March 31st: MLB East Division Predictions

The greatest day of the year is fast approaching: Major League Baseball Opening Day! As we start the season, every team believes they are about to embark on a playoff chase, and hope is in the air.

There is an old saying: Everyone is going to win 54 games. Everyone is going to lose 54 games. It is what you do with the other 54 that really counts. This week, the ZP: Left Fielder is going to attempt to decide how each team will fare in the coming season. Division by division, we will break down the playoff predictions and final standings, attempting to guess at what the next six months have in store for us.

Today, we will take a look at the East divisions in the American and National Leagues. Tomorrow we will tackle the Central, and, finally, on Thursday the West. Friday will feature the final playoff predictions.

Let’s get started!

American League East:

1. 

   Old and new faces will help lead Boston back to contention.

   Red Sox

The Red Sox have made a habit out of going from worst to first and back again. After an abysmal 2014, Boston went out and spent the money to revamp the team. The outfield is not only crowded but abundantly talented, and Dustin Pedroia anchors a solid infield. This team is deep, and, despite the lack of a single, dominant ace, the pitching will keep the offense in ball games.

2. Orioles

The offseason was not kind in Baltimore, as the team struggled to replace the big bats that departed. The pitching remains to be an area of strength, and the Orioles maintained their centerpieces with Adam Jones and Manny Machado, but there should be a little bit of a slip for the defending AL East Champs.

3. Yankees

Now that the Derek Jeter festivities are over and gone, the Yankees will have to find a new way to entertain fans. Winning would be a nice place to start. The team has some of the best talent in baseball, but age and health are problems that leads the Yankees to be one of the most polarizing teams to predict. They will either be great or terrible, and it’s hard to tell which.

4. Blue Jays

Things were finally looking up for Canada’s team. The signing or Russell Martin made it seem like they were finally serious about winning. The young guns in the system were looking like they were ready to have an impact. Then, Marcus Stroman went down, and gloom set in. This team will be in the hunt until the first week of August, and slowly start to sputter from a lack of experience in a playoff race. Maybe next year, Blue Jays fans.

5. Rays

If any team can make something out of the nothing going on in Tampa, this may be the one. That being said, it is impossible to have too much faith in a team that looks like a minor league spring training team forgot to head north. This will be a rebuilding year, but that could mean big things for the future Rays. The future looks bright, just not in 2015.

National League East:

1. Nationals

The Nationals had one of the best rotations in baseball last year. Then they added Max Scherzer. This team will be absolutely dominant in the National League, and an overall weak division will lead Washington to the playoffs by a wide margin. Expect Bryce Harper to bounce back and have an MVP-caliber season.

2. Marlins

The Marlins are a popular pick for a team looking to hit it’s stride. It may be a little early yet, though. Stanton had a monster year last year, and Dee Gordon was a good addition to the infield. Overall, the Marlins are intriguing, but a young team is bound to have growing pains, so we might need to keep our expectations reasonable.

3. Mets

The Mets look to be a shortstop away from contention. Well, that shortstop has proved elusive, and David Wright has proven that, despite flashes of brilliance, his health is the thing standing between him and leading this team to the promised land. The young pitching will make this team interesting, but the Mets need to keep adding to the mix at a little more aggressive of a pace.

4. Braves

I’m not entirely sure what the Braves did this offseason. They looked like they were in full-blown rebuild mode, but also signed Nick Markakis to a relatively large contract. The team has a franchise player in Freddie Freeman, but is going to have to go through a few tough months before there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

5. Phillies

Three years ago, the Phillies were the most terrifying team in the National League. Now, they are scary bad. They did little this winter to help their case, and the rebuilding process doesn’t look to be going very well. The Phillies will have a season to forget, and will try to sell everyone they possibly can come July.

Check back in tomorrow for the Central Divisions predictions!

If you like the work of the ZPMedia team, please donate to our GoFundMe page. Thank you for your support.

March 3rd: Black-eyed Blackhawks

On February 25th, the day after Patrick Kane went down with an injury, many wanted to declare the Blackhawks out of Stanley Cup contention. Sure, the pre-season Western Conference favorite had probably built up enough steam to limp into the playoffs, but without their top goal scorer, it would be an early exit for sure.

That is, of course, until you look at the rest of the Chicago lineup. With Jonathan Toews, Patrick Sharp, Marrian Hossa, Brad Richards, Brandon Saad, and so many more studs on this team, there is plenty of firepower to keep the Hawks competitive. Plus, the trade deadline left even more room to patch up the fill the hole left by “Showtime”.

Antoine Vermette was the big catch for the Blackhawks at
the Trade Deadline.

The acquisitions of Antoine Vermette from the Coyotes and Kimmo Timonen from the Flyers fill two of the biggest needs left on the Chicago roster: a center who has a high face-off percentage and a veteran defender who has fresh legs. This works to add depth to a team already known for wave upon wave of skilled players.

What, during the offseason had been a terrible void has turned into a dominant strength, as the Blackhawks have strong talent on all four lines at center. With Toews, Vermette, Richards, and Kruger, there is a good chance Chicago will start every faceoff with the puck.

While this by no means makes the Blackhawks the unwavering favorites to win the Cup, it does keep them in contention long enough to potentially get Kane back for the second or third round of the playoffs. A team that includes all that talent, PLUS a fresh Patrick Kane should most certainly catch everyone’s attention.

Rather than attempting to find a single player to score the points left by Patrick Kane, the Blackhawks would benefit most by seeing a slight uptick in performance from all of their stars. That smallball philosophy (to share a term from baseball) is absolutely possible for a team who hasn’t gotten their money’s worth from Patrick Sharp in recent weeks, and who have the opportunity to increase scoring opportunities for their centerpiece, captain Jonathan Toews.

In their first game after the trade deadline, the Blackhawks did just that. A five goal flurry, led by three points by The Captain showed just how badly the Blackhawks want to stay competitive. With goals from four different Hawks, the team shared the star power and contributed big, making a statement for all of those who thought their dominance was over for the year.

For the remainder of the season, the Blackhawks will play 10 of their 18 games against teams outside of the playoff picture. That bodes well for a team trying to fight their way into the second seed in their division. Lucky for them, the Blues have also seen a flurry of defensive challenges, most recently a streak in which opponents have scored four or more goals in four of the last seven games.

More than any other skill, though, the Blackhawks have been there before. After coming a single shot away from the Stanley Cup Final last season, the Hawks core remains from not one, but two championship runs since 2010. You just can’t bet against a team that has the track record of the Blackhawks the last half decade.