Some reason for hope? ZIPs projections for the Indians

ZIPS is the projection system of Fangraphs, and it tells somewhat the same story that I did in my post a couple of days ago.

For offense, they seem pessimistic about Nick Swisher (at 2.5 WAR) and Lonnie Chisenhall (2.0). They aren’t calling them horrible players, but they are saying they’ll have significant holes in their games. It shows Chisenhall will have lousy patience and suggests that Swisher’s power is all but gone. I can’t help but think the system itself is a bit pessimistic — the only Indian with an above .350 OBP is Carlos Santana, which I find bizarre. (Swisher is no. 2 with a .344).

They are, unsurprisingly, even less sanguine about the pitching staff. In fact, they predict every single pitcher except Chris Perez and Vinnie Pestano will have league average or worse ERA+.

I think that this particular projection is a worst case scenario; I think the actual Indians will be better. They don’t have a record projected, but I’m confident that many of the players will exceed even these projections.

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