2022 ZiPS Projections: St. Louis Cardinals by Dan Szymborski December 22, 2021 ZiPS Projections 2022 2021 ALBALCHWHOUBOSCLELAANYYDETOAKTBRKCRSEATORMINTEX NLATLCHCARIMIACINCOLNYMMILLADPHIPITSDPWSNSTLSFG ALBALCHWHOUBOSCLELAANYYDETOAKTBRKCRSEATORMINTEX NLATLCHCARIMIACINCOLNYMMILLADPHIPITSDPWSNSTLSFG After having typically appeared in the hallowed pages of Baseball Think Factory, Dan Szymborski’s ZiPS projections have now been released at FanGraphs for a decade. The exercise continues this offseason. Below are the projections for the St. Louis Cardinals. Batters Can we just say 87 wins and call it a day? It feels like that’s what I’ve been projecting for the Cardinals for the last 15 years or so. That’s an exaggeration, but not an extreme one: ZiPS hasn’t projected St. Louis outside the 85–90 win range in a full season since 2011. Going back to the first official ZiPS team standings in 2005 — I only did players in the first couple of years — the team’s projections have been below .500 once (2008) and above 90 wins once (2010). The lineup rarely has superstars at the top, but the Cards have a knack for keeping their floor incredibly high. Does that line sound familiar? It might; it’s what I wrote last year. And it still applies today. For a while, it looked like it wouldn’t happen in 2021, with the team 44-47 right around the All-Star break. Now, if you still considered the Cardinals an 89-win team or thereabouts, the normal thinking would have been to say, “Oh, OK, so they’ll play at an 89-win pace the rest of the way and finish around .500.” But the Cards care not for you and your fancy-pants Gambler’s Fallacy. After a loss against the Kansas City Royals on August 8, St. Louis stood at 55-56. This was the last time they were below .500, as they went 35-16 the rest of the way, capped by a 17-game winning streak in mid-September. The Cards didn’t just sneak back into the Wild Card conversation; they talked over the Padres and Reds and flipped the table, spilling all the hors d’oeuvres onto the floor. In the end, they made the playoffs with seven games to spare. If anything, the lineup looks more stable than it did last year at this point. The outfield looks pretty clearly set with Tyler O’Neill, Harrison Bader, and Dylan Carlson, with no Dexter Fowler hanging around trying to finish out a long-term deal. The uncertainty surrounding Matt Carpenter has cleared up. He never played well enough in 2021 to cause any positional controversy and was basically reduced to pinch-hitting duties by the end of the season. I’m still not sure how shortstop will shake out, but I’m happy with either Paul DeJong or Edmundo Sosa there next year. In DeJong’s case, his overall 2021 season was much better than the common perception. There isn’t even a will they/won’t they about bringing back Yadier Molina; he signed in August for a farewell campaign in 2022. While the lineup is basically