We do not pretend to know what
ZiPS projections are, but a lot of guys who
do understand baseball stats think they're a pretty good measure of how players will perform. We
think ZiPS projections are something like WAR values—which we
kind of understand—but not really. In fact, these guys might as well be speaking
Shyriiwook (the language of Wookies) for all the sense it makes to us. Anyway, the highly esteemed website
FanGraphs.com has laid out the 2016 ZiPS projections for your Boston Red Sox. Not surprisingly, dual 23-year-olds
Mookie Betts and
Xander Bogaerts top the list—with
"zWAR" values of 5.4 and 3.0, respectively.
Dustin Pedroia (2.5),
David Ortiz (2.3) and
Jackie Bradley, Jr. (2.2) round out the top five position players. Among starting pitchers,
David Price leads the way with a
"zWAR" value of 4.9, followed by
Eduardo Rodriguez at 2.4,
Rick Porcello at 2.3,
Clay Buchholz at 2.0 and
Joe Kelly at 1.3. It all makes sense—in fact, it's exactly what your eyeballs would tell you. Our collective head hurts.
