Featuring Colin Hecht, Matt Sieczkiewicz, & Trevor Utley
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Featuring Colin Hecht, Matt Sieczkiewicz, & Trevor Utley
Featuring Colin Hecht, Greg Quattrochi, & Trevor Utley
Featuring Colin Hecht, Matt Bindner, Matt Sieczkiewicz, & Trevor Utley
Featuring Matt Bindner & Trevor Utley
Featuring Colin Hecht, Matt Sieczkiewicz, & Trevor Utley
By Trevor Utley featuring Josh Souza, Colin Hecht, Matt Sieczkiewicz, Andrew daSilva, & Andrew Sanford Before each baseball season myself and my friends would make our picks for the upcoming baseball season. This year we actually documented our selections on the site so that at the end of it all we could not only mock each other for such horrible prognosticating skills, but you the reader could do the same. So take a trip down memory lane with us and let's recap the sheer stupidity we exuded during Spring Training. ALL STAR SELECTIONS We'll get this one out of the way early because this was entirely a solo mission on my part. We may expand it to include everybody next year just so I don't feel like an even bigger idiot than I already do. If you went through any of the 30 Teams in Under 30 Days articles ahead of the 2015 season, you would have seen my picks for All-Stars from each team at the bottom of each article. I was looking to improve from my performance from last year in which I hit on 45% on the American League All-Stars and 37% on the National League All-Stars. I know that isn't setting the bar very high, but even that low leap was too much for me to handle. I regressed significantly to 36% for the AL and 33% for the NL. While there was plenty of pats on the back for nailing sneaky selections like Tampa Bay closer Brad Boxberger and Yankees set-up man Dellin Betances, there were ten times as many "What the fuck were you thinking?" picks made. Here are some of the best gems from the NL:
Somehow the American League was so much worse...
AWARD SELECTIONS Now that my individual shaming has been completed, let's go on to the group humiliation portion of the article! Between the six of us we were able to only get three awards picked correctly. It was a parade of failure as you scrolled down to each successive block of embarrassing forecasts. Well, here's the first float now! MVP I'm just going to say now that Sanford picked Joe Kelly for every award. So when you see me completely ignoring his input over the next several paragraphs, that is why. American League MVP was an award that we all went all in on. It was Mike Trout or bust for the BYC boys and Josh Donaldson made sure we all suffered the bust half of that equation. On the National League side, Josh was the only person with the vision to see Bryce Harper morph from a floppy haired doofus to a floppy haired doofus with an MVP trophy on his mantle. Colin had a big swing and a miss with Yasiel Puig. A freak injury wiped out what would have been a solid pick for Matt and Andrew in Giancarlo Stanton. My pick of Andrew McCutchen placed fifth in the voting. Light golf clap for myself. CY YOUNG In all the years we have been making picks as friends, we've never learned not to trust the Seattle Mariners. Again King Felix did the majority of us in. The other non-Joe Kelly selection made was Corey Kluber by Andrew. Kluber couldn't quite recapture the magic of his 2014 Cy Young win, but was better than his 9-16 record suggested. Our two guys finished with 13 combined Cy Young vote points, which would have been good enough for fifth. Me and Colin got burned by Johnny Cueto's trade in the NL Cy Young, but that is shame on us for not thinking that a guy who had been on the trade block for five years wasn't finally going to get shipped in his contract year. The other three actual pickers made respectable misses in Clayton Kershaw and Max Scherzer. I don't think Jake Arrieta or even Zack Greinke came up in any of our preseason conversations. Boo us. ROOKIE OF THE YEAR Rookie of the Year is always one of the hardest awards to project and in the AL this year it was no different. There was such an influx of rookies that not one of us picked the same guy to take home the prize. Not one of us picked the right guy, Houston's Carlos Correa, either. Well at least the majority of us had that puncher's chance. Josh's pick of Francisco Lindor even finished second to Correa. Colin though...oh Colin, Colin, Colin...he picked Mookie Betts, a player ineligible to win the award. Yup that about wraps that up. The National League ROY was much easier. Just pick a Cub. The majority of us for once actually picked the right one as Kris Bryant took the league by storm, made the All-Star Team and won the award unanimously. Point at laugh at Andrew! Not the one that picked Joe Kelly, the one who went against the grain and picked the wrong Cub Jorge Soler. MUAHAHHAHAHA! It's nice to laugh at someone else's terrible picks for once. MANAGER OF THE YEAR We continued the time honored preseason picks tradition of picking a Manager of the Year that ends up being fired. Just a week after the season ended, Mariners' manager Lloyd McClendon (whom three of us picked to win Manager