2016 LGT Prediction Contest: Francisco Lindor

This post is part of a series allowing the LGT community to weigh in with their predictions for projected starters and key bench players for the 2016 season. As usual, there will be two separate contests, one for hitters and one for pitchers. Following last year's scoring model, the points system will work relative to the stats - the closer to final number in each category, the more points you can earn, despite what other participants predict. You need not submit predictions for every single player in order to win, but doing so will increase your chances to win.

For position players, you'll be asked to predict each player's plate appearances (PA), home runs (HR), stolen bases (SB), batting average (AVG), on-base percentage (OBP), and slugging percentage (SLG).

Comments for each post will remain active until the night of Sunday, April 3rd, 2015.

Francisco Lindor

I don't think these is an Indians fan alive who could be remotely disappointed in Lindor's rookie year. But will he be able to match that production? Improve upon it? Or regress a little bit toward what we initially expected?

Courtesy of FanGraphs

Matt Schlichting's Prediction

I understand that Lindor hit the ball harder in 2015 than a lot of folks expected. Pitcher's will adjust, his batted ball average will come back to Earth, and  the rest of his averages/percentages will take a little bit of a dip. Despite this, I think his performance in 2016 will be the best by any shortstop in the American League. I can't remember a young player coming up through the Cleveland system with this kind of hype and the talent to back it up. Francisco Lindor is a monster sent from the future to save Indians fans from eternal misery, and he'll do it this season with these numbers:

PA: 650
HR: 11
SB: 22
AVG: .302
OBP: .345
SLG: .427
DEF: Nasty.

Bonus Prediction: Lindor signs a massive sponsorship deal with Wonderful Pistachios in July, and they become his (contractually obligated) dugout snack.

Your Turn

You can just totally make up random numbers but if you'd rather a more statistically accurate approach, you can use these calculators to help you get there:

• Batting Average
• On-Base Percentage
• Slugging

To submit your entry, simply copy and paste the text below into a new comment and fill in your predictions!

PA:
HR:
SB:
AVG:
OBP:
SLG: