HAVE THE BASEBALL PREDICTIONS PANNED OUT?

HAVE THE BASEBALL PREDICTIONS PANNED OUT?

By TROY DERENGOWSKI

The All-Star game is next week and that means we are at the half way point of the major league baseball season.  Have the experts hit the target of their pre-season predictions?    Let’s take a look.

If the playoffs were to begin today, the wild card knockout games would feature Baltimore at Los Angeles in the American League and the Dodgers would play at Pittsburgh.   Hard to imagine the Orioles and Pirates in the playoffs but it’s a possibility.   The Yankees lead the Eastern Division, the White Sox are on top in the Central and Texas leads the Western Division.   The experts chose New York to win the East, Detroit to win the Central and Texas to win the west.  So other than Detroit, the experts are on target but the Tigers still have a good chance to win the Central.  They are only 3 and a half games behind as of Tuesday.  

As for the mid-season awards, the pre-season selection for the AL MVL was Miguel Cabrera of Detroit followed by Robinson Cano of New York and then Albert Pujols of Los Angeles.   Tom Verducci of SI.com has listed Robinson Cano just ahead of Josh Hamilton of Texas for the mid-season MVP award.   Here’s the top 10 by Verducci:

1. Robinson Cano, Yankees

2. Josh Hamilton, Rangers

3. Mike Trout, Angels

4. Adam Jones, Orioles

5. Mark Trumbo, Angels

6. Paul Konerko, White Sox

7. Adrian Beltre, Rangers

8. Miguel Cabrera, Tigers

9. Jose Bautista, Blue Jays

10. David Ortiz, Red Sox

As for the mid-season Cy Young Award:

1. Justin Verlander, Tigers

2. Jake Peavy, White Sox

3. David Price, Rays

4. Chris Sale, White Sox

5. Jered Weaver, Angels

The pre-season experts called for Verlander to win the Cy Young Award followed by Jered Weaver of Los Angeles and then David Price of Tampa Bay.

As for the Rookie of the year in the American League:

1. Mike Trout, Angels

2. Yu Darvish, Rangers

3. Will Middlebrooks, Red Sox

The pre-season choice was Jesus Montero of Seattle.

In the National League, the pre-season experts chose Philadelphia to win the East, St. Louis to win the Central and San Francisco to win the West.   As of today, Washington leads the East (Philadelphia is in last), Cincinnati leads the Central and San Francisco is in front in the West.  St. Louis is just behind Cincinnati in the Central so the experts are very close on this one.

As for the National League mid-season player awards , Verducci chose Joey Votto as the MVP.   Here’s is the top ten:

1. Joey Votto, Reds

2. Andrew McCutchen, Pirates

3. David Wright, Mets

4. Ryan Braun, Brewers

5. Melky Cabrera, Giants

6. Carlos Ruiz, Phillies

7. Carlos Beltran, Cardinals

8. Carlos Gonzalez, Rockies

9. Giancarlo Stanton, Marlins

10. R.A. Dickey, Mets

The pre-season selection was Votto.

The Pre-season Cy Young Favorite: Roy Halladay of Philadelphia.

Verducci’s mid-season top 5:

1. R.A. Dickey, Mets

2. Matt Cain, Giants

3. Clayton Kershaw, Angels

4. Johnny Cueto, Reds

5. Gio Gonzalez, Nationals

NL Rookie of the year at mid-season:

1. Bryce Harper, Nationals

2. Wade Miley, Diamondbacks

3. Andrelton Simmons, Braves

The pre-season selection was Harper.

As for the playoffs, the pre-season predictions in the American League have Texas beating New York in the ALCS and Philadelphia defeating San Francisco in the NLCS.  Texas over Philadelphia in the World Series.

Other than a couple of exceptions, things are very close to the pre-season predictions.  Should be a fun second half.