Our Atlanta Braves Writers Predict the MLB Season

Our annual take:  how will the 2017 season play out?  TomahawkTake’s writers predict the order of finish of every team – all the way to the World Series.

We kinda have an idea about how the Atlanta Braves might do this year.  Or at least we’d like to think so, despite perhaps a bit of homerism, which we don’t apologize for on these pages.

But even when thinking about all of the possible pitfalls that could befall our favorite club, we have upped the ante and took a look at our best guesses for all 30 major league clubs.

In past years, I’ve tied names to the predictions for the sake of attaching bragging rights to the best guessers each season.  But… I forgot to put that in the survey, so we’ll instead have a composite tally of the votes from our staff.

No sense in stalling – let’s get to it.

National League East

• Nationals:  1st place – 91% of responses (Mets got 1 vote)
• Mets:  2nd place – 72% (1 vote each for 1st, 3rd, 5th places)
• Braves:  3rd place – 63% (2 votes each for 2nd, 4th)
• Marlins:  4th place – 63% (3 votes for third, 1 for last)
• Phillies:  5th place – 82% (2 votes for 4th place)

This is a fairly optimistic guess for our Braves, and while there had been some national broadcasters touting the ‘sleeper’ Braves in the middle of off-season, some have been liking the chances of the Marlins and Phillies more lately.

I’m still not buying that.  We saw the struggles that Atlanta had with young pitching last season and that’s generally where both Miami and Philadelphia are sitting right now.

Add to that the problem that Philadelphia may not have enough offense and that would seem to set up a last-place scenario for them.  That might not linger for very long after this season, but until then, we don’t see them escaping the basement.

From the top… do you truly trust the Mets’ health?  They probably have enough offense – even without David Wright, but face it:  all stories published with the words “Mets”, “pitcher”, and “elbow” in close proximity continue to trigger their fans this Spring.

Thus with a good combination of offense and pitching… though perhaps not their bullpen… the Nationals are the pick to click.

Sure:  there are scenarios that could put the Mets on top.  Maybe a miracle could bring the Braves there.  The Marlins range is probably 3rd-to-5th if their offense holds together… and the Phils could battle for the a top five draft pick next year.

National League Central

• Cubs:  1st place, 91% (one 2nd place vote)
• Cardinals:  2nd (72%, 1 vote each for 1st/3rd/4th)
• Pirates:  3rd (63%; 2 votes each for 2nd, 4th)
• Brewers:  4th (big spread here:  almost even distribution for 3rd through 5th places)
• Reds:  5th (All votes 4th or 5th; 63% for last)

The Reds will also struggle with pitching, and have opted to go young in the infield as Brandon Phillips is now a Brave.  They face stern tests, too, from their rivals in Chicago and St. Louis – and maybe Pittsburgh and Milwaukee as well.

We generally think the Brewers will be improved, with some believing that the Pirates might slip beneath them.

But at the top… the Cubs and Cardinals, though it is possible that the margin might not be as dramatic as the vote tally would suggest.

Moving Dexter Fowler from Chicago to the Arch can’t be overlooked.  With Jason Heyward still swinging a spooked bat, it is possible that the Cardinals might be able to keep close – if their pitching stays healthy.

National League West

This division is tricky – at least it was for me… with one exception:

• Dodgers – 63% of first place votes, tall others no worse than 2nd.
• Giants – 45% of second place votes
• Rockies – 63% of the third place votes
• Diamondbacks – 63% of the 4th place votes
• Padres – 5th place with 100% of the votes.  This could be the worst team in the National League.

Here’s my problem with this division:  if Arizona and Colorado end up with some decent pitching – and a healthy Greinke is about all they need in Phoenix – then we have some reckoning out West since both of those clubs already have enough offense to work with.  [Ed. note – that was written a couple of weeks ago… their rotation hasn’t exactly gelled since.  So, not much room for optimism in the desert right now.]

San Francisco is looking… old.  The Dodgers will also have an offense, but their pitching is still fragile.  There is certainly room for a 4-way dogfight here that could leave the playoff slot (and there could only be one if that plays out) up in the air very late into the season.

But with that said… most are not giving the upstarts much of a chance, and that’s reflected in these votes.