Define good. Chi is saying he thinks they win 85 games. I would say that is being pretty pessimistic for a team that won 95 games last year despite having uncharacteristic performance from the guys I mentioned. As for others, the general sense I get from fans is quite negative heading into 2019 because the team has "done nothing." My entire point is even if they did nothing they have massive upside they don't even have to do much to reach.
85 wins because teams in their division got better while they stayed the same...
They have alot of question Mark's as far as what were gonna get from players because of inconsistencies and age..
Contreras: he gonna be the 250 hitter little power or 270 hitter with some power
Rizzo: needs to stay consistent and not fall into long periods of slumps
Baez: can he contain or stay close to his MVP performance or will he have a dropoff and if so, how big of one
Zobrist: had a crazy career year last year, odds are against that at age 38 he will repeat it, more likely to have a dropoff
Bryant: injuries hampered him, need him to bounce back
Schwarber: is he gonna break out and be what everyone expected in his 3rd full season or is this what he his, a low 200 hitter, 25+ HR guy who walks alot, and low runs production
Almora/Happ : who knows what were gonna get there
Heyward: he had a hot couple of months which gave him a respectable. 270 Avg , but he still sucked for the most part.dont expect much from him
Caratini Bote Descalso: the bench
Lester: gonna be 35, so far in his 4 yrs he been back n forth, between bad and good years ..
Hamels: gonna be 35, will he be 2017/1st half 2018 Hamels or 12 starts with Cubs Hamels
Darvish: ??????
Hendricks: gotta keep being Kyle Hendricks
Quintana: still waiting for him to figure it out and be consistent
Bullpen: some of you think its strong, I think it 4-5 guys needs to be top notch and then a prayer
I do see the potential with the offense and especially the SP to be very good if some play better then they have the last year or two and some just play to their capabilities..
until I see during this season, Contreras Schwarber Happ Almora and Heyward play good consistent ball most to all season, see if Baez and Zobrist can play close to or as well as they did last year, and if Rizzo and Bryant can return to MVP or close to it form, I'm going to he skeptical about the offense that struggled big for the most part last year.
The SP, I think can be their strength this year if they all pitch to their capabilities, but it could also be a disaster if Lester not as good as last season, Hamels is more the 1st half Hamels with Rangers then the 12 games with Cubs, Darvish just never gets going, and Quintana continues to be inconsistent
Bullpen comes down to Edwards Strop Cishek Montgomery and when he returns Morrow being consistently good all year, plus having another arm or two step up and get the job done.
Potential there, just a matter of them being able to do it all year
So yes, 85 wins because this is a team that instead of acquiring players that can help, their counting on players to either figure it out and/or return to form after a down year
