Featuring Colin Hecht, Matt Sieczkiewicz, & Trevor Utley
0 Comments
By Trevor Utley Since yesterday's technological mishap, I've become incredibly paranoid about writing this piece again. In fact, this is being typed in a word document and also being transferred onto a NotePad. The computer NotePad not pen and paper, yet some of you know my affinity for writing every inane detail down. To avoid the near psychological break I underwent yesterday, I am just going to combine all five articles into little blurbs and be done with it. Opening Day's already come and gone so you already know who's down what and where with the four teams left. I've already been proven way off base with some of my other 26 previews. Without further adieu, or catastrophic mental meltdown, the top four of 30 Teams In Under 30 Days as well as our picks for the 2015 MLB awards, pennants, and World Series champions. #4- Los Angeles Dodgers: My beloved boys in blue are the class of the NL West. They'll win the division going away and showed yesterday that they have a pretty damn resilient team even with that pesky Matt Kemp going all ghost of Christmas past on them. I swear to you I had Jimmy Rollins listed as an All-Star before that three run home run gave me a chub in the middle of my weeping. In the end, how far the Dodgers will advance will depend on whether or not old #22 can stop being #2 come postseason. LAST YEAR'S RANKING: #3 (DOWN 1) PREDICTED RECORD: 94-68 PREDICTED ALL-STAR REPS: Clayton Kershaw (starting pitcher), Zack Greinke (starting pitcher), Adrian Gonzalez (first baseman), Jimmy Rollins (shortstop), Yasiel Puig (outfielder) #3- Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim: They may have lost on Opening Day, but it was to King Felix so don't read too much into it. The Angels flipped the switch in the middle of last year and I think it will have a carry-over effect into 2015. Mike Trout will probably finish Top 3 on the AL MVP ballot for the next ten years barring a contraction of Ebola or a fling with a Kardashian. Garrett Richards will be even better than last year when he recovers from surgery. It is World Series or bust this year. Scroll down to see if I busted them or not. LAST YEAR'S RANKING: #9 (UP 6) PREDICTED RECORD: 95-77 PREDICTED ALL-STAR REPS: Mike Trout (outfielder), Garrett Richards (starting pitcher), Albert Pujols (first baseman), Huston Street (relief pitcher) #2- Baltimore Orioles: We all slept on the Orioles last year and all ended up looking like fools. If I am going to look like a fool, I'd rather it be because I overrated a team rather than underestimating them. The Orioles have already started their baseball bashing ways and none of yesterday's three homers even came from Chris Davis or Adam Jones. There is a good chance when you drafted your fantasy baseball team, you bypassed every Oriole outside of the aforementioned duo or Manny Machado. The Orioles will be living the real life fantasy though as they cruise to the division title once again. LAST YEAR'S RANKING: #19 (UP 17) PREDICTED RECORD: 95-77 PREDICTED ALL-STAR REPS: Adam Jones (outfielder), Travis Snider (outfielder), Zach Britton (relief pitcher) #1- Washington Nationals: By process of elimination you knew this was going to be Washington. Everybody picked Washington. Why should my dumb ass be any different? They have an All-Star team for a starting rotation. They have a dynamic lineup. They also trotted out Dan Uggla as their Opening Day second baseman. The Giants had Dan Uggla on their team last season. The Nationals are winning the World Series. LAST YEAR'S RANKING: #6 (UP 5) PREDICTED RECORD: 98-64 PREDICTED ALL-STAR REPS: Max Scherzer & Stephen Strasburg & Jordan ZImmermann & Doug Fister (starting pitchers), Bryce Harper (outfielder), Ian Desmond (shortstop) 2015 BLEEDING YOUR COLORS AWARD WINNERS AND PENNANT SELECTIONSThanks to all that came along for another journey through the 30 Major League teams in under 30 days time. Special thanks to Josh Souza, Colin Hecht (even though he picked an ineligible ROY in Mookie Betts), Matt Sieczkiewicz, Andrew daSilva, and Andrew Sanford (who picked Joe Kelly for all he could) for making picks. Give those fine gentlemen a follow on Twitter. Check back throughout the 2015 Major League Baseball season for more from me, and hopefully others, here on Bleeding Your Colors. PLAY BALL! Image Credits: All team logos (sportslogos.net); Trout, Kelly, Hernandez, Kershaw, Cueto, Puig, Stanton, McCutchen, Kluber, Soler, Bryant, Lindor, Betts, Sanchez, Harper, Scherzer (espn.com); Souza Jr. (statliners.com); Rodon (southsideshowdown.com); Francona (hardballtalk.nbcsports.com); Gibbons (jaysjournal.com); McClendon (seattlepi.com); Maddon (thebiglead.com); Williams (pixshark.com) By Trevor Utley The 2014 Reds were a disappointing bunch. They finished with the fifth worst record in the National League after two consecutive 90+ win seasons. They never could seem to be at full strength and even when their stars were aligned, they were rather dim. GM Walt Jocketty didn't do much this offseason to help reinforce a team that is showing a tendency to be injury prone. 