Winner of the NL East
Washington Nationals: Do the Nationals repeat and win the
division for a second year in a row? Yes. With a league leading 98 and 64
record, the Nationals looked impressive. There is reason to believe that this
team will not only replicate last season, but also get better. The Nats have a
young pitching staff that has shown improvements over the last couple years.
Jordan Zimmermann has watched a drop in both his ERA and WHIP in the last two
years. He has also seen an increase in strikeouts and innings logged. Gio Gonzalez
had an MVP type season this year after being dealt from the A’s. He won over
twenty games, struck out over 200 batters and held an ERA of under 3 and a WHIP
under 1.2. Ross Detwiler did not pitch great last season, but has good stuff
and will surely improve this upcoming season. Of course we cannot leave out the
electric Stephen Strasburg. In his first full season after tommy john surgery
in 2011, he boosted a 3.16 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 15 wins. It was recently released
that Strasburg will not have an innings limit this season! Look for him to be
better this season. Lets not forget about Washington’s offense, one that held
the NL rookie of the year last season. Bryce Harper posted a .270 average with
22 home runs, 18 stolen bases and 98 runs scored in just 139 games. Look for
him to improve throughout the season. Harper is surrounded by a plethora of
power bats, including Ryan Zimmerman, Michael Morse, Jason Werth and Adam
LaRoche (assuming he resigns with the Nats). With a group of talented
youngsters in the rotation and a blossoming youngster surrounded by a group of
slugging veterans, look for the Washington Nationals to recapture the NL East
and make a stronger push in the playoffs this season.
Winner of the NL
Central
Cincinnati Reds: The Reds will also repeat this season and
similarly to the Nationals, holds a quality young starting rotation. Last
season Cincinnati had two representatives in the NL Cy Young race. Johnny Cueto
became the ace of the team and Aroldis Chapman became the team’s shutdown
closer. Both will be part of the starting rotation this season. Along with a
combination of Mat Latos, Homer Bailey, Mike Leake and Bronson Arroyo, the Reds
will have a solid starting rotation. A lineup carrying sluggers Joey Votto and
Jay Bruce, as well as Brandon Phillips and newly acquired Shin Shoo Choo will
provide the necessary run support. And let’s not forget about Todd Frazier’s
rookie year, hitting .273 and blasting 19 home runs. He will be a key
contributor to the upcoming season. If the Reds can stay healthy, look for them
to take the division. However, I am not certain they can be successful in the
playoffs.
Winner of the NL West
San Francisco Giants: The San Francisco Giants also obtain a
young quality starting rotation. Seeing a trend here? The World Series
championship team has a starting rotation lead by former Cy Young winner Tim
Lincecum. However, last season Timmy was terrible! He boasted a 10 and 15
record with a 5.18 ERA in the regular season. He did show promise in the
playoffs pitching out of the bullpen, accumulating a 2.55 ERA and shutout the
Detroit Tigers in the World Series. I think it is safe to assume that Timmy
gets back to his old ways and leaps into the Cy Young conversation once again
this season. Madison Bumgarner continues to show consistency with an ERA just
above 3.00 and Matt Cain continues to get better. If Barry Zito and Ryan
Vogelsong could show similar consistency then the Giants will be able to make
another strong run at a title. A lineup filled with veterans and MVP candidate
Buster Posey should be enough to make any team fear. I expect the Giants to
take the division by storm and contend for another title.
Wild Card Berths
Pittsburgh Pirates: I know this may be a little bit of a
stretch and all must go according to plan, but I think the Pirates have what it
takes to sneak into the playoffs this upcoming season. If A.J. Burnett can
perform equivalent or better than last season and James McDonald can be
consistently good, the Pirates will have a strong front end of their rotation.
Jeff Locke now has some experience in the big leagues as should show
improvement. Wandy Rodriguez has the stuff to be a shutdown pitcher, but at
least Pittsburgh should receive a pitcher that can eat up innings and hold an
ERA around 4.00. I think the starting pitching will be good enough and their
bullpen will be solid even without Joel Hanrahan. It will come down to run
support. Andrew McCutchen can only score and drive in so many runs. A solid
season from guys like Neil Walker, Garrett Jones, Pedro Alvarez, Jose Tabata,
Travis Snider and Gaby Sanchez should be enough to provide adequate run
support. Offseason acquisition Russel Martin will provide veteran leadership
and some pop in the lineup. Young prospect Starling Marte now has big league
experience and should improve. I am surely not going all in on this ball club,
but they are moving in the right direction and have the pieces necessary to
make the playoffs.
LA Dodgers: I would be silly to think that that Dodgers are not a
playoff team, however I do not think buying a group of superstars and putting
them on the same team always works. There is no doubt that the LA Dodgers
arguably have the most talented team is baseball. With a pitching staff that
includes Clayton Kershaw, Chad Billingsley, Zack Greinke, Josh Beckett and Ted
Lilly and a lineup including Matt Kemp, Hanley Ramirez, Andre Ethier, Carl
Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez, one cannot argue about what this team looks like
on paper. However, I think the team’s clubhouse may struggle in the beginning
of the season and because of this, their record will suffer. I think this team
makes it into the playoffs and will be a force, but the team is bound to go
through some growing pains with all the egos clashing on the field and in the
clubhouse.