of the Year) got the axe. Can't trust the Mariners...blah blah blah...we never learn...yada yada yada. Colin actually came the closest for once with his pick of Toronto manager John Gibbons. He finished fourth in the voting and even got a first place vote! Way to go Colin! We strive for mediocrity! The NL Manager of the Year picks showed that the two NL fans in the lot didn't know as much about the NL as we thought we did. While the three AL fans all picked correctly with Joe Maddon, the two NL fans watched their pick Matt Williams get a pink slip after Washington failed to make the postseason. Oh Washington, you and your miserable 2015 is going to feature very heavily in this next segment. LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP AND WORLD SERIES SELECTIONS The Royals proved 2014 was no fluke as they returned to the World Series and won the whole damned thing. None of us picked Kansas City to even LOSE in the ALCS. The Indians, Orioles, Angels, Red Sox, and those pesky Mariners all factored into our choices coming out of the AL, but the champs didn't even get a sniff. The only thing you are sniffing right now is the putrid stench coming from said choices. The Mets came out of left field this year to take the National League, besting the Cubs and Dodgers on their way to the Fall Classic. So of course the kid who picked Joe Kelly to win every award was the only one to choose the Mets to win the National League. We'll ignore that he had them beating the Marlins in the NLCS and give credit where it is due. Colin and Matt both at least had playoff teams in those Cubs and Dodgers, although they each picked them to win it all. Myself, Josh, and Andrew though fell victim to the Nationals hype machine. Not only did we pick the Nats to take the NL, we picked them to win the whole shebang. I can't even make fun of Sanford's Red Sox pick right now I feel so downtrodden. I miss baseball. I am already looking forward to making horrendous picks next spring. At least I have our EPL picks to hang on to in the mean time. Oh wait, I picked Manchester City to finish outside the Top 4? FUCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK! 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 Of all my prediction thus far, or to come, on 30 Teams In Under 30 Days, this is my biggest stretch. However, the Mets did finish in the exact position I am predicting them in this year a year ago. Granted they were four games under .500 and 17 games behind division winners Washington but they still finished in second place without Matt Harvey, Bobby Parnell, and the worst season of David Wright's professional career. They'll have their ace and closer back and David Wright is too good to lay two eggs in back to back years. With those factors in place, they will improve off of last year's 79-83 finish and challenge, but ultimately lose out, for the second NL Wild Card. Lucas Duda more than proved that management made the right choice in keeping him and jettisoning Ike Davis. Duda hit 30 home runs and drove in 92 in his first year as primary first baseman. His .253 average is shielded by his high walk rate and ability to get extra bases when he does make contact. I think Duda is good for these numbers on a yearly basis going forward. It may be prudent for GM Sandy Alderson to offer him a long term deal to avoid getting raked over the coals in arbitration. Second baseman Daniel Murphy heads into the final year of his contract fresh off his first All-Star Game appearance. Murphy's value is hard to gauge because for all his positives at the plate, he is one of the crummiest defensive second baseman in the National League. Paired with Wilmer Flores at shortstop (RIP The Ruben Tejada Era), the Mets are going to be hoping for a lot of pulled balls this season. With Flores, the Mets are looking to sacrifice defensively for the potential power output Flores displayed in the Minor Leagues. The Venezuelan is also two years younger than the deposed Tejada, so the Mets can give him more time to find his swing with the big club. The face of the franchise, third baseman David Wright, is looking to show last season was a fluke. For the first time as a Met, Wright failed to hit double digits in home runs. His .324 OBP was also the worst he's ever mustered. Just as troublesome as the power outage was the fact that Wright also didn't reach double digits in stolen bases for the first time since his midseason call-up in 2004. At 32, Wright is clearly not the player he was when he signed his contract extension in 2012. He is definitely better than he played last year though. The Mets can't realistically expect a return to the mid-2000's for Wright but somewhere between last year's abomination and those glory days wouldn't be unreasonable. Rounding out the infield is catcher Travis d'Arnaud. d'Arnaud showed last year that when he is healthy, he is a very capable Major League backstop. The thing with that is those spells of health come few and far between. His checkered injury history has followed him all through his professional baseball career. With only low grade Anthony Recker to back him up, unless