By Andrew Marcus
Sportswriter for Montgomery Media
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Follow me on Twitter @amarcus515 |
To help pass the time between now and the start of the 2012 Major League Baseball season I am going to be examining a different team every day. Starting with the Astros, working toward the Phillies. I will give you my projected starters, breakout and bust players, each team's X-Factor and top prospect.
PROJECTED LINEUP
CF BJ Upton
LF Desmond Jennings
3B Evan Longoria
1B Carlos Pena
2B Ben Zobrist
RF Matt Joyce
DH Luke Scott
C Jose Molina
SS Sean Rodriguez
PROJECTED ROTATION
David Price
James Shields
Matt Moore
Jeremy Hellickson
Jeff Niemann
David Price
James Shields
Matt Moore
Jeremy Hellickson
Jeff Niemann
PROJECTED BULLPEN
Closer - Kyle Farnsworth
Set-up - Fernando Rodney
Closer - Kyle Farnsworth
Set-up - Fernando Rodney
Top Prospect - Matt Moore (LHP)
Breakout
BJ Upton - His season at 22 years-old put the baseball world on alert that Bossman Jr. was the next big thing after 24 homers and a .300 average. For the last three years he has hit around .240 and just hit 20 homers in the following two years after 2007. At 27 now and a free agent to be, Upton will put it all together and flirts with a 30-30 season and pushed the average to respectable at .280.
Bust
BJ Upton - His season at 22 years-old put the baseball world on alert that Bossman Jr. was the next big thing after 24 homers and a .300 average. For the last three years he has hit around .240 and just hit 20 homers in the following two years after 2007. At 27 now and a free agent to be, Upton will put it all together and flirts with a 30-30 season and pushed the average to respectable at .280.
Bust
Desmond Jennings - I'm not saying Jennings falls back down to AAA, but for the people that think he is going to be Carl Crawford immediately will be sorely disappointed. Jennings still swings and misses too much, so a low average with a lot of strikeouts will put a rain cloud over his 15 homers and 40 steals.
X-FACTOR
Kyle Farnsworth - The 35-year old closer is a concern, but for the Rays to compete in another season in the A.L. East they need the entire bullpen to perform. The Rays added former nutcase Fernando Rodney and they need a matured Jake McGee to pitch in pressure situations. Farnsworth health and the other men in the pen's skills will make or break the Rays season.
LAST YEAR'S RECORD: 91-71
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| Matt Moore is the new Rays top prospect dropping jaws |
PROJECTED FINISH: 3rd in the American League East
***THANKS FOR READING MY TEAM BY TEAM OUTLOOKS TO HELP PASS THE TIME
***THANKS FOR READING MY TEAM BY TEAM OUTLOOKS TO HELP PASS THE TIME
Check back tomorrow for the Milwaukee Brewers
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