Jimmy Rollins’ Prediction
By Peter Schiller on Feb 08, 2008 with Comments 3
Back on February 4th, Nathan, a reader from MA asked: What do you make of NL MVP Jimmy Rollins’ prediction that the Phils will win 100 games this year? Clearly Santana and the Mets will make that a little bit challenging.
Baseball Reflections: The Phillies did not hit 100 wins in 2007 and in my opinion, they did not improve their pitching staff enough to win 100. It takes more than just a strong offensive team to win 100 games in Major League Baseball these days! A team needs a good # 3 starter before they should even be thinking about a 100 win season.
Then throw into the mix the possibility of having to face arguably the best left hander in the game in Johan Santana around 4 times and the Phillies might not even be good enough to beat out the Mets for first place because of the Santana trade. The Mets saw that they needed a better 1-2 punch at the top of their rotation and they went out and got Santana. That’s a huge advantage for the Mets over the Phillies right now in the race for their division and Spring Training hasn’t even started yet!
I hope that answers your question Nathan! J
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you give too much credit to the addition of Santana to the Mets…………….they are replacing Glavin………………so maybe Santana gives them 5 more wins………….Martinez is not what he once was………..Mayne and Perez are young and unproven……..Hernandez is old and a liability……….I can offer nothing about pelfrey and his almost 6 era………………..this is a team without defense……….let them play out the year before you declare them WORLD CHAMPIONS………….you RED SOX lover
Pete,
Thanks for your response. Sadly, I do have to agree with you. The Phillies really lack the pitching to be the favorite to win the NL east. I still think they have enough talent to make it to the playoffs though.
While I too may not agree with J-Roll’s predicition, I am going as far to make a bold prediction myself. Here it is: for the first time ever in MLB history we are going to see three consecutive NL MVP winners from the same team. Hence, CHASE UTLEY will win the 2008 NL MVP.
Steve,
That 5 game difference puts the Mets ahead of the Phillies by 4 games, allowing them to win the NL East.
Also, if Pedro wins just 10 games in 2008 that will be 7 more wins than he got for them in 2007 which puts the Mets 11 games ahead of the Phillies.
To add to all of that, adding Brad Lidge does not excite me if I’m a Phillies fan nor does moving Meyers back into the rotation, but it is better than doing nothing. They did also improve (slightly) at 3B.
Nathan,
I hope your prediction comes true! I think that your prediction has a better chance of coming true than does J-Rolls.