Padres Predictions

Daryll Dorman Padres Predictions

 For as long as sports has been played, people have been trying to figure out what will happen. Yet unlike predicting someone crying on “The Bachelor”, you just can’t predict baseball correctly very often. Could we have predicted that the Mets would get to the World Series last year? That Matt Harvey – the Dark Knight – would not be able to get through the 9th inning in a World Series game they needed to win to stay alive? What about that after overhauling the roster, spending more money than ever before, the Padres would finish with a worse record in 2015 than 2014. Sorry to add salt to a fresh wound, but here at Friars On Base we’ve been ruminating on the lost 2015 for awhile now and we are ready for 2016 to be a triumphant storyline. So here is how that happens.

Team MVP: Wil Myers. To describe the 2015 season for Wil Myers is more to say “incomplete” than much else. He is only 25 years old, yet has not played more than 90 games a year in the majors in three tries. Last year he played in just 60 games – for context he has played 19 already in Spring Training. He hit 8 home runs in those 60 games, which projects out to around 22 home runs for the year. He also walked 27 times in that limited timeframe, still good enough for 7th on the team for the whole year! Yangervis Solarte walked only 6 more times in an additional 300 at bats! Moving Myers to first base should help him stay healthy and on the field. If so, he could have a great season and almost make the Padres forget they traded the now Nationals shortstop of the future Trea Turner for him.

 Team Cy Young: I am going to go out on a limb on this one and one more time project Andrew Cashner to have a good year. It is a contract year, so ironically he could well pitch himself out of a Padres uniform the year he finally shows the potential we have seen at times over his Padres career. The defense is much improved behind him, and if nothing else cut down on those 22 unearned runs that happened behind him. Of course, he still allowed 89 earned runs, but I think with improved confidence and finally a full season of pitching under his belt – he can take hold of that momentum to put it all together this year.

Mr. Consistency: I am very excited to see what Yangervis Solarte can do with a full season at third base. He was one of the Padres best hitters last year, and if he can learn to walk more this year and his defense improves some at the hot corner, he could be the .290/15/85 RBI third baseman we’ve been seeking for years and desperately wanted Chase Headley to be every season, not just 2013.

Rookie of the Year: Manuel Margot. I expect Margot to get called up mid year and take the league by storm after some seasoning in the Minor Leagues to start the season. I don’t see Melvin Upton Jr.being a full time answer in left field, and if Margot is mashing in AAA why waste his talent there when you could him some MLB seasoning in 2016 to be ready to attack fully in 2017? The future is brighter for the Padres than many think, and seeing Margot get a taste of that future will be huge for Padres fans.

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