Bold Predictions for the 2015 Season

[BestGameEvah]

Replace Hamels with Price and this is shockingly accurate. Like, in a way where I'm not sure I've ever seen anyone so precisely predict the fortunes of 3 teams in Spring Training.

And imagine, the Jays have three guys with 35 HRs and 100 rbis.
Kansas City have none.

 

[glennhoffmania]

-ARod hits 30 homers and comes out of the closet
 

 
Nailed it.

 

[DJnVa]

Bryce Harper GOES OFF and wins the NL MVP with something like .290/.380/.520, with over 40 dingers. He'll also catch grief for "not hustling" or something because he stops at second base instead of going for a triple because the double gave him the cycle.
 
Betts makes the All Star team, and Xander hits 20 HRs.
 
Someone hits 4 HRs in a game--I'll go with Rizzo. Anthony Rendon goes all Mark Whiten and has something like 12 ribbies in a game.
 
Dee Gordon hits 3 triples in a game.
 
Lester pitches well, but goes 15-12.
 
Wade Miley wins 17+ games for Boston and starts game 1 of the playoffs.

 
 
So let's see:
 
1--I undersold Bryce Harper. He's more like .340/.470/.660. Wow. He did go for 40+ dingers though.
 
2--Betts did not make the AS team, although there was a chance. Xander didn't bring the power I was hoping for, but still a fantastic season for him.
 
3--Complete whiff (so far!) on someone hitting 4 bombs and someone getting 12 ribbies in a game.
 
4--Also a whiff so far on Gordon and 3 triples.
 
5--Lester has pitched well, but his record doesn't reflect it, which is what I was going for.
 
6--Missed on Miley and the postseason for Sox.

 

[pokey_reese]

 
Cy Young winners: Garrett Richards and Jake Arrieta

Wow Snod, not sure if this comes to pass, but it sure looks prescient regardless of what Kershaw/Greinke do

 

[glennhoffmania]

 

 
1--I undersold Bryce Harper. He's more like .340/.470/.660. Wow. He did go for 40+ dingers though.
 

 
And he still won't win the MVP because the rest of him team sucked for the most part.
 
Actually I'm not sure there's a worthy candidate on a playoff team so maybe he'll win it like ARod in Texas.

 

[semsox]

 
And he still won't win the MVP because the rest of him team sucked for the most part.
 
Actually I'm not sure there's a worthy candidate on a playoff team so maybe he'll win it like ARod in Texas.

 
Harper has NL MVP locked up I think. AL MVP on the other hand is a toss-up

 

[pokey_reese]

 
So let's see:
 
1--I undersold Bryce Harper. He's more like .340/.470/.660. Wow. He did go for 40+ dingers though.
 

To be fair, Harper is having the best offensive season by a player who isn't Barry Bonds/Mark McGwire in our lifetime, and very likely the best 'clean' offensive season since... 1957 Ted Williams/Mickey Mantle? I'm not even kidding, if he finishes out the season at his current pace, the only non-Bonds guys since then to touch him on wRC+ were 1994 Jeff Bagwell/Frank Thomas. I don't want to restart a steroids debate, but as it stands now, even including all of the possible "cheater" seasons, Bryce Harper's season offensively is #26 in the past 100 years. If you look at the list he is in the middle of, it is all Ruth, Williams, Bonds, Mantle, Hornsby, and Gehrig.
 
I feel like not enough attention is being paid to this story line.

 

[Snodgrass'Muff]

Wow Snod, not sure if this comes to pass, but it sure looks prescient regardless of what Kershaw/Greinke do

 
What's funny is he's basically had the same year he had last year with a little more luck, so I'm not sure how bold that prediction really was.
 
Not quite so close on Richards, though. He had a solid season, but not what I was hoping for. As for the rest of my predictions... yikes. The only other thing I came even remotely close on was Kris Bryant having a monster season. And again, that's not really so bold...
 
In short, I suck at this game.
 

The Yankees will make the playoffs and lose to the Red Sox in the Wild Card play-in game when Sonny Gray, who was traded for at the deadline (for a package including Swihart), throws 8 scoreless innings and new closer, Matt Barnes does his best Papelbon (circa 2008) impression to mow down the heart of the Yankees order in the 9th.
 
The Red Sox lose in the divisional round to the eventual World Series Champions, the Chicago White Sox.
 
The Atlanta Braves look like geniuses when they beat the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL play-in game.
 
MVP's: Mike Napoli and Kris Bryant
 
Cy Young winners: Garrett Richards and Jake Arrieta
 
The Dodgers will miss the playoffs.

 

[EvilEmpire]

Replace Hamels with Price and this is shockingly accurate. Like, in a way where I'm not sure I've ever seen anyone so precisely predict the fortunes of 3 teams in Spring Training.

Thanks. Totally forgot about this thread.

 

[Section15Box113]

Not sure where this tidbit should live, so leaving it here.
 
With the Cardinals falling to the Cubs, it is official:
No team that has won the World Series in the two decades since the 1994 strike is still in the playoffs.
 
Champions during that 20-year span:
 
Yankees (5)
Red Sox (3)
Giants (3)
Cardinals (2)
Marlins (2)
Braves (1)
Diamondbacks (1)
Angels (1)
White Sox (1)
Phillies (1)

 

[Wingack]

 
The Strasburg Rule is now renamed The Harvey Rule: Despite losing Wheeler, the Mets still make the playoffs but they shutdown Matt Harvey in September anyway because they don't want him to pitch . 
 
The Detroit Tigers finish way under .500 and trade David Price to the Marlins at the trading deadline. 
 
 

 
Just wanted to highlight a couple of predictions that were correct and partially correct.