	.299	3.3	-2	-0.3	Jeff Keitges
Dom Thompson-Williams	.211	.268	.363	73	.152	.293	3.1	-2	-0.3	Shawn Jeter
Daniel Muno	.202	.291	.288	62	.086	.288	2.6	0	-0.3	Douglas Bernier
Dario Pizzano	.237	.292	.365	81	.128	.265	3.7	-3	-0.4	Tim Norrid
Evan White	.222	.275	.349	72	.127	.280	3.2	6	-0.4	Greg Litton
Jake Fraley	.212	.274	.327	66	.114	.287	2.7	3	-0.4	Jesus Hernandez
Yonathan Mendoza	.229	.288	.280	59	.051	.276	2.9	-3	-0.5	Mark Germann
Orlando Calixte	.220	.263	.346	67	.125	.281	3.3	-7	-0.6	Jason Bowers
Dustin Ackley	.216	.287	.320	69	.105	.251	3.1	0	-0.6	Ken Ramos
Ichiro Suzuki	.227	.277	.273	54	.047	.272	2.6	-1	-0.6	Curtis Pride
Eric Filia	.246	.313	.325	78	.079	.272	3.6	-3	-0.6	Tim Leiper
Chris Mariscal	.199	.264	.286	53	.087	.295	2.5	3	-0.7	Odie Davis
Jayson Werth	.197	.280	.331	69	.135	.250	3.1	-5	-0.8	Brian Jordan
Kirk Nieuwenhuis	.173	.272	.292	57	.119	.273	2.6	0	-0.9	Kevin Koslofski
Joey Curletta	.196	.273	.355	72	.159	.278	3.2	-1	-1.0	Justin Drizos
Logan Taylor	.195	.260	.313	58	.117	.288	2.6	-4	-1.3	Chad Spann
Anthony Jimenez	.199	.241	.298	49	.098	.291	2.3	-2	-1.5	Jason Aspito
Joe Rizzo	.194	.248	.284	48	.090	.271	2.4	0	-1.6	Mark Farris
Beau Amaral	.210	.263	.277	51	.066	.289	2.5	-2	-1.7	Selwyn Langaigne
Adam Law	.201	.252	.264	44	.063	.271	2.2	-4	-1.7	Chris Petersen

