Player Projections

To all the people who don't follow my blog...sorry the the length of absence between posts. I know all you guys that don't follow me were freaking out a little, but you can all relax knowing that I'm back at writing stuff nobody will read.

I'm going to just post predictions on each player right now, instead of going through each player individually. I'll give a brief explanation, but not too much. Players will be predicted in AVG/OBP/SLG format, and pitchers will be in ERA/WHIP/K/BB mode. Make sense? I hope so. Otherwise my non-existent readership is dumber than I thought.

LF: Pierre (.291/.332/.328)
I think Juan will improve his average simply based on pitcher recognition. However, I predict his OBP will drop a bit, because I doubt he'll be hit by so many pitches again. To me, this seems like an aberration. If he can somewhat repeat the number of HBP's, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. But for now, I'll curb my enthousiasm. The SLG is basically irrelevant, but he can't be much worse than last year. He's not going to hit many dingers, and the Cell deflates XBH's, so it should stay low. All I care about is the OBP anyways, and .332 is still passable.

2B: Beckham (.297/.371/.484)
I think Gordo's gonna have a doozy of a year. He's mentally tough, he paid his dues, and he's by all accounts determined to have an "I'm good, now shut the fuck up" year. I'm still in love with his swing, and I still see a RH Chase Utley in that bat. To me, his second half was the real Beckham.

DH: Dunn (.241/.368/.506)
I think Dunn will have an adjustment period to the new league, and also to DHing. I think he's struggle to hit .220 in the first half, but I suspect by the time July rolls around he'll have adjusted and be mashing to what we all expected. I think he'll hit a ton of HR's (I'm thinking 45), and I also think his walk rate will rebound. The average is lower than expected, but if he's walking and hitting longballs who cares?

1B: Konerko (.281/.359/.481)
Paulie will have a year more like his 2009 than his 2010. I'm OK with it, so long as it's not like 2008. Not much else to say.

CF: Rios (.268/.311/.434)
As you can tell, I'm not high on Rios. He had excellent month, and 5 "meh" months. He has as much natural ability as anybody in the game, but I seriously question his mental toughness. If he can continue to be above average defensively in CF, I'm fine with this. But I have my doubts there too. Hopefully he just got tired towards the end of 2010 because he was subpar in CF for the last few months in my mind.

RF: Quentin (.256/.361/.507)
Carlos will have a better year than his last two, but he won't repeat 2008. He never will. But this is still a very good batting line. I'm not sure what to expect defensively, but let's hope he's not as pukerfying as he has been recently. If he's healthy, he should be acceptable (although still subpar).

C: Pierzynski (.288/.312/.409)
AJ had a rough start to 2010, and he rebounded fine. He's going to fall apart soon, but I don't think just yet. he should post the decent-for-a-catcher numbers he's used to, and make up for his statistical shortcomings in other ways, as always.

SS: Ramirez (.298/.327/.478)
I expect a big year from Alexei. He's finally comfortable at the position he's playing, he's supposedly determined to overcome his early season troubles, and he's also apparently "bulked up", which might also help with his problems in cold weather. I worry the bulk might hurt his defense, but offensively I expect his strongest season yet.

3B: Morel (.255/.297/.395)
This isn't a pretty batting line, but I'm OK with it. Morel has shown an ability to hit pitching at all levels, but he's also shown a tendency to have a noticeable adjustment period at each level. I think he'll finish strong, but so long as he plays solid defense, nobody will care. This is a strong lineup, and people just want to see a guy at 3B that can glove the ball again.





John Danks: 3.42/1.20/167/58
I think Danks will have one of his better seasons yet. I simply expect better command to come with age and experience. His stuff is not a question.

Gavin Floyd: 3.96/1.24/176/69
Floyd will be good as always. I think he'll hit the 200IP mark again, and have his best season in a couple years. The rotation competition will work in his favour. He can't get off to a worse start (can he?) so he should improve.

Mark Buehrle: 3.88/1.30/109/39
MB will have a typical MB year. He's almost hard to predict because of how consistent he is. It just seems boring.

Edwin Jackson: 3.90/1.28/187/70
I think he's going to have a fantastic year. He'll still struggle with walks, but he'll also be a workhorse. His run with the Sox was no mistake last year. He made some major changes to his repertoire and his mechanics. He is a Don Cooper success story in the making.

Jake Peavy: 4.54/1.32/107/36
Jake will struggle coming back from major surgery, and I think his recovery will take a month and a half. He'll struggle with command like most guys coming back from a major operation, and will continue to disappoint. I do, however, have high hopes for him in 2012.