Mid-Season MLB Projections

With the season half over, it’s pretty easy to project a players final stats. 

Here’s the plan:  I’ll simply double every players totals and keep the rate statistics the same. 

Then we can all place guesses on whether guys will get there or not.  Sound good?

• Gerald Laird: .241, 8 HR, 44 RBI, 81 OPS+
• Miguel Cabrera: .322, 32 HR, 94 RBI, 137 OPS+
• Placido Polanco: .256, 10 HR, 72 RBI, 38 2B, 80 OPS+
• Adam Everett: .267, 4 HR, 54 RBI, 77 OPS+
• Brandon Inge: .266, 38 HR, 108 RBI, 160 K, 96 R, 123 OPS+
• Curtis Granderson: .255, 36 HR, 30 SB, 142 K, 86 RBI, 107 OPS+
• Magglio Ordonez: .264, 8 HR, 56 RBI, 20 2B, 79 OPS+
• Justin Verlander: 16-8, 3.54 ERA, 218.2 innings, 260 K
• Edwin Jackson: 12-8, 2.59 ERA, 229.1 innings, 186 K
• Rick Porcello: 16-12, 4.14 ERA, 174 innings, 94 K
• Armando Galarraga: 10-14, 5.03 ERA, 186 innings
• Fernando Rodney: 4.25 ERA, 34 SV, 34 SVOPP, 72 innings, 60 K

There’s no way Inge keeps up this pace, right?  That’s the most obvious thing here for me. 

Inge may hit 30 home runs this season and he may even get close to the 100 RBI mark, but 38 home runs?  Not happening. 

I voted for the guy in this All-Star voting a dozen times or so, but I just don’t think he’s that good.

The other thing that stands out here is Jackson’s projected win total.  That guy has caught zero breaks this year.  Does he look like a 12-game winner out there? 

I have to imagine that luck will catch up with Jackson later in the season and he’ll finish with at least 15 wins.

We all know Rodney will blow a save at some point.  He’s gasoline half the time, he’s just been really lucky so far.

Sadly, I think what we’ve seen from Magglio in the first half is roughly what we will see in the second half. 

He looks like a different player now, and not in a good way. I can see him finishing with 10-12 home runs, but nothing more than that.

We will almost certainly see a drop in Porcello’s numbers.  His innings are getting cut as his performance has tailed off a bit. 

I think this is a good thing. If he can keep that ERA around 4.00 for the rest of the season, he’ll have had a great rookie season.

Any other thoughts? 

Who will improve in the second half and who will come back down to earth a bit?