It’s the most wonderful time, of the year!!! It is Opening Day in the MLB and we here at Royals Blue are Celebrating! The weather is warm (for the next 6 hours or so). The rain is holding off until first pitch, and the grills are loaded in the truck. What more could a baseball fan ask for! Well I will tell you, they could ask for some Royals Predictions by your favorite Royals Blue members, that’s what!
We will start with Luke’s rosy outlook for this season. After the devastation of losing Brian Goodwin, Luke has turned his prediction into a doom and gloom scenario for the Royals going 0-162. I guess Goodwin really was the glue that held together 58 wins. He also predicts Lucas Duda takes away at bats from Frank Schwindel and Ryan O’Hearn, even though GMDM is adamant he will not (which does make you wonder whose at bats he will be taking). Luke went on to say he still thinks the Royals finish 4th in the Central however.
The Good Doctor Zachary Hodson is singing a similar tune to the Goose, prophesizing the Royals finish 4th in the central and win 72 games, however he is not so hard on the Royals and their roster building. Though we still don’t know the 25 man roster as of this prediction. Zach does states he see’s a scenario the Royals fold up shop and move to Baltimore over night due to the Duda Signing. So I guess we have that to look forward to.
John, ever the optimist, X. Greives can’t quit these guys. He is all in this year with the royals winning 82 games, and finishing second in the central. He even went on to explain a route the Royals go to making the second playoff spot, but lose out to the Montreal Expos due to goal differential. So we will keep a close eye on that.
Lastly, and bestly, My predictions for the 2019 Royals. I forsee a building year. We will have some serious struggles in the middle of the season as some of the new guys feel the effects of the MLB grind. I also forsee some break out seasons from pitcher Kyle Zimmer, and first baseman Ryan O’Hearn. Adalberto Mondesi and Whit Merrifield push each other to be all-star level middle infielders, but Billy Hamilton, and Jorge Soler grossly under produce, and are seen as flops. The starting pitching is a bright spot looking toward the future, and the bullpen still seems to have some holes. The Royals will finish at 75 wins, and land in 3rd in the Central.
This team will be fun to watch at times, and really hard to watch at other times. I doubt we take the big leap everyone hopes we take this year, but that said I do think we take a big jump in developing players that will one day lead us back to the postseason. And after all, that is what a rebuild is all about. But don’t tell GMDM I said that.
Zac
