2015 Bold Predictions Thread

[RynoRules]

Cubs acquire Cole Hamels about a month before the deadline, and he pitches like Sutcliffe in 84'. The Cubs roll to a division title after taking three-straight from the Cards from 9/18-9/20.

 

On a related note, Kyle parades around his living room in his boxers screaming, "I told you so!" at no one in particular.

 

I wear briefs.

 

Your body says yes, your avatar says no.

[Guest]

Not that bold but Kris Bryant will be at Wrigley before the bleachers are open.

[bukie]

Cub infield totals 16 WAR and combines for over 100 HRs.

Cub fall rotation will have two pitchers different from their opening day rotation.

Cubs will have top 2 rookie of the year finishers.

Cubs will win 100 games for the first time in over a century.

[Guest]

.850+ ops for starlin

[Guest]

One of the Soler, Bryant, Baez, Russell, & Alcantara pool will put up a 5 win season in 2015 (or play at at least that pace over at least 1/3 of a season - to cover for Russell and Bryant).

[rocket]

jorge soler, your 2015 rookie of the year AND mvp.

 

on the bad side, castro struggles due to constant fear of being assassinated

[cubweiser03]

Mendy hits 20 giving the Cubs 6 20+HR guys( I can't think of any team having that). This team won't have the sick OBP of the 98 Yankees but they will be right there with them in terms of having a power balanced lineup.

 

They are going to pound the hell out of the ball this year. Poundtown

[fan_in_China]

Justin Turner comes out of nowhere and has the highest WAR of any of our pitchers.

 

Lester struggles during the first half and isn't dominate in the second half. He looks like a slight bust at the end of of the year.

 

Javy struggles for a month, and then puts up a Soriano-esque 6 weeks, causing people to call him the biggest All-star snub.

 

Unfortunately Alcantara becomes more Sean Rodriguez than Ben Zobrist.

 

Almora somehow changes his approach completely and becomes patient. He struggles at first, but puts up a couple of months of .300/.400/.500 ball to end the year.

 

The cold war ends, and Cubans come flooding in. The Cubs land pitchers Yadier Alvarez and Norge Ruiz, but are unable to land Gourriel Jr, Despaigne or anyone else of consequence.

 

Torres has an incredible year and ends up a top 10 prospect in all of baseball (top 5 if you don't count the Cubans).

 

The Cubs are in the wild card hunt with 6 weeks left, but experience a string of injuries that knocks them out of the race (Kyle subsequently spends all of his time calling people idiots when they consider the year positive that just ran into some bad luck).

[Post Count Padder]

Justin Turner comes out of nowhere and has the highest WAR of any of our pitchers.

 

Lester struggles during the first half and isn't dominate in the second half. He looks like a slight bust at the end of of the year.

 

Javy struggles for a month, and then puts up a Soriano-esque 6 weeks, causing people to call him the biggest All-star snub.

 

Unfortunately Alcantara becomes more Sean Rodriguez than Ben Zobrist.

 

Almora somehow changes his approach completely and becomes patient. He struggles at first, but puts up a couple of months of .300/.400/.500 ball to end the year.

 

The cold war ends, and Cubans come flooding in. The Cubs land pitchers Yadier Alvarez and Norge Ruiz, but are unable to land Gourriel Jr, Despaigne or anyone else of consequence.

 

Torres has an incredible year and ends up a top 10 prospect in all of baseball (top 5 if you don't count the Cubans).

 

The Cubs are in the wild card hunt with 6 weeks left, but experience a string of injuries that knocks them out of the race (Kyle subsequently spends all of his time calling people idiots when they consider the year positive that just ran into some bad luck).

Don't we have enough middle infield and pitching depth that we don't need to collect guys from the Dodgers and turn them into pitchers?

[RammyFanny]

Positive prediction: Addison Russell starts off hot at AAA and gets promoted much sooner than people expect with the Cubs looking competitive. Makes his debut in late May (at 3rd).

 

Negative prediction: Arrieta's big bump in usage of the slider/cutter (slutter?) continues, and while he's good because of it, he battles arm injuries on and off all year and can't shoulder a massive workload.

