2. The Arizona Diamondbacks Earn a 2020 Wild Card Spot | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Sports

Way Too Spicy Predictions for the 2020 MLB Season

The MLB season is full of unpredictable outcomes. If my predictions seem a little crazy, then they might just come true.

56
Way Too Spicy Predictions for the 2020 MLB Season

In This Article:

Living in Arizona has exposed me to many spicy foods. Unfortunately, the only spicy things I like in my life are flaming hot sports takes. So, let's hop into some of my scorching takes for the 2020 MLB season.

1. Chris Davis Ends 2020 Hitting 25+ HR and Batting over .234

Flickr

You mean Khris Davis right Colin, the Oakland A's slugger? Nope! I mean the slumping Baltimore Orioles first baseman and designated hitter.

First and foremost, we know the playing time is going to be there since Davis will be making around $20 million dollars a year until 2023.

Secondly, have you seen Davis this spring training? Davis has a .467 BA, .615 OBP, 3 HR, and 9 RBI through nine games this spring.

I know it doesn't count, but for a power hitter who only has 28 HR to his credit the past two season combined along with horrific batting averages of .168 in 2018 and .179 in 2019, a great spring shows me Davis is comfortable in the box again. He is drawing walks and getting ahead of pitch counts.

There is absolutely no pressure coming into 2020 for Davis. The organization is in the middle of a massive rebuild and pitchers will be supplying meatballs early on until proven otherwise because of Davis' track record. We are going to see Davis re-emerge this season and slug 25+ home runs, and bat over .234 (his career average), unless he gets hurt again.

2. The Arizona Diamondbacks Earn a 2020 Wild Card Spot

Photo by: Colin Romaglia

The desert will be back in a similar position to 2017, fighting a one-game playoff, and is my surprise pick from the National League to make the postseason.

We all know the Dodgers are winning the National League West, but what about the other teams in the D-backs' division? The Padres are 2 years' worth of player development away from a deep MLB playoff push. The Giants are stuck between rebuilding and playing veterans well past their primes and the Rockies still lost over 90 games in 2019 despite having an incredible offense.

This left the D-backs with some daylight to buy during the offseason and boy did they cash out. They signed a new ace with tons of playoff experience, Madison Bumgarner, traded for a five-tool centerfielder, Starling Marté, and brought former Sun Devil, Kole Calhoun, back to the desert.

The D-backs only fell four wins short of making the postseason in 2019, finishing with a record of 85-77. With the NL Central and NL East each containing four playoff hopeful teams, I think they will tire each other out and bring the NL wild card spot win total to somewhere in the mid-80s in 2020. The D-backs will have no problem reaching that mark.

Will Ketel Marte and Eduardo Escobar experience the same success they had in 2019? I'm not sure, but Starling Marté and David Peralta will certainly take on most of the offensive burden this season.

3. Gerrit Cole Ends 2020 with an ERA above 3.50

Flickr

Yes, Gerrit Cole is an elite pitcher, and he has the capability to strikeout 300+ batters this season. However, you can't ignore the fact that he gives up a lot of homeruns (He's averaging 1.2 HR per 9-innings the past three seasons).

His velocity lends itself to hard contact. Additionally, he's a right-handed pitcher who is moving to Yankee Stadium, which has one of the shortest right field porches in the league. Opponents are going to stack lefties against Cole, and a lot of should-be fly balls outs will turn into home runs when he pitches at home.

He's still going to win well over 15 games on an elite Yankees team and probably maintain a strikeout per 9-innings above 10; just don't expect his ERA be the sparkling 2.88 In 2018 or 2.50 in 2019.

4. The Texas Rangers Make the Postseason for the First Time Since 2016

Flickr

Here it is, I needed to save my hottest take for last. It may seem outlandish, but there's no doubt most MLB fans in 2020 would want the Rangers representing Texas in the postseason instead of you know who.

The Rangers made fantastic pitching additions this offseason, taking chances on forgotten ace Corey Kluber (who was hampered in 2019 by a broken arm and oblique injury) and 31-year-old Kyle Gibson. Their rotation is filled with innings eaters who should be able to make 30 starts each and keep their team close most games (Kluber, Gibson, Mike Minor, and Lance Lynn).

Throw in a lineup that finished 12th in runs scored last season with 810 and you might just have the perfect mixture.

The biggest drawbacks to this hot take are that the Rangers bullpen is still a mystery, and the AL West is the most competitive division in the American League (with the Astros, Athletics, and Angels). If they make the big dance, this will be my proudest "I told you so".

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
Student Life

8 Things I Realized After My First Semester In College

Actually, Kylie Jenner, 2018 is the year of realizing things.

371
Friends

The first semester of college is famous for being one of the most difficult transitions of one's young adult life. You're thrown into a completely new area where the majority of the people surrounding you are strangers in an academic environment that's much more challenging then what you've grown accustomed to for the past twelve years. On top of that, you probably share a room with another person (or even multiple people) on the lumpiest "mattress" you've ever slept on.

With this change comes a lot of questions: what do I want to major in? What am I passionate about? Is what I'm passionate about something I'm actually good at? Why does the bathroom smell like cranberry juice and vodka? What is that thing at the bottom of the shower drain?

Keep Reading...Show less
girls with mascot
Personal Photo

College is tough, we all know. Here are 8 gifs you will 99% relate to if you are in college.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

7 Things College Has Taught Me

Other than knowledge and all those important things

640
7 Things College Has Taught Me
We Know Memes

So, college is the place where you're supposed to learn all of these amazing life skills.

Here are the top seven skills I have learned thus far.

Keep Reading...Show less
college

College is some of the greatest years of anyone's life. Its a time to be outrageous, different and free; a time to do everything you were afraid to do. Here are 38 things you will learn during your four (maybe, five or six) years in college!

1. As a freshman, one does get to be called “freshman” by upperclassmen when they walk to parties in a mob of people.

Keep Reading...Show less
Adulting

6 Unrealistic Expectations Society Has For Young Adults

Don't let the thesaurus-inspired vocabularies in our résumés fool you. We're actually just big kids.

3238
boy in adult clothes

Well over four feet tall and 100 pounds in weight, many of us "young adults" of the world still consider ourselves children. Big, working, college-attending, beer-drinking children. We may live on our own, know how to cook noodles, and occasionally use a planner, but don't be fooled; the youthful tendencies that reside within us still make their way into our daily lives. From choosing to stay up until 3:00 a.m. playing video games on a school night to going out in 30 degree weather without a coat, we still make decisions that our parents and grandparents would shake their heads at in disappointment. So why are we expected to know exactly how to be a wise, professional, sensible adult? It's not that we're irresponsible (for the most part, anyway). It's that we are young, inexperienced, and still have the sought-after, enthusiastic mentality that we can do and be whatever we want, which has not yet been tarnished by the reality of the world. These are just a few of the unrealistic expectations that society has for young adults.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments