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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.
Corey Kluber
It may not have been a Cy Young year, but Kluber's 2015 campaign was still worthy the staff ace label he's been given. It would have been highly improbable for a duplication of the previous year, so when the dust was all settled, the things that Kluber could control came out right around expectations. The things he can't control, run support and defense, let him down in a big way especially early in the season, leading to a near direct inverse of his win-loss totals from the previous year.
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Courtesy of FanGraphs
My Prediction
Kluber doesn't need to be v.2014 Klubot, but the hope is that he continue to produce around the level we saw last year. From 2014 to 2015, he generated fewer ground balls and more fly balls, and more of the fly balls turns into home runs. He didn't strike batters out at the same rate, but he also continued a positive trend of walking them at a lower rate, from year to year. In many ways, some of the strong pieces from 2014 held such as strong strikeout numbers and keeping runners off of the bases, while some of the less desirable aspects of 2013 resurfaced, such as home runs. But if that's the mixture going forward, and I think it will be, I have no complaints.
IP: 225
W: 16
ERA: 3.22
WHIP: 1.10
K/9: 9.98
BB/9: 1.85
Your Turn
To submit your entry, simply copy and paste the text below into a new comment and fill in your predictions!
IP:
W:
ERA:
WHIP:
K/9:
BB/9: