In March and April countless blogs and websites posted their 2017 MLB standings predictions for all to see and discuss. The amount of those blogs and websites that will re-post those predictions to discuss what went right and what went wrong during this natural break in the MLB scheduling will likely be able to be counted on one hand.
The All-Star break acts as the unofficial midway point of the season and is a great time to look back and see if we really are as smart as we thought we were.
WCS 2017 MLB Predictions
| AL EAST | Joshua Berube | Len Nunes | Alexandro Zatarain | Andy Carrigan |
| 82-80 | 80-82 | 80-82 | 81-81 | |
| 92-70 | 93-69 | 94-68 | 94-68 | |
| 83-79 | 83-79 | 88-74* | 83-79 | |
| 71-91 | 74-88 | 71-91 | 72-90 | |
| 88-74* | 89-73* | 85-77 | 87-75 | |
| AL Central | ||||
| 71-91 | 62-100 | 66-96 | 66-96 | |
| 96-66 | 94-68 | 97-65 | 97-65 | |
| 87-75 (Tie-Breaker)* | 78-84 | 86-76 | 87-75 | |
| 87-75 | 87-75 | 85-77 | 79-83 | |
| 63-99 | 76-86 | 64-98 | 66-96 | |
| AL WEST | ||||
| 76-86 | 73-89 | 80-82 | 75-87 | |
| 86-76 (Tie Breaker) | 91-71 | 88-74* | 89-73* | |
| 73-89 | 69-93 | 66-96 | 69-93 | |
| 86-76 | 85-77 | 90-72 | 90-72 | |
| 89-73 | 90-72* | 83-79 | 87-75* | |
| NL EAST | ||||
| 76-86 | 70-92 | 73-89 | 74-88 | |
| 75-87 | 81-81 | 79-83 | 77-85 | |
| 91-71 | 90-72 | 91-71 | 86-76* | |
| 74-88 | 69-93 | 68-94 | 74-88 | |
| 90-72* | 89-73* | 88-74* | 89-73 | |
| NL CENTRAL | ||||
| 96-66 | 98-64 | 99-63 | 96-66 | |
| 63-99 | 67-95 | 70-92 | 66-96 | |
| 70-92 | 75-87 | 68-94 | 72-90 | |
| 82-80 | 81-81 | 82-80 | 80-82 | |
| 87-75 | 85-77 | 89-73* | 82-80 | |
| NL WEST | ||||
| 84-78 | 83-79 | 82-80 | 78-84 | |
| 75-87 | 81-81 | 77-85 | 82-80 | |
| 91-73 | 87-75* | 91-73 | 92-70* | |
| 58-104 | 62-100 | 64-98 | 65-97 | |
| 88-74* | 88-74 | 87-69 | 93-67 |
Those were the predictions made back on March 19th by myself and staff member Joshua Berube along with special guests Alexandro Zatarain (owner of theAOSN.com) and Andy Carrigan (administrator of the Facebook group MLB Talk). Let’s go through some of the swings and misses!
AL EAST
Hit - Alexandro was the only member of the panel that believed the New York Yankees would make the playoffs. Now it’s too soon to call the Yankees a playoff team but if Aaron Judge can avoid a power outage at the plate over the second half the season, and the starting pitching holds up, the surprisingly entertaining Yanks could prove Alexandro right!
Miss- Len and Joshua had the Toronto Blue Jays making the playoffs but a horrible 4-13 start has the Jays still reeling. Only 5.5 games out of a Wild Card spot, the next couple weeks will be the deciding factor whether the Blue Jays will be buyers or sellers ahead of the trade deadline.
Another miss would be the Tampa Bay Rays! Nobody had them with over 74 wins and here they stand already with 47!
AL CENTRAL
Hit - In a reversal of fortunes that I called, the Minnesota Twins sit two games over .500 while the Detroit Tigers sit nine games under .500. Sure my final prediction is for the Tigers to finish two games ahead of the Twins but I was the only one calling a Tigers sub .500 season and for the Twins to be respectable.
Miss - The faith in the Detroit Tigers by everyone not mentioned above has come back to haunt them. With Justin Verlander trade rumours all the rage, slap the “sellers” label on the Tigers for upcoming trade deadline.
AL WEST
Hit - The Houston Astros were picked to make the playoffs by 3/4 of the panel but only one had them finishing first. With a 16.5 game lead over the Los Angeles Angels and Texas Rangers, even if the Astros only played .500 ball the rest of the way, The Angels (without Mike Trout) would need to go 51-19 while the Rangers would need to go 53-21 just to tie them. I feel pretty good about this pick!
Miss - By default the miss goes to Joshua who had the Astros missing the playoffs in a tiebreaker to the Tigers.
NL EAST
Hit - The debate was for last place in the East was between the Atlanta Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies. A debate so fierce that Andy choose them to finish with the same record. The other three selected the Phillies and will be proved correct.
Miss - If healthy, the New York Mets are a safe option to be a playoff team. All four of us made the bet that the pitching staff would be healthy and despite being in different parts of the world simultaneously cringed when Noah Syndergaard first refused to go for a MRI then was removed from his next start due to injury.
NL CENTRAL
Hit - Does anybody really believe the 50-win Milwaukee Brewers will win the Central Division or even make the playoffs? I had them at their highest win total of 75 which means for me to exactly correct, the Brew Crew will need to play .352 ball the rest of the way.
Andy was the stingiest with his win totals predicting only 82 for the St. Louis Cardinals and 80 for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He looks pretty good with totals right now.
Miss - Seemingly the whole world missed on the Chicago Cubs. 96 was the lowest predicted win total for the defending champions…86 seems more likely now.
NL WEST
Hit - Joshua came in with the highest predicted win total for the Arizona Diamondbacks (84) and will likely have his optimism surpassed the DBacks.
Andy pegged the Colorado Rockies at 82 wins and is more than having his faith rewarded by the Rox.
Miss - “MadBum” makes us all look like mad bums as the San Francisco Giants are last in the division. Three of four us had them making the playoffs…damn you Madison Bumgarner!
