The Royals are built not for the short-term, but, more importantly, the long-term, perhaps more so than any other team in the Central. And while Mize had a solid first full season, projections seem to be down on him, mostly due to his lack of consistent swing and miss stuff.

Which makes a .500 season pretty sensible for them in 2022. On a pitching-end, Lucas Giolito and Dylan Cease should continue to be solid at the top of the rotation, and Michael Kopech is expected to replace Rodons spot in the rotation after mostly pitching in relief in 2021.

But in the end, it proved to be the right move for Cleveland, as it not just saved money, but opened the door for some key youngsters who possessed much more long-term value. pic.twitter.com/M4DeTZAkdj. However, most teams in the Central are better than a year ago, and I think the White Soxs history of injuries besetting key players will catch up to them this season. Thus, here are my predicted 2022 standings for the AL Central. While Cleveland fans are optimistic that the newly named Guardians can continue to flirt with Wild Card contention in 2022 despite a decreasing payroll (much like 2020 and 2021), as a non-Cleveland fan, its hard to think the Guardians will do much this season.

How many times a week should you exercise and for how long? Beyond Ramirez and Reyes, there are a whole lot of question marks in the lineup. That being said, they are still keeping an eye toward the future, which was demonstrated by them calling up Jhoan Duran, who has been a top prospect for the Twins for a while, but has struggled immensely (like many Twins) with injuries. The Duke of Sussex has won the right to a judicial review of the decision not to grant him automatic police protection whenever he is in the UK. But I really think this Royals team will finish third in the standings, which would be their best mark in the AL Central division since 2017 (when they also finished third as well). The Guardians have long got away with being cheap due to their core of young positional talent, as well as their success in terms of pitching development. The Cubs must have a lot of things break their way to finish above .500 and truly threaten atop the division. 2.) Cubs starting pitcher Marcus Stroman looks skyward before his Cactus League start against the Giants on March 18, 2022, at Scottsdale Stadium in Scottsdale, Ariz. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune). [Don't miss] Whats the weather for the Chicago Cubs home opener and how has it affected debuts at Wrigley Field since 1989? And forget labeling the Cubs an underdog this season. And while Dylan Bundy and Chris Archer are big names, this isnt 2017, and its hard to see them pitching a few months fully healthy, let alone a full season.

Welcome to The Show! Seiya Suzuki celebrates in the Cubs dugout after hitting a three-run home run during the first inning of the game against the Brewers at Wrigley Field on April 10, 2022. Up the middle, shortstop Nico Hoerner and second baseman Nick Madrigal must stay healthy and give the Cubs the type of contact hitters the lineup desperate needs. The Guardians have always done a good job of outperforming their projections. Will Kris Bubic and Carlos Hernandez build on their strong finishes? Sure, Straw has speed, but will he prove to be more than just a slightly better Michael A. Taylor? Its been a wonky offseason for the Twinkies, as they were probably the most active of any club in the Central division post-lockout. It just seems like these injuries happen way too often for the White Sox, especially over the past few seasons. Chicago will eventually win the division, but the number, 85 wins, will be a whole lot less impressive than what they did a season ago. And can Bradley Zimmer hit enough to stay in the lineup?

