So I do one of these about three times a year. Preseason, mid season, and right when the post season starts. It's always fun to compare what I thought at each stage too and see how close I was each time. The year the BoSox won it all, I actually predicted they would back at this point during the All Star break. Though they were doing pretty good so it wasn't like it was a shot in the dark.
This year during my Preseason prediction, I said the Angels and the Dodgers would be facing off. I said that last year too I believe.
The hardest thing right now though is being midseason, we have to make these predictions before all the big stuff starts going down. The big trades. When teams who are out of the race start trading off their players to teams who think they have a shot to win it all. That will be happening in the last stretch of the month, and teams that land guys like Cole Hamels, Johnny Cueto, or Johnathan Papelbon could have an increased shot of making the playoffs.
Right now though I have to simply make my guess based on what I know now and how teams are looking.
AL East: The Yankees currently lead it at 48-40. My prediction though is that the Baltimore Orioles end up getting hot in the second half, and take the division off of them in September after Masahiro Tanaka ends up running out of his cortisone shots and needs to get Tommy John surgery to fix his elbow. Tampa Bay and Toronto both fall out of it as well, however Boston after trading for Johnny Cueto, end up making huge run and end up making it as the second wildcard team with 86 wins, beating out the Yankees at 83 wins. Orioles win the division though at 92 wins.
AL Central: This one is tough because I really like the Tigers to come back in the second half, but the Royals are tough. Tigers are in the race with the Red Sox for that second wild card spot, but they don't get it in the end. The Minnesota Twins also miss the playoffs at 84 wins. Cleveland and the White Sox are nowhere near the race. Royals win the division with 98 wins, also giving them the best record in the American League.
AL West: Texas and Oakland are both out of it. Seattle comes on big in the second half, but they end up going 81-81. The Houston Astros are the first wild card seed with 95 wins, but the LA Angels end up finishing strong and winning the division at 97 wins.
AL Playoffs:
So the wild card game is going to be Red Sox vs Astros. In this one off game Johnny Cueto gets redemption from his last wild card game (Against the Pirates back in 2013) and gets the win against an Astros team that will surely be back in the postseason soon. In the divisional round we see Orioles facing the Angels. The Angels continue their hot streak and end up sweeping the poor Orioles in three games. Meanwhile the Royals face off against the Boston Red Sox, and the Red Sox pull off the huge upset beating the Royals in Game 5. In the championship series it is the Red Sox and the Angels, but the luck of the BoSox finally runs dry as the Angels win the series 4-2 to go onto their first World Series appearance since 2002.
NL East: This one is pretty easy. Braves, Marlins, and Phillies are all out of the race. So it's down to the Mets and the Nationals. The Mets win 83 games, but it's not enough to make the postseason and their run ends there. The Nationals go 102-60 and end up with the best record in all of baseball after Stephen Stratsburg returns to form with a really strong second half alongside CY Young winning pitcher Max Scherzer and NL MVP winner Bryce Harper.
NL Central: I have been saying that the Pirates are going to win this since the start of the season. I've predicting a bad second half for the Cardinals for the last month now, similar to what we saw with the Milawakuee Brewers last year who looked just as good but ended up missing the playoffs. But the Cardinals will do whatever they can to stop that from happening, and they go hard after Phillies' lefty Cole Hamels. But instead the Chicago Cubs land Hamels! This allows the Cubs who would have otherwise missed the postseason after a bad second half from the pitching side, to make the postseason as the second Wild Card team with an 86-76 record. They face off against none other than the rival St. Louis Cardinals with a 92-70 record. Of course this leaves the Pittsburgh Pirates who go strong after trading for a couple good bats to put in their already strong lineup, added on with Gregory Polanco having a much better second half. Their final record is 96-66.
NL West: Last and maybe least is the NL West. Since we have three postseason teams out of the NL Central, obviously there can only be one winner in the NL West, and there's going to be no surprises I say it will be the Los Angeles Dodgers. Thank god for the rest of the National League teams that the San Francisco Giants will not be making the playoffs, after finishing with 82 wins. The last three times they made the playoffs they won it all, but there is no need to worry because the clutch city of San Francisco won't get the chance. the other three teams in the division don't even come close. LA Dodgers win it at 94-68.
NL Playoffs:
So now the National League playoffs begin with a hugely hyped wildcard game between the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals. Cole Hamels vs Michael Wacha. Boy does St. Louis wish they had Wainwright right now. But they don't. However after a big night out of none other than young second baseman Kolten Wong, the St. Louis Cardinals take the wild card game against the Cubs to move onto the divisional round series against the tough Washington Nationals. Meanwhile we have the Pittsburgh Pirates facing off against the LA Dodgers in the divisional series. Clayton Kershaw goes up against the hugely hyped Gerrit Cole. The two aces go toe to toe, until Cole finally gives up a run in the seventh inning. Dodgers end up winning game one 2 runs to 1. We get a similar game right after with Grienkie and Liriano, but the Pirates win it in the 8th inning 4 run to 3. After that the Pirates take the cake with the Dodgers rotation and bullpen, and end up winning the series 3-1. Cardinals go up against the Nationals as the underdogs for once, and this series is a slobberknocker. But the Nats win it in Game 5 to move onto the Championship Series.