 

But hopefully he's just a lumberjack hoss and the increased stress on the arm doesn't mean squat.

[sontensei]

1. Cubs have strong starting pitching and offense, but the bullpen expected to be among the best ended up just over hyped and blows 15+ games over the season resulting in the cubs missing out in the wild card by 2 games.

 

2. CJ Edwards throws a no hitter in early May in the minors while the 5th starter is still kinda wishy washy, gets called up to go 8-2 with a 2.70 Era in his rookie season.

 

3. Cubs offense leads the majors in Home Runs, SLG, Strikeouts, and runners left in scoring position

 

4. Baez struggles immensely and hits AAA by June, afterwards he gets traded in a package at the deadline for a reliever and explodes in August and September in the bigs. The media draws comparisons to classic deal the cubs trade away powerhouse kids such as Lou Brock, Joe Carter, and Rafael Palmeiro

 

5. Bryant is good at 3b but the LF Platoon is terrible so Russell comes up to play 3rd moving Bryant to LF.

 

6. Solar has a historic first half of the season putting up a .330 Avg 22 HR by june. He tears his ACL during the all star weekend and out for the season

[Bull]

1. Cubs have strong starting pitching and offense, but the bullpen expected to be among the best ended up just over hyped and blows 15+ games over the season resulting in the cubs missing out in the wild card by 2 games.

 

2. CJ Edwards throws a no hitter in early May in the minors while the 5th starter is still kinda wishy washy, gets called up to go 8-2 with a 2.70 Era in his rookie season.

 

3. Cubs offense leads the majors in Home Runs, SLG, Strikeouts, and runners left in scoring position

 

4. Baez struggles immensely and hits AAA by June, afterwards he gets traded in a package at the deadline for a reliever and explodes in August and September in the bigs. The media draws comparisons to classic deal the cubs trade away powerhouse kids such as Lou Brock, Joe Carter, and Rafael Palmeiro

 

5. Bryant is good at 3b but the LF Platoon is terrible so Russell comes up to play 3rd moving Bryant to LF.

 

6. Solar has a historic first half of the season putting up a .330 Avg 22 HR by june. He tears his ACL during the all star weekend and out for the season

 

If Baez is in AAA, why isn't Russel at 2B?

[sontensei]

1. Cubs have strong starting pitching and offense, but the bullpen expected to be among the best ended up just over hyped and blows 15+ games over the season resulting in the cubs missing out in the wild card by 2 games.

 

2. CJ Edwards throws a no hitter in early May in the minors while the 5th starter is still kinda wishy washy, gets called up to go 8-2 with a 2.70 Era in his rookie season.

 

3. Cubs offense leads the majors in Home Runs, SLG, Strikeouts, and runners left in scoring position

 

4. Baez struggles immensely and hits AAA by June, afterwards he gets traded in a package at the deadline for a reliever and explodes in August and September in the bigs. The media draws comparisons to classic deal the cubs trade away powerhouse kids such as Lou Brock, Joe Carter, and Rafael Palmeiro

 

5. Bryant is good at 3b but the LF Platoon is terrible so Russell comes up to play 3rd moving Bryant to LF.

 

6. Solar has a historic first half of the season putting up a .330 Avg 22 HR by june. He tears his ACL during the all star weekend and out for the season

 

If Baez is in AAA, why isn't Russel at 2B?

 

Russell is declared not ready yet and La Stella gets on base alot so they keep him at 2b

[JudasIscariotTheBird]

1. Cubs have strong starting pitching and offense, but the bullpen expected to be among the best ended up just over hyped and blows 15+ games over the season resulting in the cubs missing out in the wild card by 2 games.

 

2. CJ Edwards throws a no hitter in early May in the minors while the 5th starter is still kinda wishy washy, gets called up to go 8-2 with a 2.70 Era in his rookie season.

