Sunday, June 1, 2014

Predictions for the National League

   So, I am quite a bit late on making this post, but I am going to make predictions about the National League nonetheless, and I will use the thought process I had thought of before the season started. Here are my predictions for the NL East, NL Central and NL West.

NL East: The Nationals should lock this division up, but anything can happen.

Washington National (92-70): The Nationals won the division back in 2012, which was a bit surprising, but failed to live up to expectations in 2013. They have what should be one of the best, if not the best rotation in baseball. Doug Fister, Gio Gonzalez, Stephen Strasburg and Jordan Zimmerman should form an overpowering quartet, and the offense the Nationals should receive should provide plenty of run support for the rotation. The bullpen is decent as well.

Atlanta Braves (88-74): The Braves probably would have been poised to repeat their success from last year, but with injuries to Brandon Beachy and Kris Medlen, that now seems doubtful despite the signing of Ervin Santana. The offense does feature one of the games best first basemen in Freddie Freeman, and a powerful and athletic outfielder in Justin Upton, Chris Johnson is underrated, and Adrelton Simmons is a defensive wiz at short. The bullpen will dominate as always. I don't expect another division crown, but with the young talent of the Braves, anything is possible.

Miami Marlins (83-79): This prediction may seem far fetched, but the Marlins might have one of the most underrated yet best outfields in baseball, and they have brought veterans in to fill holes on their team. The bullpen should be good enough to keep them in games, and the starting rotation is full of young stars headlined by Jose Fernandez, and if everything goes well, this team could exceed many people's expectations, if there is a team that can pull an upset in the NL East, this is the one.

Philadelphia Phillies (80-82): Not much to be said, high payroll of under performing veterans with questions in the bullpen and rotation beyond Cliff Lee. The A.J. Burnett signing was a good move, but Cole Hammels is on the DL, and the team cannot afford anymore health issues. Plus, the team is banking on Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins, and Chase Utley to return to All-Star caliber players. Additionally, the team is counting on Dominic Brown to repeat his early 2013 success. Good luck with all of that.

New York Mets (73-89): David Wright seems to be on the DL every year, Bartolo Colon is 40, Curtis Granderson is coming off of injury, Matt Harvey is probably not going to pitch in 2014 and the bullpen and starting rotation honestly has a ton of question marks. This is not the year the Mets are going to turn it around.


NL Central: Pretty tough division to predict here.

St. Louis Cardinals (95-67): The team has a good rotation, headlined by Adam Wainwright, Michael Wacha and company, a bullpen that always seems to perform and an offense that knows how to perform with the likes of Matt Holiday, Johnny Peralta and Matt Adams in it. They should repeat their 2013 success.

Cincinnati Reds (88-74): They lost Choo, but they have one of the better rotations in baseball when healthy, one of the most disciplined hitters in the game in the form of Joey Votto, and they still have a formidable offense with stars like Jay Bruce in the lineup. The bullpen is solid as well, so the team should compete and could potentially get into the playoffs via the Wild Card.

Pittsburgh Pirates (84-78): The Pirates have an outstanding bullpen and offensive stars such as Andrew McCutchen and Starling Marte, and the rotation should at least be decent with Gerrit Cole and veteran Wandy Rodriguez, but I do not quite buy the success they achieved last year, Francisco Lariano is a candidate to regress to being mediocre, and that makes the rotation questionable with a decent offense. They'll take a step back, but not a major one.

Milwaukee Brewers (80-84): This team should improve with Matt Garza in the fold, Kyle Loshe is consistent, and the offense should be good with Carlos Gomez, Jean Segura, Aramis Ramirez, an underrated catcher in Jonathan Lucroy and perhaps Ryan Braun if he can put his recent issues behind him. The bullpen should be at least average, but this group faces tough competition and has a ways to go before challenging for the division crown.

Chicago Cubs (68-94): Poor Cubs, they still look to be a ways from contention, but Jeff Samardzija is one of the better pichers in baseball and perhaps Jason Hammel will be productive, but the bullpen has many holes and the offense may be decent with Anthony Rizzo and perhaps Mike Olt, but this team is just not good enough to compete. The future does look bright for the franchise though.


NL West: Dodgers should win this no problem, but this is baseball, and the Diamondbacks and Giants should challenge them.

Los Angeles Dodgers (94-68): They had a late season surge in 2013, but they should be more consistent this season and should have no trouble winning the division. The offense is solid all the way around, the rotation with Clayton Kershaw, Ryu and Grienke will be the strenghth of the club, plus there is veteran Josh Beckett. The bullpen knows how to pitch, and hey money can fix any of the problems they encounter, I suppose.

Arizona Diamondbacks (88-74): They made many trades in the offseason to strengthen the club, Bronson Arroyo was added as a free agent to solidify the rotation at the backend, the bullpen is always serviceable, and Paul Goldschmidt is a major threat. The Dodgers cannot take this team lightly.    


San Francisco Giants (81-81): The Giants should be improved this season, they have great pitching, and have added veteran Tim Hudson. They also signed a power threat in Michael Morse. This team is going to rely on its pitching, but that should not be a concern with a stellar bullpen and starting rotation. The issue will be the streaky offense, but this team has recently been an every other year team, so by that logic, they could exceed expectations and my prediction above.

Colorado Rockies (78-84): The Rockies have one of the most potent offenses in the game if it can stay healthy, as it contains superstars Troy Tulowitski and Carlos Gonzalez and some potentially upcoming stars in Wilin Rosario and they have added veteran Justin Morneau. However, the starting staff and bullpen is nothing special, and the team will have to depend on its offense if it wants to compete.

San Diego Padres (74-88): The Padres have a good bullpen, and an underrated starting pitcher in Andrew Cashner, but in order to compete, the Padres will need Chase Headley to replicate his 2012 success and will need a number of other factors to go right, otherwise a last place finish for this team is inevitable.  



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