they rush Kevin Plawecki to Flushing, the Mets need d'Arnaud to buck that trend in 2015. Curtis Granderson found out real quick that though he may still be in New York, Citi Field is no Yankee Stadium. The Grandyman was still able to park 20 homers in 2014 but only 7 of those came at home. He was a trooper in the outfield by playing each position but Mets fans would probably like to see him stay put in right for the majority of 2015. Center field saw the introduction of Juan Lagares to defensive baseball fans everywhere. He was a highlight waiting to happen every time a ball entered his vortex in center and earned his first Gold Glove in the process. His bat was a pleasant surprise as well, battling through injuries and several prolonged slumps to finish .281/.321/.382. Web Gems will more than likely have a segment devoted to the flashy Dominican in 2015. The one monkey wrench in the outfield is new signing Michael Cuddyer. I still can't wrap my head around giving a player a two year deal when his current team was hoping and praying that he wouldn't sign their qualifying offer. The Mets lose the 15th pick in the draft for a player who missed all but 49 games last year, cannot play defense anymore, and just turned 36. Granted Cuddyer hit .332 in those 49 games and led the National League just one year ago in hitting at .331. I just think it was not enough reward to warrant this risk. Just like Granderson found out, Cuddyer is going to learn real quick that Citi Field is no Coors Field. The starting staff was a point of strength last year for the Mets and is mightily bolstered by the return of ace Matt Harvey. Tommy John surgery wiped out Harvey's entire 2014 but he finished 4th in the NL Cy Young voting in 2013 behind a sparkling 2.27 ERA and 191/31 K/BB ratio. Harvey has shown no signs of rust this spring whiffing 17 to just one free pass in 18 2/3 innings. Harvey may be the staff's ace but he will not start Opening Day. That honor has been bestowed by manager Terry Collins to 41 year old Bartolo Colon. The Round Mound of the Mound led the team with 15 wins in 2014 and was the only Met to surpass the 200 inning mark. He still strikes out a lot of hitters (151 K) but more and more of the Bartolo Heat is getting raked for base hits (218 allowed). This is the last year of his contract with the Mets but will it be his last in the league? Who knows. Zach Wheeler was slated to be the #3 starter before he made sure the Mets had at least two consecutive years of sending Tommy John surgeons some work. It was a big blow to the squad but if there is anything the Mets have plenty of, it's starting pitching. The new number three is reigning NL Rookie of the Year Jacob DeGrom. While most New Yorkers clamored for the call-up of Noah Syndergaard, their consolation prize put together quite the campaign. DeGrom struck out 144 in 140 1/3 innings and won nine of his 22 starts. His 2.69 ERA would have ranked him in the top 10 in the NL if he qualified. Fourth starter Jon Niese has seemingly been around forever so it is easy to forget that he is just 28 entering 2015. Niese doesn't have overpowering stuff but he gets deep into games more often than not. A bad summer (2-6, 4.64 ERA in July/August) hurt Niese's overall line in 2014. The fifth spot is probably Dillon Gee's to lose as of now. With Noah Syndergaard and Rafael Montero ready and waiting at Triple-A Las Vegas though, Gee will have little wiggle room. While the starting staff is the Mets biggest given, the bullpen is the biggest question mark. Former closer Bobby Parnell will return in May. He may have to deal as a set up man unless new ninth inning man Jenrry Mejia slips up. After Parnell went down after his first game, the Mets tried several different pitchers in the ninth. Mejia got the most work and led the team with 28 saves. Jeurys Familia got the second most opportunities but thrived more as a situational right hander than as the closer. The problem is that with Carlos Torres, Vic Black, and Buddy Carlyle the Mets pen has no discernible left handed specialist. Josh Edgin joined Wheeler in Tommy Johnville and the pickings are slim in the free agent market. Top left handed prospect Steven Matz is more suited as a starter, but he could be pressed into the pen to fill the southpaw void. The Mets are looking upwards after years of turmoil following the Bernie Madoff swindling of Mets ownership. They still have a ways to go to catch the Nationals in the East but are at least believable contenders for one of the two National League Wild Card spots. That is a gigantic step forward and hey, they'll at least be better than the Braves and Yankees. That has to mean something right? LAST YEAR'S RANKING: #21 (UP 7) PREDICTED RECORD: 84-78 PREDICTED ALL-STAR REPS: Matt Harvey (starting pitcher), Lucas Duda (first baseman), David Wright (third baseman) Trevor Utley really hopes that the Mets have taken down the Shea Stadium from the train stop. It's been seven years already. Image Credit: Mets logo (sportslogos.net) Featuring Trevor Utley, Andrew Sanford, & Lou Kessler |
OPPOSITE FIELD
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