2016 Bold Predictions: Zach Sanders

Last season, my inaugural Bold Predictions didn’t click, as I went just one-for-nine — but my one was pretty impressive — and embarrassed my entire family more than usual. I have dusted myself off and am prepared to hit it out of the park this year.

1. Giancarlo Stanton leads the NL in homers, but isn’t a top-12 outfielder
My primary gripe with Giancarlo is his health, which limits his run and RBI totals, and drops him outside the top-12 of my outfield ranks. Yet, I think he can miss a stretch and still lead the league in homers. That’d be a feat.

2. Ketel Marte will be a top-10 SS
Marte is ranked 13th by ESPN, but just 17th by Yahoo. While none of his numbers may jump off the board, odds are Marte won’t hurt you in any one category, and will at least have a positive impact in steals (and hopefully runs). It doesn’t take a whole lot of sexy to be a top-10 fantasy shortstop, and Marte will be one this season.

3. Indians starters will average better than a strikeout an inning
It hasn’t happened since before the turn of the 20th century, but Cleveland’s come the closest, hanging less than 0.1 per 9 away each of the last two years. This will be the season they make history.

4. Jerad Eickhoff will be a top-50 starter…
If you take a look at the RotoGraphs rankings, I am far and away the most optimistic about Eickhoff, as no other ranker had him better than 84. Eickhoff was awesome last year, and despite an unfavorable ballpark, he has the stuff to succeed.

5. …as will Mike Leake
Leake may not be a sexy pick, but he’ll give you wins and decent rate stats, and is one of the more dependable starters out there. It won’t be “fun”, but he’ll climb his way into the top 50.

6. Domingo Santana will be more valuable than Khris Davis
In our outfield rankings, Santana ranked 68th and Davis ranked 48th, and both those numbers generally reflected my personal thinking. But these are HOT TAKES, and sometimes you have to play the upside game. Santana not only has the potential to match Davis’ power if they played in the same environment, but could have an easier time now that Davis is in cavernous O.co.

7. Blake Swihart sneaks his way into being a top-12 catcher
Swihart ended up 19th in our most recent catcher ranks, but I was optimistic, ranking him ninth. There was some BABIP magic, but he was an above-average hitter against righites last year, and the return of Christian Vazquez in a few weeks should help keep Swihart on the bench against southpaws.

8. Brett Lawrie goes .270-20-7
He clearly has the talent for it, but can he stay healthy all year, and can he start to put it together offensively once again? Probably not, but let’s be bold here.

9. The Phillies bullpen will set the record for worst FIP- of this decade
The 2013 Astros currently hold the mark with a FIP- of 126, but Philadelphia will post one even higher this season.

10. Matt Bush records at least 20 strikeouts in the majors this year while recording at least one save.
Bush was touching 100 this spring, and the Rangers bullpen isn’t exactly loaded. You can’t really root for Matt Bush the human, but as a player, he’s damn sure interesting.

11. Nate Jones and Trevor May lead their teams in Holds
Jones was one of the better relievers in baseball before getting hurt, and May has electric stuff in the bullpen. Jones has the easiest path, as May needs to beat out Casey Fien and Kevin Jepsen, but those two might get sucked into some save opps, clearing the way.