set, the Cardinals wouldn’t be hurt by adding a role player or two to the roster. The cupboard in that department looks relatively thin, especially for this organization. Pitchers This is probably the weaker part of the team right now, and I hope they’re not done investing. Adam Wainwright basically held the rotation together for large parts of the season, and that was with 106 2/3 quality innings out of Kwang Hyun Kim. The addition of Steven Matz and the return of Dakota Hudson from Tommy John surgery will buttress the rotation, but with Jack Flaherty seemingly unlucky at times health-wise, it still feels like they’re short another starter. I’m not necessarily talking about a long-term addition, but I’d rather Matthew Liberatore and Connor Thomas be Plan Bs, at least for 2022. The computer is not terribly keen on the bullpen once you get past Giovanny Gallegos and Alex Reyes. In most systems, ZiPS finds an intriguing Triple-A reliever or two but here there’s a real shortage of bullpen arms who would cause the Rays to salivate should they be able to swipe them out of the minors. Let’s call that the Chaz Roe Zone. This is really the only area of the team where ZiPS is significantly less confident than it was last year. It should be noted, however, that Steamer is much more optimistic about the relief corps as a whole. Call the Cards an 85-90 win team. That shouldn’t surprise anyone at this point. Ballpark graphic courtesy Eephus League. Depth charts constructed by way of those listed here. Batters – Standard Player B Age PO PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS Nolan Arenado R 31 3B 623 562 78 148 29 2 29 96 51 95 2 1 Tommy Edman B 27 2B 667 617 88 170 32 6 13 60 37 101 29 5 Tyler O’Neill R 27 LF 554 497 90 132 25 2 35 89 41 174 15 4 Paul Goldschmidt R 34 1B 625 552 83 148 28 2 25 83 67 140 7 1 Harrison Bader R 28 CF 441 392 57 96 21 2 16 51 36 111 10 3 Dylan Carlson B 23 RF 632 555 81 148 33 6 20 75 58 144 4 2 Paul DeJong R 28 SS 505 447 63 100 21 1 20 64 43 130 5 2 Nolan Gorman L 22 3B 548 512 62 128 25 2 21 64 29 120 5 0 Edmundo Sosa R 26 SS 432 394 48 99 15 4 9 38 18 88 4 4 Juan Yepez R 24 1B 419 372 52 89 21 0 19 59 34 93 1 2 Brendan Donovan L 25 3B 478 429 64 105 19 1 9 45 35 94 9 4 Yadier Molina R 39 C 421 393 37 96 16 0 9 54 19 70 3 0 Andrew Knizner R 27 C 309 280 35 67 11 0 8 31 21 55 3 0 Lars Nootbaar L 24 RF 351 316 42 77 8 2 11 37 32 72 4 4 Matt Koperniak L 24 LF 428 393 55 102 21 0 8 39 22 66 3 2 Matt Carpenter L 36 2B 373 316 41 64 16 1 9 38 49 108 3 0 José Rondón R 28 3B 214 197 25 45 8 1 9 27 14 52 3 1 Alec Burleson L 23 RF 528 493 66 120 18 0 17 63 29 107 2 1 Conner Capel L 25 RF 432 395 46 89 16 2 10 40 30 99 6 4 Ben DeLuzio R 27 CF 338 309 32 66 12 4 3 21 20 92 14 6 Max Moroff B 29 2B 181 158 21 33 7 0 6 20 20 53 2 1 Justin Toerner L 25 CF 372 329 41 64 10 1 7 28 34 112 5 4 Ali Sánchez R 25 C 324 305 31 71 13 0 3 22 16 61 1 2 