2015 Royals Predictions: Part I

It is way too early to predict who will be the Royals best players in 2015, but in honor of being only one day away from players reporting to Spring Training, I thought I would give it a shot. Below you will find my 2015 Royals Predictions for various statistical categories. I will likely change them several times before the season starts so please hold all comments related to my intelligence until April. 

I have divided my predictions into two parts. The first part is mostly serious predictions. The second part is mostly fun predictions. I will post Part II later this week. And as a bonus, I will provide snide commentary for all predictions while simultaneously trying to insult the Detroit Tigers as much as possible.  

Part I:

Most home runs: Eric Hosmer. Hoz stepped his game up in the playoffs and latter half of the 2014 season. He has still not fully reached his potential, and even though his home run totals have not been consistent throughout his short career (19, 14, 17, 9 in the past 4 years, respectively), he seems due for an explosion. Hosmer’s doubles have increased every year since 2012 indicating he is getting comfortable hitting MLB pitchers, and he truly became a leader for the Royals in the playoffs. I can see Hosmer smacking 24-25 homers this season. 

Highest batting average: Alex Rios. I am going to go out on a limb and predict that Rios has a bounce-back year in 2015, posting a career high in batting average since he will get to play 81 games in spacious Kauffman Stadium. He has averaged 32 doubles per season in his career, and has a career batting average of .278, which should only get higher when he gets to hit in a bigger ballpark, right? All things considered, Hosmer, Moose, Gordon, Rios and Kendrys Morales all had below average years in 2014 and someone has to bounce back. Rios is a good candidate for that.

Most stolen bases:  Jarrod Dyson. Despite playing in only 120 games in 2014, Dyson led the Royals in stolen bases with 36. Alcides Escobar had a respectable 31 playing in 42 more games than Dyson, but I can envision Dyson getting more playing time in 2015 since he was such a solid and consistent performer from August through October. And if Alex Rios or Lorenzo Cain gets hurt, Dyson will fill their place nicely which MEANS MORE STOLEN BASES HAHAHA SUCK IT DETROIT YOU GUYS ARE TOO SLOW FAT AND OLD TO STEAL BASES. 

Most hits: Alex Gordon. Gordon has averaged 173 hits per season that past 4 years, although he has had fewer in each season in that time span. However, Gordon’s work ethic is legendary and since his numbers have slipped a bit the past two seasons, I can see him making strides to prevent slipping any further. And in case you were wondering, Miggy Cabrera for the Tigers has also been slipping during the past 3 seasons AND HE HAS NOWHERE NEAR THE WORK ETHIC OR SVELTE BODY PHYSIQUE THAT GORDON HAS SO I DOUBT THAT FATSO IMPROVES IN 2015. Ha!

Most games played: Alcides Escobar. Esky has only missed 15 games in his 4 seasons with the Royals, and did not miss any last year. Everyone complains about his bat but the reality is that he is one of the most valuable players to the team. He is certainly more consistent than Moose or Hosmer, and provides intangibles with his glove and speed that would be sorely missed if he got injured.  

Most wins: Jeremy Guthrie. You might be surprised to learn that the pitcher with the most wins (28) in the past 2 seasons is not James Shields. Shields had a very respectable 27 wins in his short stint with the Royals, but Jeremy Guthrie has had the most wins overall since Shields became a Royal. Granted, he also has 23 losses in that same span, but J-Guts is very consistent, and as the elder statesman for the Royals starting pitchers, I can see him taking on a leadership role that was left empty when Shields departed in free agency. And guess what? The Tigers lost out on Max Scherzer this offseason and Justin Verlander sucks now and I bet the they would love to have Jeremy Guthrie on their team. Detroit sucks and makes me sick. 

Most strikeouts: Yordano Ace Ventura. In 2014, Ventura had 159 strikeouts and looked every bit as dominating as we Royals fans have hoped for. I can see some regression in 2015 as hitters learn his weaknesses, but he still has the fire to lead the team in strikeouts. New pitcher Edinson Volquez had 140 strikeouts last year for the Pirates, which would have ranked #3 for the Royals, so he has potential to challenge Ventura for the team lead in 2015. AND GUESS WHAT? Ventura had the same number of strikeouts as Justin Verlander in 2014, despite having one fewer Cy Young awards than him. Verlander sucks.

Rookie of the year: Brandon Finnegan. Or no one. I can’t decide. The Royals are a young team and retained their main core players, meaning they won’t be relying on any prospects getting called up this season. In fact, Finnegan and Kyle Zimmer (if he is ready) may not even get a chance to pitch for the Royals in 2015 because Kris Medlen is waiting in the wings. Not having a rookie of the year is a good problem to have. The Tigers' 2014 Rookie of the Year was some guy named Nick Castellanos, who had 140 strikeouts last season. I have absolutely no respect for an organization that awards a player for 140 strikeouts.

MVP: Sal Perez. Salvy is the heart and soul of this team. He is basically the only player besides Lorenzo Cain who had an above-average year in 2014, and he posted career highs in plate appearances, at-bats, runs scored, doubles, home runs, stolen bases (!), bases on balls, and total bases, all while posting the lowest batting average and on-base percentage of his career. He is also the best catcher in baseball (suck it Yadier Molina and Buster Posey) and how well he plays will strongly dictate how well the Royals do this season. By the way, the Detroit Tigers catcher Alex Avila had 151 strikeouts last year (Salvy had 85 and he played approximately 5,000 more innings than Avila). The Tigers are such a joke and I hope they have 10,000 strikeouts in 2015 thanks to Castellanos and Avila. 

Part II is coming up soon, so stay alert. Also, if anyone gets hurt in Spring Training, I am changing these predictions and I will make you read through another 890-word post so you better pray that the Royals remain healthy!