Over the weekend, Redleg Nation‘s editors submitted some predictions for the upcoming season. We thought today’s ill-timed off day would be a good time to reveal our choices. I’ve compiled the responses, and here’s the consensus…
First, we made our playoff predictions.
NL Central: Cincinnati. Your Reds were a unanimous choice to win the NL Central. It’s quite possible that we are biased here.
NL East: Washington. Atlanta got a couple of votes, but the Nationals were our clear favorite.
NL West: Los Angeles. This was the closest vote, with the Dodgers edging out the Giants.
NL Wild Cards: Atlanta, San Francisco. A number of other teams received votes here, including Philadelphia, Milwaukee, and St. Louis.
National League Champion: Cincinnati Reds. The Reds weren’t a unanimous choice here, as the Nationals received some support.
AL Central: Detroit. The Motor City Kitties were a unanimous choice to win the Central.
AL East: Toronto. The Jays edged the Rays by only two votes.
AL West: Los Angeles Angels. The Halos were our choice, though they only received one vote more than the Rangers. Oakland also received one vote.
AL Wild Cards: Tampa Bay, Texas. Also receiving votes: Oakland, the White Sox, and Boston.
American League Champion: Detroit Tigers. We were all over the map here. Tampa Bay and Toronto each finished one vote behind Detroit, with Oakland receiving a vote, as well.
World Series Champion: Cincinnati Reds. Never say we aren’t loyal (though Washington received a couple of votes).
NL MVP: Joey Votto. Nearly unanimous; Ryan Braun also received a vote.
NL Cy Young: (tie) Stephen Strasburg, Clayton Kershaw. Zack Greinke and Mat Latos each received a vote, as well.
AL MVP: Mike Trout. Overwhelming favorite, though Evan Longoria, Jose Reyes, and Miguel Cabrera each received a vote.
AL Cy Young: Justin Verlander. David Price recieved a couple of votes, but Verlander ran away with this one.
Three Keys for the Reds
We also asked the editors to list three keys for the Reds to be successful this season. The answers were all over the map, and I’ll present them all to you here. Two keys were, by far, the most popular response:
Health:
–“Avoid injuries to the rotation.”
–“Need 600 IP from Cueto/Latos/Homer”
–“Avoid injury to Votto, Choo, Bruce, Phillips”
–“Extended injuries to outfield/Votto/Phillips could be undoing.”
Production from LF and 3B:
–“Ryan Ludwick and Todd Frazier must approximate their 2012 production.”
There were other responses as well:
–“Bronson Arroyo must be Good Bronson again.”
–“Leake and Arroyo need to keep their ERAs around 4.”
–“Bottom of the order hitting.”
–“The ongoing battle between GM and field manager needs to keep to a minimum.”
–“Jay Bruce needs to make the jump to elite player.”
–“Defense not undermined by Frazier & Choo.”
–“Bench must make a meaningful contribution.”
–“Key to winning in the post season is Homer’s continued emergence as a solid #2 starter or better.”
–“Team believes it has something to prove, not reading press clippings about how good they are.”
–“Latos and Bailey take next step.”
–“Offensive production from Frazier, Ludwick, Hanigan/Mesoraco, and Cozart. These guys just need to have average to above average seasons.”
–“Get off to a good start to the season.”
Random Bold Predictions
Finally, we made some other Reds-related predictions, bold or otherwise, for you to disagree with:
–“Mat Latos will win 18 games and strike out 200 batters.”
–“Joey Votto will lead the club in home runs.”
–“Shin-Soo Choo will go 20-20 and score 100+ runs.”
–“Mike Leake has his best year of young career.”
–“Reds sign Choo to an extension & trade Hamilton and Leake for another top of the rotation starter.”
–“Mesoraco gets more playing time than Hanigan by the end of the season.”
–“Galarraga posts an ERA under 3.50 (in less than 10 starts) for the Reds.”
–“By the end of April we will be complaining about Dusty’s lineups or his strange need to start someone who has no business starting regularly.”
–“The Reds win the division by no fewer than 5 games.”
–“Choo scores over 100 runs this season, allowing both Votto and Bruce to drive in over 100 RBI.”
–“The Reds will have 3 starting pitchers with 16+ wins.”
So there you go. Please keep in mind, gang: this is just for fun. As always, no wagering. 🙂