MLB 2013 Predictions: NL Edition

Welcome to the 0-2 Pitch's MLB 2013 Predictions: NL Edition! In our last post we covered the AL and saw the Rays,Tigers,and Angels are winning their division! Now it's time to see who is going to win the highly competivie NL, and to start off we're going to start in what is one of the best if not the best divison in baseball, the NL East. Without further adieu let's get started

NL East:

Bryce Haper will lead the Nationals to
an NL East crown while putting up historic
sophmore numbers.

1.Nationals: 98-64
2.Phillies: 93-69
3.Braves: 91-71
4.Mets: 68-94
5.Marlins: 66-96
Why: The Nationals will win the NL East this year with no surprise as they all stacked, as Bryce Harper who is coming off a ROY campaign will continue to turn heads as he goes on a monster season recording a 30/30 season. The Phillies will be the NL's somewhat surprise team this year as they have a full team coming back healthy this year with Ryan Howard and Chase Utley solidfiying the middle of their lineup will surprise some people this year, Ryan Howard will finally live up to his contract as he has another 40 homerun 120+ RBI season for the Phillies. The Braves will start off hot this year but the too many strikeouts at key times will hurt the Braves this year as they finish third in the NL East and miss the playoffs while setting a record for the most strikeouts by one team in a season. The Mets will miss Johan Santana again for the season it looks like, and their already diminished pitching staff from losing R.A. Dickey will be even worse, the only hope Mets fans have his Travis D'Arnaurd and Zach Wheeler but thats even a few years away from being good. The Marlins will finish with one of the worst records in franchsie history after they traded away all the players they spent tons of money on an off season ago, now they will finish last in the NL East for the another year while their stadium in it's second year will continue to be empty.

NL Central:
1.Cardinals: 94-68
2.Reds:93-69

Allen Craig will show that he
is one of the elite first baseman
in the Major Leagues.

3.Brewers: 87-75
4.Pirates: 81-83
5.Cubs: 61-101
Why: The Cardinals this year will show they are still the best in the NL Central as they go on a late season push with help of rookie Tyler Rosenthal and go on another magical september run as they take over the NL Central from the Reds after being counted out. The Reds this year will provide some heavy hitting and strong pitching depth as they look like the favorites throughout the season to take the NL Crown but a mid-late season plunge hurts the Reds as they fall out of first ultimaly losing the NL Central to the Cardinals, Joey Votto will have a 40 homerun season while winning the MVP. The Brewers will start out not so hot this year as they have a losing record through May, a hot streak in July will help them pull within a few games of the divsion lead but another cold spell in August will ultimaly hurt them at the end of the season. Andrew McCuthchen will have another MVP quality season but even another one of those will not help the Pirates end their streak of losing seasons. The Cubs, the one team no matter who your a fan of you feel bad for their fans, well Cubs fans will be in for another long season even though first baseman Anthony Rizzo has an amazing season the bullpen will cost too many games for this Cubs team to come even close to competing.


Buster Posey will live up to his
contract extension propelling the Giants to another
NL West Crown

NL West:
1.Giants: 94-68
2.Dodgers: 90-72
3.Diamondbacks: 84-78
4.Padres: 77-85
5.Rockies: 66-96
Why: The Giants coming off their second World Series championship in three years will come out strong once again this year dominiating just not the NL but all of the majors the first two months of the season, Buster Posey will live up to his mosnter contract extension while Matt Cain puts up Cy Young award winning numbers. The Dodgers who spent $215 million this offseason will look like the team that Magic Johnson and the rest of the Dodgers owners imagined. But a late season plunge will hurt them as they miss the playoffs even though Clayton Kershaw wins his 2nd career Cy Young. The Diamondbacks who strengthen their offense after trading away Justin Upton will come out strong out of the gate but their pitching staff will not be able to perform at the level of the Giants and Dodgers pitching staffs which will ultimaly decide the D-Backs fate as they miss the playoffs. The Padres will see alot of good things from Jedd Gyorko this season but it will not be enough for them to compete at the same pace of the NL West and the rest of the NL. The Rockies will once again finish under .500 still having the worst rotation in all of baseball and Troy Tulowtzki will continue to not live up to his $157 million.

MLB 2013 Predictions:AL Edition

Welcome to the first post here at The 0-2 Pitch! Today, we will be giving our 2013 MLB Season Predictions!

Today we will be making our AL Predictions. We saw a big year last year in the AL and the AL is going to be fully competive again this season and will be very fun to watch so let's get started on our predictions!

AL East:

Evan Longoria will have a career season
while trying to lead the Rays to the promise land.

1.Rays: 96-66
2.Blue Jays: 94-68
3.Yankees: 88-74
4.Orioles: 84-78
5.Red Sox: 76-86
 The Blue Jays bullpen is going to be rocky this year but has a chance to be a surprise for the fully loaded offense and starting roationed Blue Jays, but the bullpen will blow too many games for this Blue Jays team which a late season Rays rally will propell them into first place and ultimaly win the division by 2 games. The injury riddled and aging Yankees will finish with their second less than 90 wins season since 2001, while the Orioles will start out hot but a mid-season collapse will ultimalty decide their fate as they fall from playoff contention in the start of September. The Red Sox will finish under .500 for the consecutive season as they are not strong in any catagory, Red Sox's fans should prepare for another long and unsucessful season.

Justin Verlander will win another Cy Young
while leading the Tigers to another pennant.

AL Central:
1.Tigers: 98-64
2.White Sox: 87-75
3.Indians: 84-78
4.Royals: 75-87
5.Twins: 61-101
The Tigers are stacked once again this season and also could breathe a little easily now that they signed Justin Verlander to a 7 year extension worth 180 million. The Tigers offense are going to put up record numbers while Verlander has another Cy Young winning season winning 20+ and having a sup 2.80 era. The White Sox are on their way to a playoff birth in the near future but they fall short this season even though Chris Sales puts up Cy Young winning numbers but also falls short to inner-division ace Justin Verlander. The Royals are on the verge of a winning season but their youth will hurt them this year as they fall short of another winning season but catch a glimpse of the future many times through the season. The Twins will finish in last once again, throughout the season they will show signs of a good but their rotation is just to weak even with Vance Worley winning 15 games.

Josh Hamilton(left)Mike Trout(center),
and Albert Pujols (right) will lead the Angels to a
record season and the best record in baseball.

AL West:
1.Angels: 103-59
2.Athletics: 93-67
3.Rangers: 85-77
4.Mariners: 77-85
5. Astros: 49-113
The Angels will see their money pay off as they have a record season while Pujols,Hamilton,and Trout all put up 30 home run seasons and as Mike Trout wins his first of many MVP awards. The Athletics are going to have another strong season and will make the playoffs for the second consecutive season for the first time 2002 and 2003 seasons. The Rangers will have a good season under the circumstances that their team has been dismantled over the last few seasons. The Rangers will trade for Andre Either at the trade deadline trading away Ian Kinsler to make Jurkinson Profar who will win the ROY a full time starter while also trying to make a playoff push which will fail in early september. The Mariners are going to be very good, in a few years. But this is not their year as they will finish under .500 but their offensive numbers will go up as the fences at Safeco have been brought in. The Astros, are the kids who get bullied by all of the MLB this season as they finish with one of the worst records in MLB history and will once again get a first overall pick.