Thursday is opening day! Figured I better get bad predictions up again so I can make fun of myself in October.
AL East - Yankees
AL Central - Indians
AL West - Astros
Wildcard 1 - Red Sox
Wildcard 2 - Twins
Best Record in the AL - Astros
ALCS - Astros over Indians
NL East - Nats
NL Central - Cubs
NL West - Dodgers
Wildcard 1 Cardinals
Wildcard 2 Rockies
Best Record in the NL - Nats
NLCS - Dodgers over Nats
World Series - Dodgers over Astros (7 games) This was my prediction last year and I was soooo close. Not hard to imagine these two going at it again.
Like most years I'm sure a team will come out of the woodwork and be better than expected. Hard to imagine a scenario in which the Nats, Cubs and Dodgers don't make the playoffs. Same holds true with the Astros in the AL. The NL Wildcards seems like a fun race. I'm not confident in either of my picks.
AL MVP - Mike Trout
NL MVP - Bryce Harper
AL Cy Young - Chris Sale
NL Cy Young - Clayton Kershaw
AL ROY - Austin Hays
NL ROY - Ronald Ocuna
Lots of potentially good NL rookies this year. Have no idea in the AL as the best guys don't have as clear of a path. Could have picked Ohtani, but decided to find a darkhorse.
Ohtani really is the wild card - his early returns in Spring Training have not been promising. He's definitely going to be the focus of a lot of articles early on. If he can figure out either pitching *or* hitting in MLB, the Angels will be in really good shape.
ReplyDeleteI want Trout to make the playoffs. Ohtani needs to be really good in order to make that happen. The lineup is going to be much better with Upton and Cozart.
DeleteYeah and even Kinsler at 2b is an upgrade. It's a pretty good team on paper, pitching will be the key in a tough division.
DeleteThey actually have good pitchers on that team, but they have the collective health of a 90 year old.
DeleteI like the Wild Card race in the NL... Cardinals and Rockies are solid picks, but I could see the Brewers, Giants, and Dbacks making some noise, too. There's been a lot of talk around the Phillies, but I think they're a couple of years out from really giving it a go.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to pick the Brewers, but that starting rotation just doesn't look like a playoff team. With that being said the Twins made it with their dumpster fire of a rotation. NL Central is a good bit better than the AL Central though.
DeleteCan't argue with your division/WC picks. Like Tom, I see the Brewers and Giants making a run. And I just have a bad feeling that the Yankees are going to win it all this year. There are better teams on paper, but you know it never shakes out that way.
ReplyDeleteIf the Giants can keep their head above water while Bumgarner and Samardzija come back from injury than I would be a believer. The Dodgers are so freaking good that it doesn't take long to get buried in that division.
DeleteI've got the Dodgers over the Astros as well... although I keep looking at the Astros rotation and thinking damn there's a lot of talent in Houston.
ReplyDeleteThe Astros are legit. They just don't have many holes right now.
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