My MLB Second-Half Predictions

Eric Hosmer & the Royals are looking to prove the doubters all wrong, come October.

So back in April, I asked my APBA friends to post their predictions to share, along with my MLB predictions for the 2015 MLB Season.

How am I doing? Not so good. I knew I should have went with my gut on the Kansas City Royals, not only did I deny them to win the division, but I have Cleveland as the wildcard. I went with Detroit, strictly on the fact, until we are not the division champs, I will pick them as that -- Silly me, why in the world did I even think that was going to happen with the loss of both Max Scherzer, Rick Porcello & an injured Justin Verlander?! Now with Miguel out for 6 weeks, and the fact that we were just floating above water when he was healthy, you can kiss this season goodbye -- Personally, I hope we are not buyers this second-half, maybe trade David Price, and see what we can get in return, we need to get young again, and we need to rebuild that farm.

In fact out of my American League teams I picked (Boston, Detroit, Cleveland, Los Angeles & Seattle), the Los Angeles Angels seem to be the only team I picked that has the most solid chance to make the playoffs, as they just snagged first place from the surprise Houston Astros. Boston has a slight chance due to the American League East being so close -- but I just don't see that happening.

The Yankees have been maybe a bigger surprise to me than even the Astros, we knew Houston would eventually come around, but many people didn't expect Houston until 2016 -- The Yankees on the other hand, looked old & pricey. Then came a rebirth in Alex Rodriguez (.278, 18, 51 / .898 OPS) & Mark Teixiera (.240, 22, 62); Their rotation has been slightly better than expected, being efficient enough, while their bullpen has been stellar. Will they stay on top? I want to say no, but I'm realizing my predictions have got me nowhere so far this season. The Toronto Blue Jays have a offense led by Josh Donaldson (.293, 21, 60 & 4.9 WAR), with Jose Bautista & Edwin Encarnacion doing their usual as well. They need their starting pitching to step up, it appears that Marco Estrada and Aaron Sanchez are starting to come around behind the old vet Mark Buehrle (10-5, 3.34), who is the team's ace. Manny Machado & Adam Jones are leading the Baltimore Orioles in the lineup, while Ubaldo Jimenez (7-4, 2.81 ERA) has been a pleasant surprise for Baltimore; The bottom of that rotation needs to take load off Wei-Yin Chen & Jimenez, Miguel Gonzalez appears to be third best option with 4.24 ERA. The bullpen appears pretty good, but they need their starters to keep them in the game, and their offense needs more help as well. The whole division does not have one solid team, so I will now go with the Yankees to hold onto the division, barely over Toronto, who will make serious charge in second-half, but will likely settle for wildcard.

All smiles for A-Rod & Teixeira, leading the surprise Yankees in 2015.

One thing is for sure for A.L. East, no one will win 90, I pick Yankees at 88-74 to win division over 86-76 Toronto. Strangely, I had this argument with my buddy Jeff on that the Yankees would not make it past 4th place, as he told me they would be definitely better than my Tigers. I felt I had all the statistics to back it up, and it appeared the Yankees had no idea what they were doing in the off-season -- it appears that he will be right, my Tigers will not be as good as his Yankees even.

Which leads us to the A.L. Central, I decided to play it safe with a lot of other predictors and gave Cleveland Indians too much props. It's true in the second-half of last season, their pitching was the best in the American League, and with healthy regular position players, it seemed logical to pick them as a playoff team. Even though, I knew, I KNEW that Kansas City deserved more respect. Well, I'm now going to give Kansas City the ultimate respect, they will be representing the American League for the second straight season in the World Series -- They are hungry, I think only one team could spoil it for them, and that could be upstart Houston (this year's Kansas City Royals); I will also say that the Los Angeles Angels might be better than last season, and let's not forget they finally made the playoffs last season & they do have the best player in the game in Mike Trout.

Back-to-back All-Star Game MVP Mike Trout, officially stamps his name as the face of baseball.

Now I want to give the Minnesota Twins some serious props for their first-half effort, they were probably the #1 surprise in my book, in May they were red-hot, and now things seem to be settling down towards reality. They just don't appear to be a team to make a serious acquisition as well, as their 3 of their best 4 hitters all have below .800 OPS (on the exception of Brian Dozier). It's just too bad that Danny Santana has flip-flopped seasons at the wrong time (batting only .225 after batting .319 last season). Kyle Gibson is looking like everything the Twins thought he would be, but that rotation needs more help, and that lineup is mediocre, to even consider them a A.L. contender, in fact I can't see them making the playoffs, with the Angels coming around, and the idea that Boston & Cleveland could still turn things around. To make things clear though, they appear they may end up better than my Tigers, we have too many problems, I hope Dave Dombrowski isn't in the buying mood, we can't afford to give up any more pieces.