2015 has the chance to be really good if the big money players output big money play. If not, they won't be more than mediocre in a top heavy National League. As you can see by their placement here on 30 Teams In Under 30 Days, I'm leaning towards the latter option. It seems ages ago since first baseman Joey Votto was National League MVP. Hell, it feels like more than a year since Votto played the full 162 and led the Senior Circuit in walks, OBP, and plate appearances. Votto missed 100 games in 2014 and when on the diamond was a shell of his All-Star self. If the Canadian clubber is truly 100%, the middle of the Reds order becomes one of the most fearsome in the National League. This is the last year Votto is reasonably affordable, his salary jumps from $14 million to $20 million next year, $22 million in 2017, and $25 million until 2023. If last year was the sign of aging rather than an anomaly, the Reds will have a giant albatross of a contract on their hands. Another high paid Red coming off a down season is second baseman Brandon Phillips. After eight straight seasons of 17 or more home runs, injuries limited Phillips to just 8 dingers. He also registered Cincinnati career lows in RBIs, OBP, and slugging percentage. Now that Cincinnati has stopped trying to trade him, Phillips must prove his worth to the club. At 33, it is possible that Phillips is in decline. Just do yourself a favor and don't tell him that. The other side of the infield stayed relatively healthy in 2014. Shortstop Zack Cozart continued to improve defensively, but his offense fell off a cliff. At the hot corner, Todd Frazier settled in to third base full time, even though he got some starts at first with Votto out. He responded with career highs in home runs (29) and RBI (80) in garnering his first All-Star appearance. Votto's return will give Frazier more positional stability and a good chance to improve on his tremendous 2014. The other Reds position player to make the All-Star team last season was catcher Devin Mesoraco. The 26 year old Mesoraco's season was (broken record alert) hindered by reoccurring hamstring issues. He still was able to hit 25 home runs and tie Frazier for the team lead with 80 RBI in just 114 games. His new 4 year, $28 million dollar extension will be a bargain if he can replicate even those shortened season numbers on a yearly basis. The outfield is the most volatile property the Reds have. Billy Hamilton stole an impressive 56 bases his rookie season. That number could have been even better if not for just a .250 batting average and being caught stealing a Major League high 23 times. If the sophomore slump can be avoided, Hamilton will be looking to break triple digits in thefts. That feat hasn't been done in the Majors since Vince Coleman in 1987. Jay Bruce is once again in right field. After his best season as a pro in 2013, Bruce hit the first real roadblock in his career. He failed to hit 20 home runs for the first time and posted his first ever sub-.300 OBP. He's been in the Cincinnati outfield for a while so it is easy to forget he is just 27. Second year manager Bryan Price is hoping the only thing Bruce forgets is his 2014. Completing the trio in left field is offseason pickup Marlon Byrd. Acquired from the Phillies for a minor leaguer, Byrd continues his late career renaissance. The only troubling statistic is that Byrd struck out 185 times in 2014, far and away his worst tally ever. The Great American Ball Park can only help his recent home run hitting ways and whatever he puts forth is an upgrade over last year's left field production. He just cannot challenge for the dubious strikeout crown again. The starting rotation is Johnny Cueto and then a handful of question marks. Cueto has been stellar his last two complete seasons. He went 20-9 with a 2.25 ERA and 0.96 WHIP last year and finished second to NL MVP Clayton Kershaw in the NL Cy Young voting. He's in a contract year in 2015 so expect him to try to even best those figures. If the Reds slip out of contention this summer though, expect his work to be done elsewhere. The temporary #2, a spot that will be occupied by Homer Bailey when he returns from injury, is Mike Leake. Leake is a solid middle of the rotation type guy. His stuff doesn't blow you away but he gets outs, eats innings, and at the end of the year will have made 30+ starts. If Homer Bailey's DL stint lasts more than two weeks, Leake may struggle as the second starter. If not, I think he'll have another run of the mill Mike Leake season. Anthony DeSclafani is currently tabbed as the team's third starter. Coming over from Miami in the Mat Latos trade, DeSclafani possesses strikeout stuff but also has displayed control issues in Spring Training. His proclivity for giving up the long ball has reared its ugly head this spring as well. With options left, he may get some more Minor League seasoning to make way for Bailey. If DeSclafani is kept up, the man most likely to be sent down to clear a roster spot for Bailey is fourth starter Raisel Iglesias. The Cuban defector (whose birthday is TODAY) is a converted reliever but has an impressive yet not overpowering arsenal. The fifth starter is slated to be journeyman Jason Marquis. The Reds will be his ninth team and he'll be looking to stay in the Majors in 2015 after a lost 2014 in