Throwback Thursday: 2008 National League Previews
Earlier this year, we individually previewed each and every MLB team giving you a team’s record from the 2007 season, key additions and key losses in ‘08, projected starting lineups and pitching rotations, an overall outlook, fantasy impact players, and our prediction for this season.
So were we right?
Well, we got some things right like predicting Josh Hamilton’s huge season, but we also got some things way off like saying the Florida Marlins would be the laughing stock of the league.
What did we get right? What did we get wrong? This week we’ll start in the National League with the NL East:
Mets, Phils, or Braves: NL East Preview (March 6, 2008)
Predicting the Marlins to lose 111 games may have been a bit extreme, but we saw another year of pitchers learning in front of empty seats. Nonetheless, the Marlins came out slugging and have done so all season (currently tied for 2nd in home runs in the NL).
Why were we wrong about the Marlins? Because we were so high on the Braves. We thought the Braves had a legitimate shot at the NL East if they could stay healthy…alas, they couldn’t stay healthy.
“Tom Glavine will throw 200 innings and win 12-15 games for the Braves, but most importantly Glavine will constantly give the team quality starts.” -Yea, that one didn’t happen. And Smoltz went down. And Hudson went down. And Soriano went down. And Moylan went down. And Hampton stayed down (like always). No, we have no shame in picking the Braves because not even Nostradamus could have foreseen this many injuries.
We did pick the Mets to win the division and the Phils to be competing with them (as well as the Braves), and thus far, the Metropolitans have a 3 game lead over Philadelphia in the division.
NL Central Preview: Can Cubs Reverse Curse? (March 16, 2008)
No, we didn’t have any clue that C.C. Sabathia and Rich Harden would have a huge impact on the NL Central pennant race, but we did know that the Cubs and Brewers would be fighting it out in the end. In the end, we gave the nod to the Brewers, and while they are currently down 4 1/2 games, it is still a possibility, especially with the Cubs currently reeling (losers of 5 straight and without the services of ace Carlos Zambrano).
We thought the Reds might have a shot at contending depending on the play of their “shaky” rotation. We told you Johnny Cueto could be good and that Edinson Volquez could steal a spot in the rotation rather than get shipped to AAA to begin the season. We were right there, but we didn’t realize how filthy Volquez was going to be during the first half. We also didn’t know Aaron Harang was going to be awful.
Houston and St. Louis are both playing better than we expected, but we said they both just had too many holes to be able to compete with the Cubs and Brewers this year. And even the Magic 8 Ball correctly predicted Pittsburgh would be bad: “The Pirates may be quite offensive this year, but they aren’t going to be putting up too many runs.”
NL Wild West Preview: 4 Way Battle for 1st (March 28, 2008)
We predicted this division to be highly competitive: Check. We also predicted it to be one of the strongest divisions with four teams at least 6 games over .500: Ummm…yea not so much.
Only Arizona is currently above .500 and that’s only 3 games over. We thought four teams would battle in this division, but San Diego has been an absolute bust. The only positives they have are Jake Peavy, Adrian Gonzalez, and Trevor Hoffman’s entrance music. Nonetheless, we still had them finishing 4th, so we aren’t too far off base.
We predicted the Diamondbacks to edge out the Dodgers with the Rockies only a couple of games out due to their trio of starting pitchers: Brandon Webb, Dan Haren, and the old man, Randy Johnson. We picked Johnson as the D’Backs’ team MVP because of his importance being a solid third starter. He has come on strong in the second half, and Arizona could have a formidable threesome for any team to contend with in the playoffs.
“Much of this team’s [Arizona's] success will depend on the maturation process of the young hitters on this team.” -We were right on with this statement because as the hitters have went, so have the Baby Backs.
For the Dodgers, our preview was all about health. LA has a veteran, but aging, ballclub, and they have had their injury problems throughout the season. “Shortstop Rafael Furcal, who has had his stints on the DL in the past, is oddly the only veteran position player that will enter the regular season healthy and without questions surrounding him.” -And Furcal was on fire to begin the season, until he got injured and hasn’t played since.
Our fantasy info on the Dodgers was spot on: “Loney isn’t going to have the same pop. Don’t overdraft. Jones appears to be on the decline with his paltry batting average. Be cautious. Pierre shouldn’t be playing everyday and he’s only good for steals. Pass on him.” -All correct.
“If the Rockies have a weakness, it is the starting pitching.” -That has been true, but our statement that Manny Corpas appears ready for the closer role was completely false. Corpas blew up multiple times at the beginning of the season leading to Brian Fuentes being reinstated as the closer, which has worked out tremendously.
In San Francisco, we told you there would be nothing exciting about this team outside of Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum. We were right, but just how electric is Lincecum. The slight righty is leading the league in ERA, is 15-2, and has almost 40 more strikeouts than the next closest NL pitcher.
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