MLB season 2022 (cards, pitchers, coach, playoffs)

[illadelph73]

Spring training games started already so I will start the thread

Who will be favorites to win it all this year? Probably the Dodgers for me. I hope the Yankees make it past the wild card round/ALDS but I doubt it

Edit: Aw man wrong forum.. mods please move thanks in advance

[Bondurant]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nbc1Fs3Om-0


Eh, they look the same at first glance!

[case44]

Still mulling over my MLB season predictions which I'll have on here soon. And there are a lot of questions this year about how both eastern divisions will play out. How will each team's new acquisitions impact them? It'll also be interesting to watch the National League with a regular designated hitter in each game. That will take some getting used to as the season starts. I can see our posters discussing how the NL scoring is up by an average of a full run over last year. I can see that coming.

And we'll also have to get used to a new number one play-by-play guy on Fox as Joe Buck is no longer calling the games. It's going to be a fun year, but it sure will be different.

[illadelph73]

Sean Manaea has been traded from the Athletics to the Padres

[Returning2USA]

^ I've always liked Manaea.

[7express]

Alright, 7express season predictions. Only thing guaranteed is these are guaranteed to be awful in October! And also it's late so I'm not doing math to calculate whether the records equal 162 but I think they will be close enough since I have a bunch of records written down already so we'll probably be OK.

AL East:
1) Toronto 99-63
2) NY Yankees 92-70
3) Boston 89-73
4) Tampa 87-75
5) Baltimore 52-110.
The future is coming in Baltimore but it's not coming right now, so once again they'll get blasted in the division. After a while the advanced metrics and mixing and matching pitchers isn't going to work any longer in Florida, maybe this is the year?? I think Boston is in an OK spot, not sold on Trevor Story playing in LF and hitting outside of Coors but I think they'll be fine in the grand scheme of things. Yankees fixed the up the middle defense, but they are one major injury to Gerrit Cole away from becoming lot less of a force, and their bullpen isn't as deep this year with the Britton injury to carry them. Toronto to me looks like the best team in the division, and probably the AL in general. Aside from Robbie Ray, they have pretty much the same exact team in tact that won 91 games last year AND they just replaced Ray with Kevin Gausman and Kikuchi, and just for kicks traded for Matt Chapman of the A's. The back end of the bullpen is a question, same could be said for a lot of teams, one of which I'll get to in a minute, but they don't have the second highest playoff odds behind the Dodgers for a reason. This is gonna be a fun summer in Toronto.

AL Central:
1) White Sox 94-68
2) Royals 85-77
3) Tigers 82-80
4) Twins 78-84
5) Cleveland 67-95.
White Sox already had a bullpen question mark before the Kimbrel/Pollack trade, but at least the roles are defined, but this is a team that was playing short-handed most of 2021 and waltzed to the division. Yes, the division is better in 2022, but the White Sox are probably due for better health this time around then last campaign. Royals/Twins/Tigers will all be a dog fight. Both Twins and Tigers made some nice additions, but would have to improve by about 25 wins from last year to get into playoff consideration and that's a little big of a jump. Royals started well for the first 6 weeks or so last year and I think they can be in there for longer this year, but not enough to grab a wildcard, but enough for a 2nd place finish. Cleveland should enjoy Jose Ramirez while the city still has him.

AL West:
1) Astros 96-66
2) Angels 88-74
3) Mariners 83-79
4) Rangers 72-90
5) Oakland 67-95.
The full tear down in Oakland is underway. Manager Bob Melvin, starting pitchers Chris Basset, Sean Manaea, lineup regulars Matt Chapman, Matt Olson, Mark Canha, and deadline acquistion Starling Marte all left town replaced by prospects, and a first timer in the dugout in Mark Kotsay. Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, and Jon gray won't move the needle much in Arlington, only a move from last place to 2nd to last place. Mariners won't be nearly as lucky in 1 run games this year then they were last year and it remains to be seen whether Ray can repeat his success he had in Toronto in winning the Cy Young. It's time to get Mike Trout in the playoffs Angels! If he can stay healthy, they actually have a co-ace to pair with Ohtani in Syndergaard, and the 6 man rotation should keep everyone fresh for a stretch run. Until someone knocks them off the perch, the Astros are still the team to beat. Correa's out, but Justin Verlander should be back for a full season.

Playoffs:
Bye's: Toronto, Astros.
Wildcards: Yankees, Boston, Angels
First round: Angels 2-1 over the White Sox, Boston 2-1 over the Yankees
second round: Toronto 3-1 over Boston, Astros 3-0 over Angels
ALCS: Toronto over the Astros 4-2. I just feel home field plus the rotation gives an edge to the Blue Jays. Rogers Centre will be absolutely rocking in October. That's the best home field advantage in baseball.

