Bold MLB Predictions for the 2nd Half of the Season

The first half of the MLB season was riveting. But the second half is when it gets really interesting, and we're going to make some predictions as to what's going to happen over the coming months.

Bryce Harper and Paul Goldschmidt have put up unbelievable numbers to this point and have a shot at the Triple Crown in the NL. 

In Los Angeles, the Angels' Mike Trout and Albert Pujols are about to accomplish something that hasn't been done in a long time, while the Boston Red Sox's David Ortiz is on the verge of joining a prestigious baseball fraternity.

Oh, and where will Cole Hamels and Johnny Cueto end up?

This list is filled with predictions, nothing more, but there's a good chance they will come to fruition in the second half.

Make sure to chime in with what you foresee happening in the second half in the comments section.

Michael Conforto Called Up to the Mets

Mark Ylen/Associated Press

With New York Mets general manager Sandy Alderson's big offseason acquisition, Michael Cuddyer, struggling mightily in the first half, there were rumblings that the team could call up 2014 first-round pick Michael Conforto from the minors.

In 37 games since being promoted to Double-A, the outfielder is hitting .314 with a .394 OBP and .869 OPS. 

The former Pac-12 Player of the Year is the No. 12-ranked prospect on ESPN Insider Keith Law's Top 50 list. He also represented the United States in the Futures Game on Sunday, going 2-for-2 and making a great throw to gun a runner out at the plate.

According to Adam Rubin of ESPN.com, Alderson doesn't plan on calling up Conforto anytime soon, but unless he acquires a bat before the deadline, he'll have to.

Daniel Murphy, Juan Lagares and Wilmer Flores are the only healthy everyday players hitting over .250 for the Mets at an ordinary .277, .256 and .252, respectively. 

Furthermore, only the lowly Chicago White Sox and Philadelphia Phillies have scored fewer runs than the Mets. 

New York is just two games back of the Washington Nationals in the NL East and a game behind the Chicago Cubs for the second wild-card spot in the NL because of its sensational pitching.

Somehow, the team has managed to stay in contention in spite of its offensive woes, and though Conforto won't turn into a star coming up straight from Double-A and skipping a level in the minors, he can help.

"All I can do is just try to be ready. Just be ready," Conforto said, according to Rubin. "And I feel like I am."

At some point over the next few months, Alderson will feel that way too.

NL Triple Crown Winner?

Patrick Semansky/Associated Press

The NL hasn't had a Triple Crown winner since 1937, when Joe Medwick made history for the St. Louis Cardinals, but Harper and Goldschmidt have a shot in the second half.

Goldschmidt leads the league in hitting with a .340 average, but Harper is right there with him at .339. Stanton's 27 home runs are currently the most in the NL, but he's out with an injury. So Harper—who has 26 at the break—and Goldschmidt—who has 21—can both realistically win the home run title.

As for RBI, Goldschmidt is tied for the most in the NL with Nolan Arenado at 70, while Harper is fourth with 61.

These are two of the best players in baseball and deservedly represented the NL in the All-Star Game this week.

It should be fun keeping up with what Harper and Goldschmidt are doing in the second half, going back-and-forth for the league lead in the three major offensive categories.

This won't be the year the NL gets its next Triple Crown winner, however, as Harper will finish first in home runs and RBI but won't best Goldschmidt's lofty batting average.

But this is going to come down to the last week of the season and will be a major topic of discussion over the coming months.

Bryan Price Gets Fired

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

The Cincinnati Reds didn't fire manager Bryan Price after he lashed out at the media earlier in the season, but he won't make it to the end of the season.

The Reds have greatly underperformed over the past two years.

They finished in fourth place in 2014—Price's first season as manager—with 76 wins and have a 39-47 record at the All-Star break.

Nobody expects the Reds to challenge St. Louis and Pittsburgh atop the division, but this roster has enough talent to hover around .500 at least.

Joey Votto is a former MVP, and Todd Frazier is playing like an MVP. Brandon Phillips isn't what he used to be, but he still plays a sick second base and is hitting a respectable .275. And Jay Bruce and Marlon Byrd have some pop in their bats.

The players are ultimately at fault, but Price is going to take the blame for not getting these guys to perform at the level they're capable of. 

Once general manager Walt Jocketty makes some much-expected trades at the trade deadline, Price will receive a pink slip.

Justin Upton Gets Traded

Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press

Seven months after being traded from the Atlanta Braves to the San Diego Padres, Justin Upton will change teams for the fourth time in his career.

As Jon Morosi of Fox Sports noted a few weeks ago, Padres general manager A.J. Preller may be compelled to part ways with a player like Upton, who is in the final guaranteed year of his current contract.

Despite an active offseason in which San Diego acquired several big names, including Upton, Matt Kemp, Craig Kimbrel and Wil Myers—who has been hurt much of the season—the Padres find themselves 10 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West.

Preller surrendered numerous prospects during the offseason makeover, and with the team nowhere near contention right now, trading Upton is a way to pick up some young guys for a player who would most likely walk away in free agency at the end of the season anyway.