 

3. Cubs offense leads the majors in Home Runs, SLG, Strikeouts, and runners left in scoring position

 

4. Baez struggles immensely and hits AAA by June, afterwards he gets traded in a package at the deadline for a reliever and explodes in August and September in the bigs. The media draws comparisons to classic deal the cubs trade away powerhouse kids such as Lou Brock, Joe Carter, and Rafael Palmeiro

 

5. Bryant is good at 3b but the LF Platoon is terrible so Russell comes up to play 3rd moving Bryant to LF.

 

6. Solar has a historic first half of the season putting up a .330 Avg 22 HR by june. He tears his ACL during the all star weekend and out for the season

 

I'm a Solar fan myself, but I think it is going to be more of a slow burn rather than bursting into industry. Higher oil prices will help.

[Bull]

1. Cubs have strong starting pitching and offense, but the bullpen expected to be among the best ended up just over hyped and blows 15+ games over the season resulting in the cubs missing out in the wild card by 2 games.

 

2. CJ Edwards throws a no hitter in early May in the minors while the 5th starter is still kinda wishy washy, gets called up to go 8-2 with a 2.70 Era in his rookie season.

 

3. Cubs offense leads the majors in Home Runs, SLG, Strikeouts, and runners left in scoring position

 

4. Baez struggles immensely and hits AAA by June, afterwards he gets traded in a package at the deadline for a reliever and explodes in August and September in the bigs. The media draws comparisons to classic deal the cubs trade away powerhouse kids such as Lou Brock, Joe Carter, and Rafael Palmeiro

 

5. Bryant is good at 3b but the LF Platoon is terrible so Russell comes up to play 3rd moving Bryant to LF.

 

6. Solar has a historic first half of the season putting up a .330 Avg 22 HR by june. He tears his ACL during the all star weekend and out for the season

 

If Baez is in AAA, why isn't Russel at 2B?

 

Russell is declared not ready yet and La Stella gets on base alot so they keep him at 2b

 

Not ready for 2B but you have him at 3B. Not that it matters, silly predictions and all, but yeah.

[sontensei]

1. Cubs have strong starting pitching and offense, but the bullpen expected to be among the best ended up just over hyped and blows 15+ games over the season resulting in the cubs missing out in the wild card by 2 games.

 

2. CJ Edwards throws a no hitter in early May in the minors while the 5th starter is still kinda wishy washy, gets called up to go 8-2 with a 2.70 Era in his rookie season.

 

3. Cubs offense leads the majors in Home Runs, SLG, Strikeouts, and runners left in scoring position

 

4. Baez struggles immensely and hits AAA by June, afterwards he gets traded in a package at the deadline for a reliever and explodes in August and September in the bigs. The media draws comparisons to classic deal the cubs trade away powerhouse kids such as Lou Brock, Joe Carter, and Rafael Palmeiro

 

5. Bryant is good at 3b but the LF Platoon is terrible so Russell comes up to play 3rd moving Bryant to LF.

 

6. Solar has a historic first half of the season putting up a .330 Avg 22 HR by june. He tears his ACL during the all star weekend and out for the season

 

If Baez is in AAA, why isn't Russel at 2B?

 

Russell is declared not ready yet and La Stella gets on base alot so they keep him at 2b

 

Not ready for 2B but you have him at 3B. Not that it matters, silly predictions and all, but yeah.

 

 

Oh I did didnt I? Typed that up quickly during lunch break.

All Right so Baez still sucks and La Stella still at 2b , russell at 3rd cuz the LF Platoon was just plain bad so they moved byrant there.

[sontensei]

Justin Turner comes out of nowhere and has the highest WAR of any of our pitchers.

 

Lester struggles during the first half and isn't dominate in the second half. He looks like a slight bust at the end of of the year.

 

Javy struggles for a month, and then puts up a Soriano-esque 6 weeks, causing people to call him the biggest All-star snub.

 

Unfortunately Alcantara becomes more Sean Rodriguez than Ben Zobrist.

 

Almora somehow changes his approach completely and becomes patient. He struggles at first, but puts up a couple of months of .300/.400/.500 ball to end the year.

 

The cold war ends, and Cubans come flooding in. The Cubs land pitchers Yadier Alvarez and Norge Ruiz, but are unable to land Gourriel Jr, Despaigne or anyone else of consequence.