Eyes on the Prize: Max Scherzer & the Nats must show they are serious for second-half charge.

The National League is a little more decided with the Washington Nationals on top of the division as expected in N.L. East -- but they have not showed any total dominance that much was predicting before the season, and have a few games above the New York Mets. The Mets have made things interesting, but let's be honest, they will have to have a lot of magic go their way to end up being the 2nd Wild Card -- I think it's possible, I just think they are young, and still a year away. The Pittsburgh Pirates have come on strong, but can't seem to stay consistent, they get so close to the St.Louis Cardinals & then tail off again. I want to say that Pittsburgh will close the deal at end of season, because of all the Cardinals' injuries -- but I need to start going with my hunches more, and the St. Louis Cards have an excellent track record of proving everyone wrong, plugging their rosters with before-the-season mysteries & making them into season-surprises. Cardinals always find a way, they'll do it again, by winning the N.L. Central; Pittsburgh will be the top Wild Card.

I want to see the Mets or Chicago Cubs get the 5th slot, 2nd wild card, because I (and I think most of America) am sick of the San Francisco Giants. If Giants get in, they will be trouble, but let's face it, it's an odd year, so in my Soup Nazi voice "No, World Series for you!". The Los Angeles Dodgers should hold onto the N.L. West lead, they have been outstanding at home -- I thought with all the moves they made, they would be better though. They need to remain focused & ignore the Giants' footsteps behind them. I do like that the Dodgers have guys like Mike Bolsinger stepping up, before the season, Bolsinger was really not even on the MLB radar -- but this guy wants to stay, and has shown it. Not surprisingly though, Brett Anderson (Mr. Injury Bug) is back on the disabled list, I was rooting for the guy, he was having a good season -- The Dodgers need to land another starting pitcher to seal the deal in the N.L. West.

The WRAP-UP
Let's see how everyone has done from the pre-season picks.

Shawn Baier (myself) - I think I am doing the absolute worst of the seven of us, no joke! The only team in the American League I even have making the playoffs at this point is my of the Angels making the playoffs -- but I picked them as the wild card to disappointing Seattle. My other wild card choice was the Indians, and they have been equally disappointing. My next best chance of an A.L. participant is my choice to win the A.L. League East in the Toronto Blue Jays, who have a chance at the wild card -- I have decided now that the Yankees will win the East, Royals are for real in the Central & I believe both the Angels & Astros will make the playoffs from the A.L. West with the Angels, having more experience winning the division -- plus Mike Trout is a beast!

I picked Nationals & Dodgers to win divisions, Cardinals as wild card, with Pirates winning division -- have decided most will stick now, except it will be St.Louis winning division, Pirates as wildcard with hopefully Mets or Cubs taking the last wild card over Giants.

Where I was wrong: Picking the Detroit Tigers to win the American League Central, who was picked by 4 of us to win the division (possibly the biggest MLB disappointment this season). Bought into the off-season offense additions for the Boston Red Sox -- pitching is always key, and Beantown simply does not have that -- plus, poor Rick Porcello!

Paying the Price? Tigers may have to ship the lefty & reshuffle deck.

Chris Baier - Chris is doing pretty good, just like everyone for the most part, we all have picked the Washington Nationals, St.Louis Cardinals & Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League. He had the Angels winning the A.L. West, with Toronto winning a wild card slot, which is possible.

Where Chris was wrong: He did pretty solid overall, where he went wrong is picking Cleveland to win the A.L. Central, can't blame him with 4 of our guys picking Cleveland to make the playoffs -- Sports Illustrated had them winning the World Series. His pick of the Baltimore Orioles winning the A.L. East is certainly not a bad one, the East was wide-open, and who knew the New York Yankees would be in command of the division at this point? No one.

John "Stray" Corrado - Stray has picked the Nationals, Cardinals & Dodgers just like most of us -- in fact, all 7 of us picked those three to at least make the playoffs. Stray may be the only one, by season's end to get all the N.L. picks correct, picking the Pirates & Giants to make the playoffs as well. The American League once again, has been the hardest on all of us, he has the Angels reaching the playoffs as the 1st Wild Card -- 4 people picked Angels to win division, while all 7 of us picked Angels to be in the playoffs.

Where Stray was wrong: We all did bad overall in our picking of the American League. Stray went with disappointing Boston, Detroit & Seattle to win their divisions & the Chicago White Sox as a wild card -- compared to looking like a genius with his N.L. picks.