Kramer Robertson R 27 2B 466 408 59 88 17 2 9 41 44 91 9 4 Nick Raposo R 24 C 150 135 20 30 4 1 1 10 11 32 1 0 Malcom Nunez R 21 3B 414 388 48 90 15 1 9 36 23 84 6 2 Matt Szczur R 32 CF 135 124 12 25 5 1 4 13 8 33 0 1 Aaron Antonini L 23 C 249 216 30 34 6 0 6 20 20 67 0 0 Iván Herrera R 22 C 437 387 54 79 12 0 13 45 36 101 1 2 Evan Mendoza R 26 SS 420 385 43 85 11 1 2 23 25 103 9 3 Rayder Ascanio R 26 3B 298 275 26 58 9 0 6 23 19 64 2 2 Irving Lopez L 27 3B 337 308 34 64 11 3 4 24 18 77 1 1 Delvin Perez R 23 SS 469 442 38 99 11 3 3 21 19 106 18 6 Luken Baker R 25 1B 445 409 42 90 21 0 14 47 30 126 0 0 Chandler Redmond L 25 1B 373 342 42 72 14 0 13 41 27 135 2 1 Clint Coulter R 28 LF 178 163 17 31 6 0 7 20 11 64 0 0 Scott Hurst L 26 CF 337 306 28 55 11 1 4 19 26 113 4 3 Chase Pinder R 26 RF 312 273 26 51 5 0 6 17 29 101 1 3 Nick Dunn L 25 2B 394 363 43 78 14 1 4 29 22 69 2 2 Anderson Tejeda B 24 SS 340 318 28 54 11 1 9 29 20 142 10 3 Justin Williams R 22 RF 186 173 17 31 6 0 7 18 11 67 3 3 Jonah Davis L 24 CF 380 343 34 55 10 2 11 32 30 179 4 8 Batters – Advanced Player BA OBP SLG OPS+ ISO BABIP RC/27 Def WAR No. 1 Comp Nolan Arenado .263 .324 .477 116 .214 .272 5.7 8 4.2 Vern Stephens Tommy Edman .276 .322 .410 99 .135 .312 5.3 8 3.9 Tony Fernandez Tyler O’Neill .266 .334 .535 133 .270 .337 6.7 0 3.9 Rick Reichardt Paul Goldschmidt .268 .349 .462 120 .194 .318 6.0 3 3.4 Bill White Harrison Bader .245 .322 .431 104 .186 .302 5.1 11 3.1 Michael Cuddyer Dylan Carlson .267 .342 .456 116 .189 .327 5.7 0 2.9 Daryl Sconiers Paul DeJong .224 .303 .409 93 .186 .269 4.3 7 2.7 Steve Buechele Nolan Gorman .250 .293 .430 95 .180 .288 4.6 7 2.5 David Bell Edmundo Sosa .251 .307 .378 87 .127 .303 4.1 5 1.7 Ronny Cedeno Juan Yepez .239 .310 .449 105 .210 .269 4.9 3 1.4 Brad Bouras Brendan Donovan .245 .313 .357 83 .112 .294 4.0 3 1.3 Vance Law Yadier Molina .244 .286 .354 74 .109 .277 3.7 3 1.1 Chris Coste Andrew Knizner .239 .304 .364 82 .125 .272 4.0 1 1.0 Bill McGuire Lars Nootbaar .244 .314 .386 91 .142 .283 4.2 5 1.0 Ron Jones Matt Koperniak .260 .312 .374 87 .115 .295 4.2 5 0.9 Casey Kotchman Matt Carpenter .203 .319 .345 82 .142 .276 3.8 -4 0.5 Marty McManus José Rondón .228 .280 .416 88 .188 .265 4.1 -1 0.4 Howard Nichols Alec Burleson .243 .284 .383 81 .140 .279 3.9 3 0.4 Jim Bowie Conner Capel .225 .281 .352 72 .127 .276 3.4 8 0.3 Theron Todd Ben DeLuzio .214 .273 .307 59 .094 .294 2.9 7 0.3 Adrian Myers Max Moroff .209 .306 .367 84 .158 .273 3.8 -1 0.3 Shanie Dugas Justin Toerner .195 .283 .295 59 .100 .271 2.7 6 0.3 Billy Deck Ali Sánchez .233 .272 .305 58 .072 .282 2.8 4 0.2 Chairon Isenia Kramer Robertson .216 .305 .333 75 .118 .256 3.5 -5 0.2 Mike Moriarty Nick Raposo .222 .289 .289 59 .067 .284 3.0 1 0.1 Edwin Marquez Malcom Nunez .232 .280 .345 70 .113 .275 3.5 -1 0.1 Joe Dunlap Matt Szczur .202 .246 .355 62 .153 .241 2.8 2 0.1 Scott Wade Aaron Antonini .157 .262 .269 46 .111 .196 2.3 1 -0.2 Dave Liddell Iván Herrera .204 .277 .336 67 .132 .242 3.1 -5 -0.2 Scott Heard Evan Mendoza .221 .269 .270 49 .049 .296 2.6 5 -0.2 Adam Haley Rayder Ascanio .211 .266 .309 57 .098 .254 2.7 2 -0.3 Gera Alvarez Irving Lopez .208 .269 .302 56 .094 .264 2.7 2 -0.3 Tom Nevers Delvin Perez .224 .263 .283 50 .059 .288 2.7 3 -0.3 Esteban Beltre Luken Baker .220 .275 .374 76 .154 .283 3.6 -1 -0.5 Mark Fleisher Chandler Redmond .211 .273 .365 73 .155 .304 3.4 -1 -0.5 Mark Hamilton Clint Coulter .190 .249 .356 63 .166 .261 2.9 -1 -0.5 Troy Farnsworth Scott Hurst .180 .245 .261 39 .082 .270 2.0 6 -0.7 Russ Quetti Chase Pinder .187 .275 .271 51 .084 .271 2.3 3 -0.8 Roger Haggerty Nick Dunn .215 .263 .292 52 .077 .255 2.6 -1 -0.9 Chad Tredaway Anderson Tejeda .170 .221 .296 40 .126 .269 2.2 -1 -1.1 Robert McIntyre Justin Williams .179 .237 .335 54 .156 .242 2.4 -4 -1.1 Maximo Rodriguez Jonah Davis .160 .239 .297 46 .137 .288 2.0 -8 -2.1 Gary Hust Pitchers – Standard Player T Age W L ERA G GS IP H ER HR BB SO FIP Jack Flaherty R 26 9 6 3.46 26 25 130.0 105 50 17 42 149 3.72 Adam Wainwright R 40 11 10 4.10 27 27 162.3 156 74 22 47 131 4.33 Steven Matz L 31 10 9 4.11 29 28 144.7 144 66 20 46 130 4.26 Dakota Hudson R 27 8 7 4.01 26 20 112.3 105 50 11 47 84 4.37 Connor Thomas L 24 7 6 4.17 28 19 127.3 131 59 16 36 99 4.25 Miles Mikolas R 33 7 6 4.12 21 21 111.3 114 51 16 22 82 4.33 Matthew Liberatore L 22 9 9 4.30 22 18 119.3 121 57 17 34 101 4.34 Giovanny Gallegos R 30 6 3 3.14 67 0 71.7 53 25 8 20 90 3.12 Kwang Hyun Kim L 33 7 7 4.39 27 22 108.7 107 53 15 38 84 4.59 J.A. Happ L 39 8 8 4.63 26 26 136.0 138 70 21 43 105 4.68 Ljay Newsome R 25 6 6 4.47 20 17 92.7 100 46 17 15 77 4.52 Angel Rondon R 24 6 6 4.48 23 16 92.3 96 46 14 29 72 4.70 Johan Oviedo R 24 6 7 4.73 26 24 118.0 117 62 16 59 105 4.92 Andre Pallante R 23 5 5 4.66 22 21 94.7 101 49 11 38 63 4.72 Jon Lester L 38 6 7 4.82 25 25 127.0 139 68 20 46 90 4.99 Carlos Martínez R 30 5 6 4.64 19 16 83.3 82 43 11 35 70 4.69 Austin Warner L 28 6 6 4.56 34 13 96.7 97 49 14 35 82 4.61 Alex Reyes R 27 9 7 3.74 66 0 67.3 49 28 8 40 95 3.77 Génesis Cabrera L 25 6 5 4.18 62 6 84.0 73 39 12 40 94 4.44 Daniel Ponce de Leon R 30 4 5 4.63 28 15 79.7 71 41 11 45 81 4.82 Domingo Robles L 24 6 8 4.91 24 22 102.7 117 56 16 27 63 4.91 Thomas Parsons R 26 5 5 4.76 24 12 85.0 91 45 15 24 67 4.92 Tyler Pike L 28 4 4 4.66 15 9 63.7 67 33 8 24 47 4.66 Jake Walsh R 26 4 4 4.68 20 10 65.3 65 34 10 26 59 4.70 Dalton Roach R 26 7 8 4.97 22 18 105.0 113 58 16 40 78 4.99 Wade LeBlanc L 37 4 4 4.87 22 14 85.0 92 46 14 25 62 4.85 Evan Kruczynski L 27 4 5 4.99 22 15 88.3 90 49 14 43 77 5.13 Kodi Whitley R 27 3 3 4.13 45 1 52.3 47 24 7 22 54 4.23 T.J. Zeuch R 26 5 6 5.07 24 18 110.0 119 62 18 38 72 5.17 Jordan Hicks R 25 1 1 4.13 30 0 28.3 23 13 3 17 32 4.20 Grant Black R 27 2 2 4.72 30 6 61.0 62 32 7 30 48 4.72 Andrew Miller L 37 1 