 

Torres has an incredible year and ends up a top 10 prospect in all of baseball (top 5 if you don't count the Cubans).

 

The Cubs are in the wild card hunt with 6 weeks left, but experience a string of injuries that knocks them out of the race (Kyle subsequently spends all of his time calling people idiots when they consider the year positive that just ran into some bad luck).

Don't we have enough middle infield and pitching depth that we don't need to collect guys from the Dodgers and turn them into pitchers?

 

 

I've also been burnt so many times over the years its hard to imagine this NOT happening

[Hairyducked Idiot]

(Kyle subsequently spends all of his time calling people idiots when they consider the year positive that just ran into some bad luck).

 

Fair warning: I am seriously going to do this. If we just miss the playoffs, it's because our lily-livered, faint-hearted front office didn't do enough.

[davell]

Lester is top 3 in CY voting, Arrieta is good, not great. Hammel struggles, Hendricks is our 2nd best SP. 5th spot is problematic until a David Price trade happens, as Detroit falls out of contention.(Almora, P Johnson, Torres) Rondon and Grimm are solid, we hate Motte very early, and CJ becomes our set up guy down the stretch to rave reviews.

 

Javy starts in AAA, with LaStella at 2B. Javy comes up in June and puts up a .700 OPS rest of season, reducing K's to 33%. KB puts up a Longoria ROY type season. Soler is OK, .750ish OPS. Alcantara puts up a 4WAR season. Rizzo is widely known as a superstar, Castro is 2014 Castro. Montero and Fowler both play well enough to out produce their salary by a bit.

 

Russell stays in AAA until September and only gets a few ML games under his belt, Schwarber joins him as a top 10 prospect, as he improves a ton behind the plate. Stinnett is easily our best pitching prospect by the end of the season. We spend a ton on IFA again.

 

89 wins, 1st in division. Beat Dodgers, lose to Nats in playoffs.

[Clem Fandango]

Our entire rotation goes 1-5 in Cy Young voting.

 

Our entire starting lineup goes 1-8 in MVP voting

 

Our rookies go 1-3 in ROTY voting

 

Our entire bullpen goes like 1-6 in Rolaids Relief Man of the Year voting

 

Our entire bench goes 1-6 in The Daryle aWard Bench Man of the Year award I just made up

 

The Cubs miss out on a wild card spot by losing 1-0 on a 1 hit CG loss by Jon Lester who gives up a solo home run to Pete Kozma while the Cubs get a 12 hit shutout thrown by Tim Cooney in the final game of the season.

[rawaction]

With Derrick Rose and Patrick Kane both hurt yesterday, it's only a matter of time........

 

Pop up to the right side of the IF. Jon Lester and Anthony Rizzo both going for it, collide with each other....turning Rizzo into Hee Seop Choi and Lester into Dave Righetti.

[d_money]

With Derrick Rose and Patrick Kane both hurt yesterday, it's only a matter of time........

 

Pop up to the right side of the IF. Jon Lester and Anthony Rizzo both going for it, collide with each other....turning Rizzo into Hee Seop Choi and Lester into Dave Righetti.

Hahaha...Lesters left arm will simply disappear immediately after that play

[Backtobanks]

Our entire rotation goes 1-5 in Cy Young voting.

 

Our entire starting lineup goes 1-8 in MVP voting

 

Our rookies go 1-3 in ROTY voting

 

Our entire bullpen goes like 1-6 in Rolaids Relief Man of the Year voting

 

Our entire bench goes 1-6 in The Daryle aWard Bench Man of the Year award I just made up

 

The Cubs miss out on a wild card spot by losing 1-0 on a 1 hit CG loss by Jon Lester who gives up a solo home run to Pete Kozma while the Cubs get a 12 hit shutout thrown by Tim Cooney in the final game of the season.

 

This is for "bold" predictions, not tame predictions. :lol:

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

The Daryle aWard Bench Man of the Year award

this should definitely be a thing.

[flyseye]

After an incredible spring, Kris Bryant forces himself onto the opening day roster.