NL West:
1) Dodgers 104-58
2) Padres 93-69
3) Giants 87-75
4) Rockies 80-82
5) D'Backs 72-90.
The Dodgers are playing for October, and they will be perfectly fine to get there. Fernando Tatis is out until probably the All Star Break, but unlike last year when the Pads collapsed with Jayce Tingler, that same thing won't happen with Melvin at the helm. Giants, like the Mariners, are probably due for less good luck then they had last season. German Marquez is an underrated pitcher, and I think Bryant will be good, but that's still a team that needs some help. No idea about the D'Backs.

NL Central:
1) Brewers 94-68
2) Cards 90-72
3) Cubs 77-85
4) Pirates 69-93
5) Reds 65-97
Reds, Pirates, and Cubs will be terrible. The Cards have roughly the same roster from last year that won 17 straight games in September, and took the Dodgers to the wire in the WC game. Only problem with that is if not for the 17 game September winning streak, the Cards aren't even in the playoffs as they were mediocre for 5 months. Brewers first seem like the safest placement: the rotation is great, they have 3 or even 4 potential cy young candidates in that rotation, and if the offense can get ANYTHING, there is no one catching the Brewers in the division.

NL East:
1) Braves 95-67
2) Phillies 86-76
3) Marlins 84-78
4) Mets 83-79
5) Nats 70-92.
I'm not sure of swapping Freddie Freeman for Matt Olson, but Olson is younger. Acuna should be back soon, with Mike Soroka back sometime in the summer. Phillies will have a great offense and a historically awful defense and bullpen. Can the offense score enough to mask the defensive problems, and the tire fire down in the bullpen?? Judging by my predicted records it doesn't look so. Marlins could be a surprise team with the additions of Jacob Stallings, Joey Wendle, Avasail garcia & Jorge Soler to the lineup, with Sandy Alcantera, and pablo Lopez taking steps forward in the rotation. At the very least a .500 record is within reach and possibly a playoff spot. Mets, well they will always Met. Who knows when we will see deGrom on the mound again, and remember he missed the entire second half of last season. As for the Nats Juan Soto is still in DC, so I guess that's good for them.
Playoffs:
Bye's: Dodgers, Braves
Wildcards: Padres, Cards, Giants
Wildcard round: Brewers 2-0 over the Giants, Padres 2-0 over the Cards
NLDS: Brewers 3-2 over the Braves, Dodgers 3-1 over the Padres
NLCS: Dodgers 4-1 over the Brewers. Brewers lack of offense will doom them.

World Series:
Dodgers over the Blue Jays 4-2. Too talented in LA.

[case44]

Here's a quick (kind of) look at my prognostications for the season to come....


AMERICAN LEAGUE

AL East: Toronto, Boston, Tampa Bay, New York Y, Baltimore
AL Central: Chicago WS, Kansas City, Minnesota, Cleveland, Detroit
AL West: Houston, Seattle, Los Angeles A, Texas, Oakland

NATIONAL LEAGUE

NL East: Atlanta, New York M, Philadelphia, Miami, Washington
NL Central: Milwaukee, St Louis, Chicago C, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh
NL West: Los Angeles D, San Francisco, San Diego, Arizona, Colorado

All-Star Game Winner (just for grins these days): National League

Wild Card Entries

AL: Boston, Tampa Bay, Kansas City
NL: New York M, St Louis, San Francisco

AL Pennant: Houston
NL Pennant: Atlanta

Your champion: The Houston Astros, who finally get Dusty Baker his World Series ring as a manager.

Quick hits: Yes, I know some of you are shocked at my not picking the Yankees for a postseason berth, but that division is just too good right now. In addition, don't count out an up-and-coming Kansas City Royals team. Bobby Witt, Jr is a heavy favorite for the AL Rookie of the Year. And I think that Zack Greinke has a little bit left in the tank, so KC is climbing up the charts with an improved lineup and farm system.

Both leagues are going to duke it out in the playoffs, and we'll all be adjusting to the new Wild Card format. I believe every series is going to be well-fought, and I think both of the LCSs will go 7 games. The Dodgers and Giants will be good again, but Atlanta will again be coming out to fight, even without Freddie Freeman. The Braves will prevail for the NL, and it will be a rematch of last year's Fall Classic after Houston beats Toronto in the ALCS in seven games.

So, there it is for now. We now await Opening Day!

[case44]

Notable win on Thursday if you're the Arizona Diamondbacks. That's because (1) a rookie hit a walk-off on Opening Day while trailing in the game, and (2) Seth Beer was that rookie. Not only that, but it happened on National Beer Day. You can't make this up.

[Mike from back east]

Watching the SF/SD game while eating dinner (lasagna, red wine, garlic bread). Cold in SF (49) and windy, people wearing hats, coats and gloves. Poor pitcher for SD (Darvish) gave up 6 runs in the bottom of the first inning as SF sent ten batters to the plate.

[7express]

Congrats to the Giants Alyssa Nakken, first female to coach on field in an MLB game. Giants first base coach got ejected, so Nakken was the replacement first base coach for the rest of the game. Hopefully the first of many on-field opportunities for Ms. Nakken!