So with the baseball season at the quarter pole, it's time to look back at my predictions of the year. Unfortunately, they are not very pretty. In fact, I must say that I have cursed almost all the players and teams that I picked to do well. Let's take a look at the teams first:
So far, only two of the six teams I picked to win their divisions are actually in first place (Dodgers and Phillies). In fact, my first place Cleveland Indians are resting comfortably in dead last in the AL Central right now. Some other misguided picks: Arizona winning 87 games (currently have a .385 Winning Percentage), Oakland A's winning 81 games (currently with a .389 Winning Percentage), Texas Rangers winning only 72 games (currently in first with a .605 Winning Percentage), and Toronto winning 70 games (but everyone missed that one). My lone bright spot: The entire NL East is currently in the order that I picked it. So there you have it, I am a National League Eastern Divison Expert!
Now here's where it gets even uglier- My individual awards picks. Let's review.
NL MVP- Chase Utley
This isn't so bad. Utley has actually fared very well so far this season. The former UCLA star is putting up a .282/.429/.565 line so far this season with 10 HR's and 26 RBI. One problem: Albert Pujols is even better. So Philly will probably need to win their division and Pujols will need to cool off or have his team completely fall out of the race for Utley to have a shot.
AL MVP- Grady Sizemore
Grady has been pretty bad this season. His line: A paltry .212/.292/.388. Yikes. Sizemore does have 7 HR and 25 RBI, and it is conceivable that he could get hot and finish around his career averages. The biggest problem will be the fact that his team is terrible.
NL Cy Young- Brandon Webb
Uh oh... Webb made one start going four innings before hurting his shoulder. He has yet to return. I'll keep this short and sweet- A Cy Young from him ain't happening this year.
AL Cy Young- Jon Lester
At least Lester has been healthy. Unfortunatlely, he has been ineffective. A 6.52 ERA, .311 BAA, and 1.62 WHIP are proof positive. He has also allowed a jaw-dropping 10 HR's in his 8 starts. Add 60 hits in only 47 innings and I think it's pretty clear that he isn't winning anything. Oh, and all those wins I said he would pick up because of the Sox offense? Ya, I was wrong again. So far Lester has only 2 wins, or 2 more than Brandon Webb!
NL Rookie of the Year- James McDonald
And the ineptitude continues. J-Mac has been awful for the Dodgers and now finds himself back in AAA. J-Mac's pitching line: 6.75 ERA, 16 BB's in 18.2 innings, a 1.77 WHIP(!!!). To McDonald's credit, he pitched well out of the bullpen after his demotion from the rotation and he should get a few more shots this season to prove me right.
AL Rookie of the Year- Matt Wieters
Wieters has yet to get the call this year because the Orioles are awful and they don't want to start his service time clock yet. However, once June rolls around, meaning he will no longer qualifiy as a Super-Two arbitration guy, he will probably get called up. He should put up some pretty impressive numbers, but the question is will it be enough? I'm gonna say no..
Some say making predictions is a fool's errand. I have one thing to say to that: Apparently so.
Who is leading the pack for NL ROY? Certainly not Maybin who was sent back down. Schafer hasn't been good (.217 avg). Zimmerman has been lit up. Gamel was just called up so we can't count him yet. Surely, I'm missing some guys.
ReplyDeleteI now like the matchups this weekend. I wonder if I misread them previously, or they changed.
Fri - Kershaw v. Weaver
ReplyDeleteSat - Wolf v. Lackey
Sun - Billingsley v. Palmer (30-year-old rookie is 5-0...due for his first L)
Answering my own question...maybe Gerrardo Parra of the D-Backs? Only 28 ABs, so too early to tell. It may even end up being someone brought up later in the season. Are the giants dumb enough to bring up Bumgarner?
ReplyDeleteThe Dodgers pushed Milton back so you probably saw the original pitching matchups without Bills nad with Milton. That's probably why you were worried haha.
ReplyDeleteYa I have no clue who the NL ROY is.. It's really an open race
As far as the picks go, who really cares? There is only one pick that matters and you nailed that one so well done.
ReplyDeleteNL Roy is pretty weak this year. I think Sandoval ended last season with like 15ish at bats too many to be considered this year otherwise he may be the guy. Colby Rasmus maybe if he gets some more at bats? Numbers arent great but not a whole lot to compete with.
my NL ROY is going to have to depend if he gets called up or not, but Tommy Hanson for the Braves is completely dominating triple a this year and I think its only a matter of time before he gets called up because the braves really only have 4 starting pitchers right now
ReplyDeleteYa the NL crop is pretty damn weak. There are some good prospects that haven't gotten called up yet. The problem is that no one is going to get a sizeable amount of at-bats to accumulate the counting stats that voters love (HR's RBI's etc.)
ReplyDeleteRasmus...thank you...I knew I was forgetting someone. And I agree that if Hanson is called up, he'd be one to watch for the award.
ReplyDelete