Kenneth Heard - Kenneth has picked the Washington Nationals, St. Louis Cardinals & Los Angeles Dodgers as well as most with their N.L. picks. Just like most of us, the American League picks were off the mark, but he does have a chance to get the World Series match-up correct, with the Los Angeles Dodgers & Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim -- he picked Dodgers to win it all.

Where Kenneth H was wrong: He was sipping the Chicago Kool-aid with Doug, it was not necessarily a bad pick, with all the moves the White Sox made in the off-season -- I came close to picking the White Sox as a wild card over my choice of Cleveland, we just all didn't give Kansas City enough respect. The White Sox was picked to reach playoffs by 3 of our 7 guys on the panel -- They will likely be 'selling'.

Return of the King: Albert Pujols has looked like Pujols from his Cardinals days.

Ken Schulz - Schulz picked the Los Angeles Angels to reach the American League, and the Toronto Blue Jays to win the division (Toronto is currently .500 with a chance at A.L. Wild Card still -- competing with two surprise teams in Minnesota & Houston). Schulz has the National League picked pretty solidly next to Stray, with Nats, Cards & Dodgers, along with the Pirates & Mets as the N.L. Wild Cards -- the Mets happen to be just a couple games off the mark for that 2nd Wild Card spot -- He is the one of only two people to pick the New York Mets to make playoffs, I came close to picking them over the Padres for that spot, so Schulz's pick will look brilliant if the Mets get in.

Where Ken S was wrong: The American League, I had nearly identical picks with Ken, when it came to the Junior Circuit, our only difference is that he picked Toronto to win A.L. East compared to my pick of Boston. We both picked Detroit & Seattle to win their divisions, with the wildcards being Cleveland & the Angels. Fact is, 6 of the 7 of us, really felt the Seattle Mariners were built for the playoffs this season, so far... no cigar.

Doug Schuyler - Doug did great on N.L. picks so far, just like most of us -- Once again, the American League, a whole different story. He has the Chicago Cubs winning the N.L. Central which will be a stretch, but they do have a shot at the N.L. Wild Card if San Francisco flounders. Doug did pick Bryce Harper to win N.L. MVP, he must have smelled the 2015 breakout season to come -- He also picked Max Scherzer & Chris Sale for Cy Young Awards (both are possible).

Where Doug was wrong: Going with the Windy City with division titles for both the White Sox & Chicago Cubs. Can't blame the guy to go with the White Sox after the off-season deals, I know he was expecting more from Jeff Samardzija -- Plus the Cubs teaming up Theo Epstein & Joe Madden definitely caused some excitement, Cubs could pay dividends for Doug here. Just like most of us, Doug hurt most with A.L. picks, picking disappointing Seattle as well -- He also picked the Blue Jays to win the A.L. East, actually 3 guys from my guest panel picked the Jays to win the division. No one picked the New York Yankees to make playoffs.

Samardzija: One of plenty of White Sox finding themselves possibly in new uniforms, soon.

Dan Velderrain - Once again, Dan also picked (like many of us) the Nationals, Cardinals & Dodgers for division champions in the National League. He also picked Mike Trout to win A.L. MVP, which surprisingly only 2 of us picked him to win the pick (I was the other, but I briefly picked Miguel Cabrera & quickly changed it before releasing our picks). Jose Abreu actually got the most love by our panel (3 picks for Abreu to win A.L. MVP).

Where Dan was wrong: One of 4 panelists to pick the Detroit Tigers to win A.L. Central, can't blame him, I went with them due to the fact that they won 4 consecutive division titles. He also was one of 3 panelists to pick the Baltimore Orioles to reach playoffs (while the other two people picked the O's to win their the A.L. East). Dan's worst pick may not be that of a team, but picking Matt Kemp to win the N.L. MVP for the Padres this season. Dan could get redemption though, if his pick of the Washington Nationals over the Los Angeles Angels comes true -- but knowing how he loves his Angels, I think he would love to see it happen the other way around.


Where WE ALL WENT WRONG: Not giving the Kansas City Royals any respect, no one had them reaching the playoffs -- I should have stuck with my hunch, but went with the press. 

My 3 choices for biggest disappointments

1. DETROIT TIGERS

2. SEATTLE MARINERS

3. CLEVELAND INDIANS

My 3 choices for biggest surprises

1. NEW YORK YANKEES

2. MINNESOTA TWINS

3. HOUSTON ASTROS

My UPDATED pick for the World Series?

I want to pick the Kansas City Royals over the Los Angeles Dodgers, but I am going with the Kansas City Royals over the St. Louis Cardinals, in 6 games.