Taking a swing: staff MLB pre-season picks
There will be 2,430 games, at least 21,870 innings and at least 131,220 outs over the course of the summer. When all of that is done, MLB postseason play will ensue.
There will be home runs, strikeouts, walk-offs and maybe even a perfect game or two over the course of the summer. There will be raised tempers, farewell tours and pennant races.
There will be thousands of fans catching souvenirs in the stands, thousands will brave the heat of afternoon games and thousands will pile into stadiums to take in America’s game over the course of the summer.
By the time October rolls around, the field of 30 will be narrowed down to 10.
As a staff, the sports section of The Statesman has discussed, debated and disputed the possible results when the colder months show up and we have made picks. But the beautiful thing about a sport that spans seven months is that nobody’s predictions at the beginning will be close to the end result.
There will be injuries, trades and flat-out surprises. There will be players nobody knew anything about in April who will be household names by June. There will be teams nobody took seriously at the beginning of the season that are competing for playoff positions by the end. If you don’t buy into that, just look at Yasiel Puig or the Pittsburgh Pirates last season.
Buckle up and prepare for some excitement, because the next 192 days are going to be filled with it.