So it's Pirates now vs the Washington Nationals. Scherzer again dominates the Pirates in game one, but in Game 2 Stratsburg looks shaky once again, and the Pirates get the win to make the series 1-1. They beat Jordan Zimmerman and Gio Gonzalez, and are suddenly up 3-1 in the series against the dominant Nats. All they have to do is get through Doug Fister at home, but they fall apart and lose the game. So now they go to Washington for game 5 against Scherzer, and they lose that game as well. It comes down to whether or not the inconsistent Stratsburg can have a good game. Turns out it doesn't matter as the game comes down to the bullpen. Tied at 3 runs a piece for each team in the 10th inning, Drew Storen blows the save and the Pirates win the NLCS at 4-2 to move onto their first World Series since 1979.
2015 World Series:
It is the Pittsburgh Pirates facing off against the Los Angeles Angels. Everyone is on the Pittsburgh bandwagon after their huge win over the Washington Nationals who were thought by many donkeys to be unbeatable in the postseason. but don't realize it all comes down to bullpen and that's one thing the Nationals aren't as strong in. But the Angels could prove to be just as tough of a challenge for the Pirates. But Gerrit Cole ends up out dueling Jared Weaver in Game One for the Pirates win. Now the bandwagon for the Pirates is becoming a firehazard. Luckily for that, it won't be for much longer. Because the next two games result in Angels wins after a Tony Watson loss and an AJ Burnett loss. Things come crashing down as the Angels go on to win Game 4 to move to 3-1 in the series. For Game 5 Gerrit Cole gets bumped a start to pitch in a crucial game to keep the Pirates' season alive. Hector Santiago gives up a couple runs in the first 4 innings, but in the 6th, Cole falls apart and gives up a 3 run homer. The bullpen takes over but the Bucs can't come back as the LA Angels clinch the World Series victory to win it 4-2.
So what do you think is going to happen? You don't have to go all out like I did with each division and postseason results. Just say what team you think has the best shot of winning the World Series and why. Keep in mind I'm no ESPN expert, and my predictions are purely for fun. I often like to stretch situations out to the point where things get unrealistic, but like I said I do it to make it fun. So who do you think is the best team?
This year during my Preseason prediction, I said the Angels and the Dodgers would be facing off. I said that last year too I believe.
The hardest thing right now though is being midseason, we have to make these predictions before all the big stuff starts going down. The big trades. When teams who are out of the race start trading off their players to teams who think they have a shot to win it all. That will be happening in the last stretch of the month, and teams that land guys like Cole Hamels, Johnny Cueto, or Johnathan Papelbon could have an increased shot of making the playoffs.
Right now though I have to simply make my guess based on what I know now and how teams are looking.
AL East: The Yankees currently lead it at 48-40. My prediction though is that the Baltimore Orioles end up getting hot in the second half, and take the division off of them in September after Masahiro Tanaka ends up running out of his cortisone shots and needs to get Tommy John surgery to fix his elbow. Tampa Bay and Toronto both fall out of it as well, however Boston after trading for Johnny Cueto, end up making huge run and end up making it as the second wildcard team with 86 wins, beating out the Yankees at 83 wins. Orioles win the division though at 92 wins.
AL Central: This one is tough because I really like the Tigers to come back in the second half, but the Royals are tough. Tigers are in the race with the Red Sox for that second wild card spot, but they don't get it in the end. The Minnesota Twins also miss the playoffs at 84 wins. Cleveland and the White Sox are nowhere near the race. Royals win the division with 98 wins, also giving them the best record in the American League.
AL West: Texas and Oakland are both out of it. Seattle comes on big in the second half, but they end up going 81-81. The Houston Astros are the first wild card seed with 95 wins, but the LA Angels end up finishing strong and winning the division at 97 wins.
AL Playoffs:
So the wild card game is going to be Red Sox vs Astros. In this one off game Johnny Cueto gets redemption from his last wild card game (Against the Pirates back in 2013) and gets the win against an Astros team that will surely be back in the postseason soon. In the divisional round we see Orioles facing the Angels. The Angels continue their hot streak and end up sweeping the poor Orioles in three games. Meanwhile the Royals face off against the Boston Red Sox, and the Red Sox pull off the huge upset beating the Royals in Game 5. In the championship series it is the Red Sox and the Angels, but the luck of the BoSox finally runs dry as the Angels win the series 4-2 to go onto their first World Series appearance since 2002.
