When it comes to talking about America’s pastime, baseball, making predictions about what teams will show up and play this year is a toss up. Who had picked the Kansas City Royals to make their first World Series appearance since 1985? I assume not many, but that is just how the game of baseball tends to work. Many people study the game, trying to find that perfect matchup for the World Series.
When it comes down to what team from the National League will make an appearance in the World Series, one team comes to mind: the Washington Nationals. The American League is a little bit harder to decide. Growing up a Kansas City Royals fan has left me a little biased, so contrary to popular predictions, I’m picking them to make yet another appearance this year.
Even with the struggle of injuries they are having to deal with, the Nationals are going to be a powerhouse, and will take the NL East with ease. With the injuries that the Nats are dealing with right now, a lot of attention will be focused on Bryce Harper to pull his team to victory as he has done time and time again. Harper will not be the only key to success for this franchise. While Harper is going to be busy driving in runs, the starting pitching for the Nats will be handing losses to a lot of batters. Max Scherzer, Jordan Zimmermann, and Stephen Strasburg are all going to be very hard to hit, and will all finish in the top 10 for the Cy Young voting, in my opinion.
The Royals did not seem to make very many good moves this last offseason, but with how young the team is, there is a lot of potential this year. With the loss of the ace, James Shields, the young Yordano Ventura will be receiving a lot of attention when it comes to the Royals starting pitchers. Even with the loss of Shields, though, the Royals bullpen is still as stacked as ever, but put that bullpen together with the starters on the field: you have a recipe for success.
