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
SS Dee Gordon
LF Tony Gwynn Jr.
CF Matt Kemp
RF Andre Ethier
1B James Loney
3B Juan Uribe
2B Mark Ellis
C A.J. Ellis
P Clayton Kershaw
PROJECTED ROTATION
Clayton Kershaw
Chad Billingsley
Ted Lilly
Aaron Harang
Chris Capuano
PROJECTED ROTATION
Clayton Kershaw
Chad Billingsley
Ted Lilly
Aaron Harang
Chris Capuano
PROJECTED BULLPEN
Closer - Javy Guerra
Set-up - Kenley Jansen
Closer - Javy Guerra
Set-up - Kenley Jansen
Top Prospect - Zach Lee (RHP)
Breakout
Kenley Jansen - He may or may not pitched the ninth inning this season, but no matter what inning manager Don Mattingly points the right arm in his direction this fireballer, he is going to become one of the more dominant relievers in the game. A former catcher, he still needs to work on his command, but the strikeouts-per-nine should be close to tops in baseball.
Kenley Jansen - He may or may not pitched the ninth inning this season, but no matter what inning manager Don Mattingly points the right arm in his direction this fireballer, he is going to become one of the more dominant relievers in the game. A former catcher, he still needs to work on his command, but the strikeouts-per-nine should be close to tops in baseball.
Bust
Juan Uribe - I think the baseball minds in L.A. forgot how bad their offense was last year, minus Matt Kemp. Juan Uribe, who hit .204 last season, is going to be announced on Opening Day and everyone is going go to say, "we didn't do anything to upgrade third base?" Uribe should not be better than the worst offensive corner infield in baseball.
X-FACTOR
Andre Ethier - What an empty .292 batting average Ethier had in 2011. Maybe he only had 62 RBIs because Kemp was driving everyone in, or maybe because not that many Dodgers were on base, but his 11 homers was 20 less than what he did in 2009. Ethier and the rest of the offense around Kemp needs to step up if the Dodgers want to compete this year.
Andre Ethier - What an empty .292 batting average Ethier had in 2011. Maybe he only had 62 RBIs because Kemp was driving everyone in, or maybe because not that many Dodgers were on base, but his 11 homers was 20 less than what he did in 2009. Ethier and the rest of the offense around Kemp needs to step up if the Dodgers want to compete this year.
LAST YEAR'S RECORD: 82-79
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| Can Kemp capture the MVP this year? |
PROJECTED FINISH: 3rd in National League West
***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 Kansas City Royals
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