NL East: This one is pretty easy. Braves, Marlins, and Phillies are all out of the race. So it's down to the Mets and the Nationals. The Mets win 83 games, but it's not enough to make the postseason and their run ends there. The Nationals go 102-60 and end up with the best record in all of baseball after Stephen Stratsburg returns to form with a really strong second half alongside CY Young winning pitcher Max Scherzer and NL MVP winner Bryce Harper.
NL Central: I have been saying that the Pirates are going to win this since the start of the season. I've predicting a bad second half for the Cardinals for the last month now, similar to what we saw with the Milawakuee Brewers last year who looked just as good but ended up missing the playoffs. But the Cardinals will do whatever they can to stop that from happening, and they go hard after Phillies' lefty Cole Hamels. But instead the Chicago Cubs land Hamels! This allows the Cubs who would have otherwise missed the postseason after a bad second half from the pitching side, to make the postseason as the second Wild Card team with an 86-76 record. They face off against none other than the rival St. Louis Cardinals with a 92-70 record. Of course this leaves the Pittsburgh Pirates who go strong after trading for a couple good bats to put in their already strong lineup, added on with Gregory Polanco having a much better second half. Their final record is 96-66.
NL West: Last and maybe least is the NL West. Since we have three postseason teams out of the NL Central, obviously there can only be one winner in the NL West, and there's going to be no surprises I say it will be the Los Angeles Dodgers. Thank god for the rest of the National League teams that the San Francisco Giants will not be making the playoffs, after finishing with 82 wins. The last three times they made the playoffs they won it all, but there is no need to worry because the clutch city of San Francisco won't get the chance. the other three teams in the division don't even come close. LA Dodgers win it at 94-68.
NL Playoffs:
So now the National League playoffs begin with a hugely hyped wildcard game between the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals. Cole Hamels vs Michael Wacha. Boy does St. Louis wish they had Wainwright right now. But they don't. However after a big night out of none other than young second baseman Kolten Wong, the St. Louis Cardinals take the wild card game against the Cubs to move onto the divisional round series against the tough Washington Nationals. Meanwhile we have the Pittsburgh Pirates facing off against the LA Dodgers in the divisional series. Clayton Kershaw goes up against the hugely hyped Gerrit Cole. The two aces go toe to toe, until Cole finally gives up a run in the seventh inning. Dodgers end up winning game one 2 runs to 1. We get a similar game right after with Grienkie and Liriano, but the Pirates win it in the 8th inning 4 run to 3. After that the Pirates take the cake with the Dodgers rotation and bullpen, and end up winning the series 3-1. Cardinals go up against the Nationals as the underdogs for once, and this series is a slobberknocker. But the Nats win it in Game 5 to move onto the Championship Series.
So it's Pirates now vs the Washington Nationals. Scherzer again dominates the Pirates in game one, but in Game 2 Stratsburg looks shaky once again, and the Pirates get the win to make the series 1-1. They beat Jordan Zimmerman and Gio Gonzalez, and are suddenly up 3-1 in the series against the dominant Nats. All they have to do is get through Doug Fister at home, but they fall apart and lose the game. So now they go to Washington for game 5 against Scherzer, and they lose that game as well. It comes down to whether or not the inconsistent Stratsburg can have a good game. Turns out it doesn't matter as the game comes down to the bullpen. Tied at 3 runs a piece for each team in the 10th inning, Drew Storen blows the save and the Pirates win the NLCS at 4-2 to move onto their first World Series since 1979.
2015 World Series:
It is the Pittsburgh Pirates facing off against the Los Angeles Angels. Everyone is on the Pittsburgh bandwagon after their huge win over the Washington Nationals who were thought by many donkeys to be unbeatable in the postseason. but don't realize it all comes down to bullpen and that's one thing the Nationals aren't as strong in. But the Angels could prove to be just as tough of a challenge for the Pirates. But Gerrit Cole ends up out dueling Jared Weaver in Game One for the Pirates win. Now the bandwagon for the Pirates is becoming a firehazard. Luckily for that, it won't be for much longer. Because the next two games result in Angels wins after a Tony Watson loss and an AJ Burnett loss. Things come crashing down as the Angels go on to win Game 4 to move to 3-1 in the series. For Game 5 Gerrit Cole gets bumped a start to pitch in a crucial game to keep the Pirates' season alive. Hector Santiago gives up a couple runs in the first 4 innings, but in the 6th, Cole falls apart and gives up a 3 run homer. The bullpen takes over but the Bucs can't come back as the LA Angels clinch the World Series victory to win it 4-2.
So what do you think is going to happen? You don't have to go all out like I did with each division and postseason results. Just say what team you think has the best shot of winning the World Series and why. Keep in mind I'm no ESPN expert, and my predictions are purely for fun. I often like to stretch situations out to the point where things get unrealistic, but like I said I do it to make it fun. So who do you think is the best team?