Pitchers – Counting Stats

Player	T	Age	W	L	ERA	G	GS	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO
Yusei Kikuchi	L	28	9	8	4.05	25	25	142.3	136	64	17	56	131
Marco Gonzales	L	27	9	9	4.16	26	26	142.7	155	66	18	32	112
Mike Leake	R	31	9	9	4.30	27	27	161.3	180	77	20	29	104
Justus Sheffield	L	23	7	7	4.27	29	22	116.0	113	55	12	57	103
Hisashi Iwakuma	R	38	9	10	4.50	23	23	134.0	144	67	20	36	96
Shawn Armstrong	R	28	4	2	3.25	61	0	63.7	51	23	5	31	75
Felix Hernandez	R	33	9	10	4.60	25	24	137.0	138	70	21	48	107
Wade LeBlanc	L	34	8	8	4.58	22	22	129.7	135	66	21	32	98
Adam Warren	R	31	3	2	3.34	51	0	56.7	50	21	5	20	54
Gerson Bautista	R	24	4	3	3.59	43	0	62.7	56	25	5	31	65
Erik Swanson	R	25	5	5	4.70	24	21	107.3	108	56	18	35	104
Nick Vincent	R	32	4	3	3.67	61	0	56.3	54	23	6	15	51
Zach Duke	L	36	4	3	3.64	63	0	47.0	43	19	4	19	44
Roenis Elias	L	30	6	7	4.60	29	14	94.0	97	48	11	40	72
Anthony Swarzak	R	33	3	3	3.86	47	0	49.0	45	21	7	17	51
Ariel Miranda	L	30	5	6	4.82	22	20	104.7	104	56	17	45	86
Justin Dunn	R	23	7	8	4.76	23	23	123.0	127	65	14	66	102
Tommy Milone	L	32	5	6	4.89	23	21	112.3	125	61	22	25	96
Max Povse	R	25	6	7	4.71	20	19	101.3	108	53	13	42	80
Tyler Danish	R	24	5	6	4.72	36	11	101.0	112	53	10	42	58
Sam Tuivailala	R	26	3	3	3.74	44	0	45.7	44	19	4	18	43
Chasen Bradford	R	29	3	2	3.90	49	0	55.3	60	24	6	13	35
Ryan Garton	R	29	2	2	4.06	44	0	51.0	47	23	4	28	49
Brandon Brennan	R	27	3	3	4.15	39	0	56.7	56	26	4	27	46
Rob Whalen	R	25	7	9	4.79	23	22	112.7	120	60	15	43	80
Casey Lawrence	R	31	6	8	4.93	29	17	118.7	138	65	18	29	78
Nick Rumbelow	R	27	2	1	4.01	33	0	42.7	40	19	6	15	43
Darren McCaughan	R	23	8	10	5.04	27	27	141.0	160	79	22	43	82
Zac Rosscup	L	31	1	1	3.64	32	0	29.7	25	12	4	12	39
Cory Gearrin	R	33	2	2	4.10	57	0	52.7	50	24	6	21	49
Ruben Alaniz	R	28	3	3	4.39	40	1	55.3	55	27	7	26	52
Dan Altavilla	R	26	4	4	4.30	50	0	52.3	48	25	7	26	53
David McKay	R	24	4	4	4.34	44	0	58.0	57	28	8	23	56
Wyatt Mills	R	24	4	4	4.38	44	0	49.3	50	24	6	18	41
Matt Tenuta	L	25	3	3	4.45	44	0	60.7	62	30	7	27	47
Williams Perez	R	28	7	9	4.95	22	22	111.0	118	61	12	53	80
Christian Bergman	R	31	7	9	4.97	26	22	125.0	144	69	19	33	77
Marc Rzepczynski	L	33	1	1	4.55	51	0	29.7	29	15	2	20	26
Matt Festa	R	26	3	3	4.67	44	0	52.0	53	27	10	17	52
Ricardo Sanchez	L	22	4	6	5.24	17	17	77.3	87	45	10	41	52
Tucker Healy	R	29	1	2	5.02	32	0	37.7	37	21	5	20	34
Art Warren	R	26	2	2	4.98	37	0	43.3	42	24	5	30	39
Ryan Cook	R	32	2	3	4.86	50	0	46.3	46	25	7	24	46
Robinson Leyer	R	26	4	4	4.98	47	0	56.0	56	31	7	33	50
Darin Gillies	R	26	3	3	5.09	41	0	58.3	61	33	9	28	48
David Rollins	L	29	2	3	5.67	22	2	33.3	38	21	7	11	24
Anthony Misiewicz	L	24	6	9	5.50	24	24	111.3	130	68	22	39	78
Ross Detwiler	L	33	3	5	5.60	20	13	80.3	95	50	13	33	47
Matt Walker	R	24	3	4	5.31	41	0	59.3	65	35	9	30	45
Tayler Scott	R	27	4	6	5.28	45	0	58.0	62	34	8	33	46
Bryan Evans	R	32	5	8	5.82	20	20	106.7	126	69	26	29	80
Nathan Bannister	R	25	5	10	6.85	26	23	128.7	169	98	36	42	67

