30) Colorado Rockies
When it comes to injuries it really doesn’t get any worse than the Colorado Rockies. They have so much talent and you could say they have two of the better players in the game in Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez. Colorado’s success this season is going to be based on the prospects that they stay healthy for an entire season, especially with Tulo, Gonzalez and Morneau in the middle of that line-up playing in Coors Field.
Aside from the injuries though the big problem has and will always be pitching. No one wants to pitch in Coors Field and they need that solid starter who will win 15-18 wins a season. Their last somewhat big time pitcher was Ubaldo Jimenez in 2010 and that’s not saying much.
Projected 2015 Lineup
CF Charlie Blackmon
3B Nolan Arenado
LF Carlos Gonzalez
SS Troy Tulowitzki
1B Justin Morneau
RF Corey Dickerson
C Wilin Rosario
2B DJ LeMahieu
Pitcher
Projected 2015 Rotation
SP Jorge De La Rosa
SP Tyler Matzek
SP Jordan Lyles
SP Jhoulys Chacin
SP Eddie Butler
RP Tommy Kahnle
RP John Axford
RP Boone Logan
SU Rex Brothers
SU Adam Ottavino
CL LaTroy Hawkins
29) Philadelphia Phillies
This place has gone down hill since the 3 consecutive years of making it to the League Championship series from 2008-2010. Philly’s currently built around the corpses of Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Grady Sizemore, Cliff Lee, Aaron Harang and Jonathan Papelbon. On the bright side though they do have some very good talent left on the 25-man roster with Domonic Brown, Freddy Galvis, Cody Asche and David Buchanan.
Losing Jimmy Rollins will definitely hurt them and who knows what is going to happen with Cole Hamels this season. Is he staying or will they trade him?
Projected 2015 Lineup
CF Ben Revere
RF Grady Sizemore
2B Chase Utley
1B Ryan Howard
LF Domonic Brown
C Carlos Ruiz
3B Cody Asche
SS Freddy Galvis
Pitcher
Projected 2015 Rotation
SP Cole Hamels
SP Cliff Lee
SP Aaron Harang
SP Jerome Williams
SP David Buchanan
RP Justin DeFratus
RP Cesar Jimenez
RP Phillippe Aumont
SU Jake Diekman
SU Ken Giles
CL Jonathan Papelbon
28) Texas Rangers
Another injury prone team that can cause some damage IF (and I do stress if) they can remain healthy. It will be interesting to see Yovani Gallardo making the switch from pitching in the NL to pitching in AL this season and we’ll see how Jake Smilinski will do this season in left field after only playing in 24 games last season.
Projected 2015 Lineup
RF Shin-Soo Choo
SS Elvis Andrus
1B Prince Fielder
3B Adrian Beltre
CF Leonys Martin
DH Mitch Moreland
LF Jake Smolinski
C Robinson Chirinos
2B Rougned Odor
Projected 2015 Rotation
SP Yu Darvish
SP Derek Holland
SP Colby Lewis
SP Yovani Gallardo
SP Ross Detwiler
RP Tanner Scheppers
RP Spencer Patton
RP Ramon Mendez
SU Kyuji Fujikawa
SU Shawn Tolleson
CL Neftali Feliz
27) Tampa Bay Rays
Tampa has made some big moves this off-season with trading Wil Myers, Ben Zobrist and Yunel Escobar. Adding Asdrubal Cabrera is certainly better than nothing but they still lack the power in the lineup ouside of Evan Longoria. The Rays do however have an incredible trio in their starting rotation with Cobb, Smiley and Archer. This pitching staff could be one of the better ones with a little bit of experience of pitching in the majors.
Projected 2015 Lineup
CF Desmond Jennings
SS Asdrubal Cabrera
3B Evan Longoria
1B James Loney
LF Steven Souza
2B Nick Franklin
RF Kevin Kiemaier
DH John Jaso
C Rene Rivera
Projected 2015 Rotation
SP Alex Cobb
SP Drew Smyly
SP Chris Archer
SP Jake Odorizzi
SP Alex Colome
RP Grant Balfour
RP Ernesto Frieri
RP Jeff Beliveau
SU Kevin Jepsen
SU Brad Boxberger
CL Jake McGee
26) Arizona Diamondbacks
The big question for the Diamondbacks this season is will Patrick Corbin be ready for the 2015 season? Losing this kid to Tommy John surgery hurt them pretty bad. The kid can be a stud.
With a healthy Trumbo to add power to the middle of the line is a plus for them. One thing they will have to worry about is that Cuban defector Yasmany Tomas adapting to the MLB playing level. Will he be able to produce a solid season like fellow Cuban Jose Abreu? This team has a ton of young talent and its the time to put it all together and see what they can do.
Projected 2015 Lineup
CF A.J. Pollock
LF David Peralta
1B Paul Goldschmidt
RF Mark Trumbo
3B Yasmany Tomas
2B Aaron Hill
SS Chris Owings
C Tuffy Gosewisch
Pitcher
Projected 2015 Rotation
SP Josh Collmenter
SP Jeremy Hellickson
SP Rubby De La Rosa
SP Trevor Cahill
SP Allen Webster
RP Oliver Perez
RP Daniel Hudson
RP Randell Delgado
RP Evan Marshall
SU Brad Ziegler
CL Addison Reed
I love the game because it’s so simple, yet it can be so complex. There’s a lot of layers to it, but they aren’t hard to peel back. -Ernie Harwell