Philadelphia's farm system. Like the rotation is Johnny Cueto and question marks, the bullpen is the same with Aroldis Chapman at closer. The fireballing Cuban responded well after a scary Spring Training comebacker stole his first month. He posted his third consecutive 30+ save season and made his third straight All-Star team. However, getting to Chapman was a hard ask. Even with Chapman's 2.00 ERA in tow, the Reds bullpen had the second worst ERA in the NL at 4.11 and the lowest win total with 11. They stank even with the lowest workload (422 1/3 innings) in the Majors. They are hoping adding Tony Cingrani to the mix will help the cause. They also seem to be willing to use the aforementioned Iglesias in a more familiar relief role if he flounders in the rotation. Either way, the Reds are going to be hoping for another season of deep inning starts from their starting staff to avoid having to use wild cards like Sam Lecure, Kevin Gregg, JJ Hoover, and Sean Marshall. The Reds biggest problem is a lack of depth. They showed it last year and Walt Jocketty did little to address it. If God forbid Votto goes down again or they decide to trade Cueto earlier than the deadline, the Reds will not be able to plug the holes. If you are looking to make a buck betting an over/under this season, take the Reds over 77 1/2 (via Bovada). Just be prepared to sweat it out. LAST YEAR'S RANKING: #10 (DOWN 9) PREDICTED RECORD: 79-83 PREDICTED ALL-STAR REP: Devin Mesoraco (catcher) Trevor Utley is hoping to see the Reds live at the GAB this season. Image Credit: Reds logo (sportslogos.net) By Trevor Utley Before I go any further let me shine some light on how the rest of this countdown is going to go. By no means is my number one team my pick to win the World Series (or is it?); it is just the division winner that I feel will have the best record at the conclusion of the 2014 season. Teams 9 & 10 are my selections as the second Wild Card in each league. Teams 7 & 8 are the first Wild Cards. With that out in the open, let us begin with my playoff teams! The Reds were at this same position last year. After their loss in the Wild Card game to Pittsburgh, the Reds made one big change. They relieved manager Dusty Baker of his duties after three playoff appearances in five years. It just so happened that in each trip to the postseason the Reds were bounced in their first series (or one game). Reds brass seemed to think a change at the top would be just what they needed to finally break through to the Championship Series and beyond. The Reds also made some big changes on the field. They conceded early in the Shin-Soo Choo sweepstakes as the talented Korean left for Texas. The other big loss was righty Bronson Arroyo who departed for Arizona. Though not always top flight, Arroyo was as steady as they come pitching 199 or more innings the past nine seasons. The Reds, unlike many of the teams below them on this countdown, have superb young replacements for these departures. Choo is likely to be replaced in centerfield and leading off by Billy Hamilton, the record holder for most stolen bases in a minor league season. Hamilton showed those skills off in his brief MLB debut last year by stealing 13 bases in 13 games (and only 19 at-bats). Hamilton also made a seamless transition from his original position of shortstop to centerfield during 2013. Arroyo's replacement in the rotation will most likely be 24 year old Tony Cingrani, who made 18 starts for the Reds a season ago. The hard throwing left-hander struck out over 10 per 9 innings and if he can keep his walks down could further ascend up the rotation. The middle of the lineup is still intact with former MVP Joey Votto, Jay Bruce, and Brandon Phillips. The latter two knocked in over 100 runs while the former hit .305 and played all 162 games. Former Little League World Series hero Todd Frazier and Zack Cozart man the left side of the infield, both hitting double digit home runs in 2013. The Reds rotation may not have a superstar amongst its ranks but you may be hard pressed to find a 1-5 in the Majors as talented as it. Nobody had an ERA over 3.50 in 2013 and enter 2014 looking to repeat that production. What may hurt the Reds going forward though is going to be something that hurt to watch. I came up with this list before the events of Wednesday but losing a player, nevermind your closer, the caliber of Aroldis Chapman would damage any team's title hopes. I think the Reds can persevere while the Cuban fireballer recovers because of the other parts they have in their pen. Jonathan Broxton had success before closing in Los Angeles. Sean Marshall has limited experience as well as a fill-in. J.J. Hoover and Sam LeCure are also in the mix having both been granted save opportunities when Chapman needed a day off. All in all, the Reds are too talented to not make the postseason in 2014. Injuries always happen and it may be a blessing in disguise to Cincinnati that their big blow happened now (and is not season ending) and not in August or September. PREDICTED RECORD: 90-72 PREDICTED ALL-STAR REPS: Brandon Phillips, second baseman; Joey Votto, first baseman; Mat Latos, starting pitcher Image Credit: Reds logo (sportslogos.net) |
OPPOSITE FIELD
|