Russia and Ukraine are due Friday to sign an elusive agreement designed to resume grain shipments across the Black Sea for the first time since the Kremlin's invasion in February. Or would they begin the rebuilding process, and start focusing on playing and developing their prospects at the Major League level? Minnesota finished in last place with a record of 73-89 and many baseball fans going into 2022 were curious: Would the Twins try to rebuild quickly, crediting 2021 as a fluke year? As far as the wild card spots go, the Blue Jays and Rays are projected to get the first and second spots, respectively. ZiPS still likes their front-end talent, but the wheels come off this cart in the simulations where injuries hit. Greinke gives the Royals a veteran pitcher they havent had since an effective Ian Kennedy back in 2016. I highly doubt I will finish on the nose record-wise, but it will be interesting to see how close I will be with these predictions come October. On the pitching staff, right-handers Kyle Hendricks and Marcus Stroman setting the tone would go a long way. In order to improve our community experience, we are temporarily suspending article commenting, still have a lot of work to do this offseason, Jan. 6 committee shows video of Sen. 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Miguel Cabrera is running of fumes in the twilight of his career, and the Tigers have to play him BECAUSE they are paying him so much each year. Will Brady Singer, Daniel Lynch, and Jackson Kowar take the next step after going through some growing pains? Their rotation remains stacked, and manager Craig Counsell has multiple bullpen weapons. When were going up against Milwaukee to start the season or going up against Cardinals, those teams have a lot of veteran, really good players, and theyre built to win right now.. The Cubs also must maximize their collection of free-agent pitcher signings and hope the majority of Drew Smyly, Wade Miley, David Robertson, Mychal Givens and Daniel Norris pan out. (LogOut/ Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Easily identifiable from the laughing and wielding of half drunk bottles of Prosecco; the requisite sashes, tiaras and t-shirts bearing an image of the bride-to-be; swigging from their Bot for the Journ (bottle for the journey) as I recently heard it described by Millennial Emily Atack. Taylor Rogers is a nice setup man, but can he handle the closers role full-time? 1 prospect Bobby Witt Jr. has made the Royals Opening Day roster, per @JonHeyman pic.twitter.com/pypagyFhMW. Republicans say they permit election fraud, but the results suggest otherwise, Petrol sales sink as record high prices stop people filling their cars Why the end of the ECBs disastrous negative rates experiment wont save Europe FTSE 100 rises 0.1pc after retail sales fall Ben Marlow: HSBCs shameful enthusiasm for the Chinese regime should alarm all who value freedom Sign up here for our daily business briefing newsletter, Russian army on last legs, says MI6 chief Plan to memorialise bombed-out homes divides Kyiv suburb End the war to prevent nuclear abyss, warns Lukashenko Western fighter jets could be sent to Ukraine to boost forces Listen to the latest episode of our daily Ukraine podcast. The White Sox are the Central division favorites, and it makes sense, considering they won 93 games a year ago and cruised to the division crown. And lastly, Royals fans shouldnt sleep on Kyle Isbel and Edward Olivares, who both had solid Spring Training campaigns and showed flashes at the plate and in the field in brief stints with the Royals in 2021. When it comes to the format of these posts, I am going to list each team by projected order of finish, with a predicted record on my end, and reasoning for why I think they will finish with that record by the seasons end in 2022. For the Cubs to threaten at the top of the division, it will require standout performances in key areas. Granted, the Royals have their own injury-plagued multi-tool star in Adalberto Mondesi. On paper, the White Sox look the same as last year. The Tigers pretty much stayed pat, which isnt necessarily a bad thing, but its not like this roster is brimming with youth and promise beyond Torkelson and Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal in the rotation. The Royals at least have Whit Merrifield and Nicky Lopez to fill in at second and shortstop, respectively. Left-hander Justin Steele being the real deal in the rotation, with his stuff, would provide a big boost for the short- and long-term outlook. However, the White Sox though already have gotten hit by the injury bug this Spring, and that could be damaging to their chances to run away with the division as easily as a year ago. Change). They also acquired Carlos Correa in free agency, as well as Gio Urshela via trade, which should make the right side of their infield better defensively at the very least. It helps when a club has guys like Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez in the field, and Shane Bieber in the rotation, all homegrown guys. (LogOut/