Pitchers – Rate Stats

Player	TBF	K/9	BB/9	HR/9	BABIP	ERA+	ERA-	FIP	WAR	No. 1 Comp
Yusei Kikuchi	616	8.28	3.54	1.07	.294	101	99	4.19	1.9	Pat Rapp
Marco Gonzales	609	7.07	2.02	1.14	.310	95	105	4.00	1.4	John Rheinecker
Mike Leake	685	5.80	1.62	1.12	.304	92	108	4.10	1.4	Jim Barr
Justus Sheffield	516	7.99	4.42	0.93	.299	96	104	4.35	1.3	Ken Chase
Hisashi Iwakuma	576	6.45	2.42	1.34	.295	91	110	4.55	1.1	Earthman Bill Lee
Shawn Armstrong	272	10.60	4.38	0.71	.291	126	79	3.42	1.0	Hector Carrasco
Felix Hernandez	596	7.03	3.15	1.38	.285	89	112	4.83	1.0	Aaron Sele
Wade LeBlanc	549	6.80	2.22	1.46	.289	89	112	4.55	0.9	Dave Roberts
Adam Warren	238	8.58	3.18	0.79	.287	123	82	3.56	0.9	Danny Kolb
Gerson Bautista	274	9.34	4.45	0.72	.300	114	88	3.74	0.8	Wayne Nix
Erik Swanson	463	8.72	2.93	1.51	.299	87	115	4.51	0.7	Chris Young
Nick Vincent	235	8.15	2.40	0.96	.296	108	93	3.58	0.6	Dale Mohorcic
Zach Duke	204	8.43	3.64	0.77	.293	112	89	3.85	0.6	Luis Arroyo
Roenis Elias	417	6.89	3.83	1.05	.298	89	112	4.58	0.6	Gene Bearden
Anthony Swarzak	208	9.37	3.12	1.29	.290	106	94	4.09	0.5	Bryan Corey
Ariel Miranda	459	7.39	3.87	1.46	.283	85	118	5.02	0.5	Steve Avery
Justin Dunn	561	7.46	4.83	1.02	.305	83	120	4.78	0.4	Rick Berg
Tommy Milone	482	7.69	2.00	1.76	.307	84	119	4.73	0.4	Terry Mulholland
Max Povse	452	7.11	3.73	1.15	.305	84	119	4.66	0.4	Sean White
Tyler Danish	454	5.17	3.74	0.89	.301	87	115	4.68	0.4	Tommie Sisk
Sam Tuivailala	198	8.47	3.55	0.79	.305	106	94	3.72	0.4	Sarge Connally
Chasen Bradford	238	5.69	2.11	0.98	.298	102	98	4.16	0.4	Pedro Borbon
Ryan Garton	226	8.65	4.94	0.71	.301	101	99	4.01	0.4	Bruce Dal Canton
Brandon Brennan	253	7.31	4.29	0.64	.302	99	102	4.09	0.4	Hal Reniff
Rob Whalen	499	6.39	3.43	1.20	.297	83	121	4.79	0.4	Jake Joseph
Casey Lawrence	520	5.92	2.20	1.37	.308	83	120	4.69	0.3	Don Wengert
Nick Rumbelow	182	9.07	3.16	1.27	.293	102	98	4.16	0.3	Jeremy Ward
Darren McCaughan	623	5.23	2.74	1.40	.296	81	123	5.12	0.3	Bobby Chouinard
Zac Rosscup	125	11.83	3.64	1.21	.304	109	92	3.59	0.3	Rod Scurry
Cory Gearrin	229	8.37	3.59	1.03	.295	97	103	4.19	0.3	Al Worthington
Ruben Alaniz	246	8.46	4.23	1.14	.304	93	107	4.49	0.2	Mike Bumstead
Dan Altavilla	230	9.11	4.47	1.20	.291	95	105	4.53	0.2	Mark Acre
David McKay	253	8.69	3.57	1.24	.301	94	106	4.36	0.2	Shawn Hill
Wyatt Mills	215	7.48	3.28	1.09	.299	93	107	4.35	0.2	Steve Gajkowski
Matt Tenuta	269	6.97	4.01	1.04	.297	92	109	4.58	0.2	Mike Cosgrove
Williams Perez	501	6.49	4.30	0.97	.303	80	125	4.71	0.2	Brian Harrison
Christian Bergman	547	5.54	2.38	1.37	.303	80	125	4.81	0.1	Pat Ahearne
Marc Rzepczynski	138	7.89	6.07	0.61	.307	90	111	4.50	0.0	Marshall Bridges
Matt Festa	225	9.00	2.94	1.73	.301	88	114	4.80	0.0	Travis Minix
Ricardo Sanchez	359	6.05	4.77	1.16	.307	76	132	5.27	-0.2	Derek Thompson
Tucker Healy	169	8.12	4.78	1.19	.296	82	123	4.82	-0.2	Ed Sprague
Art Warren	202	8.10	6.23	1.04	.296	82	122	5.13	-0.2	Ken Wright
Ryan Cook	209	8.94	4.66	1.36	.302	82	122	4.88	-0.2	Jim Dedrick
Robinson Leyer	256	8.04	5.30	1.13	.301	82	122	4.92	-0.2	Mike Zimmerman
Darin Gillies	263	7.41	4.32	1.39	.297	80	124	5.10	-0.3	Ervin Santana
David Rollins	148	6.48	2.97	1.89	.298	72	139	5.61	-0.3	Corey Hamman
Anthony Misiewicz	500	6.31	3.15	1.78	.304	74	134	5.53	-0.4	Jason Cromer
Ross Detwiler	366	5.27	3.70	1.46	.305	73	137	5.47	-0.4	Robert Lee
Matt Walker	271	6.83	4.55	1.37	.304	77	130	5.27	-0.5	Sean Green
Tayler Scott	268	7.14	5.12	1.24	.303	75	133	5.22	-0.5	Barry Hertzler
Bryan Evans	473	6.75	2.45	2.19	.301	68	147	5.80	-1.0	Brian Tollberg
Nathan Bannister	594	4.69	2.94	2.52	.302	60	168	6.91	-2.5	Kyle Middleton

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.