1 4.19 45 1 38.7 36 18 5 18 42 4.55 Alex FaGalde R 28 4 6 5.09 20 13 76.0 80 43 12 32 55 5.25 Junior Fernández R 25 3 2 4.24 42 0 51.0 47 24 5 26 48 4.34 Ryan Helsley R 27 5 5 4.55 46 3 55.3 50 28 8 30 57 4.68 Jake Woodford R 25 6 7 5.14 33 17 112.0 115 64 20 48 87 5.45 Jacob Bosiokovic R 28 4 4 4.39 37 0 53.3 50 26 6 26 51 4.36 Freddy Pacheco R 24 1 1 4.44 43 0 50.7 44 25 6 34 57 4.66 Seth Elledge R 26 3 3 4.55 45 1 55.3 52 28 8 29 55 4.81 Edgar Escobar R 25 2 2 4.47 31 0 46.3 44 23 6 20 44 4.39 Garrett Williams L 27 3 4 4.99 34 7 70.3 68 39 9 44 62 5.13 Cory Thompson R 27 3 3 4.50 34 0 50.0 52 25 6 19 37 4.58 Kyle Ryan L 30 2 2 4.54 43 0 41.7 42 21 6 18 35 4.74 T.J. McFarland L 33 3 3 4.50 54 0 60.0 63 30 8 19 38 4.65 Justin Miller R 35 2 3 4.59 27 0 33.3 34 17 5 12 28 4.71 Kyle Leahy R 25 4 6 5.27 24 13 95.7 108 56 13 39 54 5.23 Tyler Webb L 31 1 1 4.67 46 0 44.3 41 23 6 23 42 4.67 Connor Jones R 27 4 5 4.85 44 3 65.0 66 35 6 39 48 4.89 Johan Quezada R 27 2 3 5.13 23 1 33.3 35 19 4 18 25 5.04 Brandon Waddell L 28 4 5 5.37 27 10 70.3 74 42 11 39 57 5.43 Jesus Cruz R 27 3 3 5.07 41 2 49.7 50 28 8 29 49 5.23 Edgar Gonzalez R 25 6 8 5.59 19 18 85.3 96 53 15 38 58 5.62 Griffin Roberts R 26 2 4 6.18 11 9 43.7 50 30 6 31 21 6.34 James Naile R 29 5 7 5.46 39 11 94.0 109 57 17 32 57 5.50 Pitchers – Advanced Player K/9 BB/9 HR/9 BB% K% BABIP ERA+ ERA- WAR No. 1 Comp Jack Flaherty 10.3 2.9 1.2 7.8% 27.8% .274 119 84 2.4 Pete Harnisch Adam Wainwright 7.3 2.6 1.2 6.9% 19.1% .280 101 99 2.0 Orel Hershiser Steven Matz 8.1 2.9 1.2 7.4% 21.0% .297 101 99 1.8 Jon Matlack Dakota Hudson 6.7 3.8 0.9 9.7% 17.3% .278 103 97 1.5 Russ Bauers Connor Thomas 7.0 2.5 1.1 6.6% 18.2% .296 99 101 1.4 Steve Trout Miles Mikolas 6.6 1.8 1.3 4.7% 17.6% .287 100 100 1.4 Bob Tewksbury Matthew Liberatore 7.6 2.6 1.3 6.7% 19.8% .295 96 104 1.2 Butch Henry Giovanny Gallegos 11.3 2.5 1.0 6.9% 31.3% .271 132 76 1.2 J.J. Putz Kwang Hyun Kim 7.0 3.1 1.2 8.1% 18.0% .282 94 106 1.0 Kenny Rogers J.A. Happ 6.9 2.8 1.4 7.4% 18.0% .285 89 112 0.9 Jerry Reuss Ljay Newsome 7.5 1.5 1.7 3.8% 19.7% .300 92 108 0.7 Andy Sonnanstine Angel Rondon 7.0 2.8 1.4 7.3% 18.0% .293 92 109 0.7 Steve Crawford Johan Oviedo 8.0 4.5 1.2 11.1% 19.7% .295 87 114 0.7 Matt Albers Andre Pallante 6.0 3.6 1.0 9.0% 15.0% .297 89 113 0.6 Al Santorini Jon Lester 6.4 3.3 1.4 8.2% 16.1% .298 86 117 0.6 Jerry Reuss Carlos Martínez 7.6 3.8 1.2 9.5% 19.1% .290 89 112 0.6 Ryan Glynn Austin Warner 7.6 3.3 1.3 8.3% 19.5% .292 91 110 0.6 Buddy Groom Alex Reyes 12.7 5.3 1.1 13.8% 32.9% .285 110 91 0.6 Eric Plunk Génesis Cabrera 10.1 4.3 1.3 10.9% 25.7% .285 99 101 0.5 Ken Brett Daniel Ponce de Leon 9.2 5.1 1.2 12.7% 22.8% .282 89 112 0.4 Victor Zambrano Domingo Robles 5.5 2.4 1.4 6.0% 14.0% .299 84 119 0.4 Bobby Livingston Thomas Parsons 7.1 2.5 1.6 6.5% 18.2% .295 87 115 0.4 Josh Stevens Tyler Pike 6.6 3.4 1.1 8.5% 16.7% .298 89 113 0.4 Lenny DiNardo