Word on the Street…Storck’s Fearless Baseball Prognostications

Daniel Storck, Staff Writer
May 2, 2016

Baseball is back! With Opening Day gone already, MLB teams are preparing for a season better than the last. Here are my picks for the upcoming year.

 

 

  • BUY the Chicago Cubs: Laugh in my face now, but the Cubbies have a strong young lineup this season. Racking up a 97-65 record last season, this may be the year that the 118-year World Series drought ends. Chicago added veterans Jason Heyward and Ben Zobrist to the rotation at no small expense ($240 million). Watch the Cubs to make a deep run.

 

 

 

  • BUY the Los Angeles Dodgers: Dodger Nation! They may have lost Zack Greinke, but pickups of Scott Kazmir and prodigy Kenta Maeda bolster the pitching staff. Don’t forget Andre Ethier, Yasiel Puig, and prospect Corey Seager. Prepare for an excellent season from the 6-time champs.

 

 

 

  • CAUTION with the Pittsburgh Pirates: 98 wins is no small feat. This record though, came with the help of consistent second basemen Neil Walker. He’s gone. J.A. Happ, who recorded a 7-2 record and a 1.85 ERA? Gone. Also, Jung Ho-Kang and Jared Hughes start on the DL. Pittsburgh will certainly be missing those players in series against the Reds and Cardinals.

 

 

 

  • CAUTION with the Kansas City Royals: Title winners, yeah? No shot this year. Projection systems put the Royals barely over .500, at 83-79. Plus, Jarrod Dyson and Tim Collins are on the DL for at least a month. Besides, there’s a lot of pressure to defend the title. A miracle run won’t save Kansas City this time.

 

 

 

  • STOP for the Seattle Mariners: Well, here we go, into the 39th year straight without a Seattle title. 76-86 last year was barely enough for 4th place, in an easy AL West Division (think: Astros, A’s, Rangers). It is also proven that King Felix is the unluckiest pitcher in baseball. 45 of his quality starts have been blown by his relievers, and on another 20 starts, he did not get a win.

 

 

 

  • STOP for the Milwaukee Brewers: Just AHHHH! The highest slugging percentage on this team in 2015 was .517 (congrats, Gerardo Parra). David Ortiz slugged at .765 last year. Just keep that in mind. Big Papi is better than the best of Milwaukee. P.S. the Brewers stole only 84 bases, 22nd in the league. They can stop teams from scoring runs, but they can’t score any.