Our goal is to create a safe and engaging place for users to connect over interests and passions. Discover something new every day from News, Sports, Finance, Entertainment and more! Whether its just bad luck or bad training or a bad medical staff, this much is true: Chicago isnt maximizing what they have on their roster, and that is going to shrink their window to compete for an AL Pennant sooner rather than later. Witt will be an immense upgrade offensively and defensively over Hunter Dozier at third base, the Royals 2021 Opening Day third baseman (though Dozier could find a bounce back as a first baseman/DH in 2022). document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. The Tigers were the surprise of 2021, as they finished third in the Central with a 77-85 record. Staying consistent, sleeping well, and eating balanced meals all play a key role, (Bloomberg) -- Sri Lankas new President Ranil Wickremesinghe called in the military to maintain public order and troops began dismantling a key protest site near the presidential office early Friday, leading to tense scenes with demonstrators. [[Don't miss] Column: Another opening day at Wrigley Field is a time to dream despite the reality of the Chicago Cubs latest rebuild]. After going through the methodology and algorithms, and taking into account depth charts, playing time projections, injury risks, and other factors, here's how the initial projections were done: The result is a million different rosters for each team and an associated winning percentage for each of those million teams. I prefer these over say Vegas over/under win totals, though to be honest, Im pretty sure those over/under numbers arent all that far off from what Fangraphs is publishing. It will be a more trying season on the South Side. This shows that the Twins believe their window to compete is now, especially since Buxton is already 28-years-old. While people are down on Greinke after a bad for his standards season, he was the Astros Opening Day starter in 2021, and its likely that he still could be one for half the teams in Major League Baseball. However, a couple of tweaks and adjustments this season by those young arms could make them not just a .500 team, but perhaps one that could challenge the White Sox for the division. But thats why you play the season out. The White Sox talent-wise are still head and shoulders above most teams in the Central, which is why I still pick them to win the Central. It doesnt matter who you suit up against, every team has as an opportunity to beat you and every team feels like theyre going into the season with a chance to win, Ross said. The Houston Astros, projected to go 91-71 and win the AL West, are the only team in the AL projected to win more than 90 games. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Despite trading away talent to reduce payroll, the Reds still feature a few dangerous hitters, including Joey Votto, Jonathan India and Tyler Stephenson. As for the bullpen? The Yankees still have a lot of work to do this offseason, but the lockout projected ZiPS standings for the 2022 season have them winning the AL East. I dont like that narrative, Ross said Monday. And after that? My reasoning for an improvement in the standings and a five-win improvement is based on a couple of factors: 1.) Greinke will be a 4.00 ERA or below pitcher, something they havent had in quite some time. And were working toward that every day.. Furthermore, I am not sure the pitching is all that impressive beyond Gray and Joe Ryan. In terms of the gap, the biggest change for this Royals team is the presence of Zack Greinke, who signed with the Royals in free agency this offseason. Unfortunately for Tigers fans, after the lockout, the deals suddenly stopped for Detroit. That being said, the Royals seem to be expecting Mondesi to play about 90-110 games this year, not 130-150, as the Twins are expecting with Buxton. The Twins have the chance to be good. New at @CHGO_Sports: The Sox already had a couple question marks in their rotation. The reality, however, is the Cubs arent the intimidating franchise that won 90-plus games and qualified for the playoffs in four consecutive seasons from 2015-18. Now, the White Sox did lose some contributors from last year. But everybody is different. Sauntering in vertiginous heels from my Barcelona hotel down Las Ramblas in June this year, I passed several groups of excitable young British women. Now that Lance Lynn's down with a knee injury, the question marks make up a majority of the starting staff. FanGraphs final ZiPs projection has the Cubs finishing 77-85 and in third place in the National League Central, just one game ahead of the Cincinnati Reds. Yes, the Pittsburgh Pirates are clearly rebuilding, but games arent won on paper. Nobody has ever had cause to work out what the diametric opposite to performing at the Eurovision Song Contest would be, but a Thursday night acoustic set on the Microlight Stage at Barn on the Farm, a diminutive independent music festival just outside Gloucester, must be pretty close. Not just a championship, but multiple. AJ Pollock was a shrewd acquisition from the Dodgers (they traded away Craig Kimbrel, who underwhelmed in his brief tenure in the White Sox pen). They acquired Sonny Gray from Cincinnati, which gives them a solid arm at the top of the rotation who should also benefit from NOT playing his home games in the bandbox that is Great American Ballpark. Furthermore, Lance Lynn is expected to miss at least six weeks due to a torn tendon. Carlos Rodon is now a San Francisco Giant after resurrecting his career in 2021. It could mean only one thing: it was hen party season in Bar. They were the only club to finish with a winning record in the division a year ago, and it is highly likely that they could be the only ones to finish in the winning column in 2022 as well. 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https://t.co/SWa0R1Alf4. However, that has been few and far between due to his injury history, and Im not sure the Twins have done enough as an organization internally to suddenly turn around that trend in 2022. The Milwaukee Brewers appear poised to repeat as the NL Central champs. And other Central division fans will say that Im being a homer. Getting snake bit with injuries is part of the legacy, especially over the past few seasons. Cubs starting pitcher Marcus Stroman looks skyward before his Cactus League start against the Giants on March 18, 2022, at Scottsdale Stadium in Scottsdale, Ariz. [Dont miss] Chicago Cubs opening day 2022: What to know if youre headed to Wrigley Field, [Don't miss] Chicago Cubs: How to watch or stream games for the 2022 season. On paper, the Twins should be good, maybe a dark horse to pass the White Sox in the Central Division if things fall in their favor. Jonathan Schoop was solid, but how many years does he have left like 2021 (and where is his best fit defensively)? It should be noted that the playoffs are expected to expand as part of the new CBA, which would mean going from 10 playoff teams to 12 or 14. The starting pitching will be the key, and it could be the reason why this team will probably fall just short of .500. While I am not an expert by any means, I feel like I have a pretty good feel on the Central division, and am pretty comfortable in terms of projecting the outlook for each team for 2022.