Jake Walsh 8.1 3.6 1.4 9.1% 20.7% .294 88 113 0.3 Ben Simon Dalton Roach 6.7 3.4 1.4 8.6% 16.7% .298 83 120 0.3 Jason Johnson Wade LeBlanc 6.6 2.6 1.5 6.8% 16.8% .295 85 118 0.3 Chris Michalak Evan Kruczynski 7.8 4.4 1.4 10.8% 19.4% .295 83 121 0.2 Bryan Price Kodi Whitley 9.3 3.8 1.2 9.8% 24.1% .288 100 100 0.2 Derrick Turnbow T.J. Zeuch 5.9 3.1 1.5 7.9% 14.9% .289 81 123 0.2 Jason McCommon Jordan Hicks 10.2 5.4 1.0 13.7% 25.8% .282 100 100 0.2 Brad Voyles Grant Black 7.1 4.4 1.0 11.0% 17.6% .297 88 114 0.1 William Vaughan Andrew Miller 9.8 4.2 1.2 10.4% 24.3% .304 99 101 0.1 Norm Charlton Alex FaGalde 6.5 3.8 1.4 9.4% 16.2% .289 81 123 0.1 Sean Lowe Junior Fernández 8.5 4.6 0.9 11.5% 21.2% .294 98 103 0.1 Bill Snyder Ryan Helsley 9.3 4.9 1.3 12.3% 23.5% .286 91 110 0.1 Todd Wellemeyer Jake Woodford 7.0 3.9 1.6 9.6% 17.4% .283 80 124 0.0 Cliff Speck Jacob Bosiokovic 8.6 4.4 1.0 11.1% 21.7% .295 94 106 0.0 Gerry Hannahs Freddy Pacheco 10.1 6.0 1.1 14.8% 24.8% .292 93 107 0.0 Rafael Pimentel Seth Elledge 8.9 4.7 1.3 11.8% 22.4% .291 91 110 0.0 Roy Corcoran Edgar Escobar 8.5 3.9 1.2 9.9% 21.8% .292 92 108 0.0 Todd Erdos Garrett Williams 7.9 5.6 1.2 13.7% 19.3% .291 83 121 0.0 Mike Williams Cory Thompson 6.7 3.4 1.1 8.6% 16.8% .297 92 109 -0.1 Ehren Wassermann Kyle Ryan 7.6 3.9 1.3 9.8% 19.1% .293 91 110 -0.1 Pete Burnside T.J. McFarland 5.7 2.9 1.2 7.4% 14.7% .286 92 109 -0.1 Chad Zerbe Justin Miller 7.6 3.2 1.4 8.2% 19.2% .293 90 111 -0.1 Mike James Kyle Leahy 5.1 3.7 1.2 9.0% 12.5% .297 78 128 -0.1 Yoel Hernandez Tyler Webb 8.5 4.7 1.2 11.8% 21.5% .285 88 113 -0.1 Matt Whisenant Connor Jones 6.6 5.4 0.8 13.0% 16.1% .297 85 117 -0.1 Ryan Henderson Johan Quezada 6.8 4.9 1.1 11.8% 16.4% .301 81 124 -0.2 Rick Greene Brandon Waddell 7.3 5.0 1.4 12.1% 17.6% .297 77 130 -0.2 Matt White Jesus Cruz 8.9 5.3 1.4 12.7% 21.5% .302 81 123 -0.3 Mike MacDougal Edgar Gonzalez 6.1 4.0 1.6 9.8% 14.9% .298 74 135 -0.3 Patrick Coogan Griffin Roberts 4.3 6.4 1.2 14.7% 10.0% .293 67 150 -0.5 Rob Purvis James Naile 5.5 3.1 1.6 7.6% 13.6% .298 76 132 -0.5 Carl Willis Players are listed with their most recent teams wherever possible. This includes players who are unsigned, players who will miss 2022 due to injury, and players who were released in 2021. So yes, if you see Joe Schmoe, who quit baseball back in August to form a big band orchestra that only plays nu-metal versions of baroque cantatas, he’s still listed here intentionally. ZiPS is assuming a league with an ERA of 4.36, similar to the post-June substance-enforcement environment. 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 that appear in the 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. ZiPS is assuming that the designated hitter will continue in force in 2022. ZiPS is agnostic about future playing time by design. For more information about ZiPS, please refer to this article, or get angry at Dan on Twitter.