There aren't a lot of big bats rumored to be available, so the Padres should receive a nice package for Upton, even though he's hitting below the Mendoza Line in June and July.

Plenty of teams in the hunt could use the outfielder's services, and according to Jim Bowden of ESPN.com (h/t the International Business Times' Justin Gloria), the Angels, Seattle Mariners and Kansas City Royals have interest.

We'll see where Upton ends up, but he won't be in San Diego when the deadline passes. 

David Ortiz Joins the 500 Home Run Club

Chris Carlson/Associated Press

It was a pretty rough first half for the Boston Red Sox, but thanks to a hot streak over the last few weeks, they're just 6.5 games out in the AL East.

So with his team chasing the New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays, Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays in the division, Ortiz will be chasing history the stretch.

Through 80 games played this season, Big Papi is hitting a meager .231—since 2002, he's finished with a batting average under .263 just once, in 2009 when he hit .238.

He hasn't lost his power yet, though.

Boston's designated hitter has launched 15 home runs in 2015, putting him on the cusp of the 500 home run club with 481.

The Red Sox are 89 games into the season, giving Ortiz 73 games to hit 19 big flies to get to 500, and that's assuming he doesn't rest or get hurt.

That's no easy task, but one of the more clutch players of this generation is in for a big second half, as his team will make a push for a playoff spot with him hitting some big home runs along the way.

Before the end of the season, Ortiz will become the 27th player in MLB history to launch 500 home runs.

David Wright Won't Return in 2015

Gregory Bull/Associated Press

2015 has been rough on Mets captain David Wright.

He landed on the disabled list in the second week of the season with a right hamstring strain that was only supposed to cost him a couple of weeks, but he suffered a major setback.

In May, MLB.com's Anthony DiComo reported that Wright was diagnosed with spinal stenosis, which Mayo Clinic describes as the following: "Spinal stenosis is a narrowing of the open spaces within your spine, which can put pressure on your spinal cord and the nerves that travel through the spine. Spinal stenosis occurs most often in the neck and lower back."

Wright also missed two months in 2011 with a stress fracture in his lower back, but this situation is far more daunting.

The careers of former major leaguers Don Mattingly and Lenny Dykstra ended prematurely because of the same condition Wright is attempting to come back from.

Now, that's not to suggest Wright will never play again, but Mets fans may want to temper expectations if they expect him back for a playoff run in 2015.

He's still in Los Angeles working with back specialist Robert Watkins, according to Adam Rubin of ESPN.com, and he hasn't resumed baseball activity yet.

Alderson said earlier this week there's "no change" in Wright's status, per Marc Carig of Newsday, which isn't exactly comforting since he'll need about a month to get into game shape once doctors clear him to start baseball activity.

Considering the way New York has handled the injuries of Steven Matz and Travis d'Arnaud this year—not to mention the negligence the organization has displayed in past seasons—there's no reason to believe Wright will play this season given the severity of the injury.

Alderson already said to Anthony Rieber of Newsday that Wright could be back by mid-July. Well, it's mid-July.

This is just the way this front office operates, people.

Mike Trout and Albert Pujols Will Each Hit 45-Plus Home Runs

Jae C. Hong/Associated Press

The Los Angeles Angels entered the All-Star break surging, winning seven of their last 10 to take a half-game lead over the surprising Houston Astros for the division lead.

Their two All-Stars—Pujols and Trout—have carried the Angels offensively, propelling them to first place in the AL West.

At 26 home runs apiece, the duo is tied for first in the AL and just one behind the injured Giancarlo Stanton for the most in the majors.

Pujols' career high for long balls in a season is 49 in 2006. While it's still early in his young career, 23-year-old Trout's high is 36 last season. Both can top those numbers with a big second half. 

But it's the company they may join when you combine their performances at the end of the year that makes their efforts this season stand apart.

With 74 games remaining on Los Angeles' schedule, Trout and Pujols have a chance to accomplish something that hasn't been done in quite some time.

The last time a pair of teammates each hit 45 home runs or more in a season was 2005, when Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz did so for the Red Sox.

A decade later, the Angels sluggers will accomplish the rare feat.

Clayton Kershaw and Chris Sale Reach 300 Strikeouts

Chris Carlson/Associated Press

Clayton Kershaw and Chris Sale lead the majors in strikeouts at the moment.

Kershaw has 160 through 18 starts, while Sale has punched out 157 in 17 games pitched.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have 72 games remaining, and the White Sox have 76. For the purposes of this conversation, let's just assume they will each get 15 starts the rest of the way, which would be about right if they pitched every fifth game the rest of the way.

Under that calculation, Kershaw would need roughly 9.3 strikeouts per start to reach 300, and Sale must retire about 9.5 batters per game on strikes.

In the first half, Kershaw struck out 8.9 batters per start, and Sale struck out 9.2. So both aces are going to have to pitch to a little less contact in the second half to accumulate 300 strikeouts in 2015.

It's certainly feasible, though. Sale struck out 10 or more batters in eight straight starts, and Kershaw wasn't even at his best for much of the first half. If Sale can go through a similar stretch of dominance and Kershaw improves a bit, the two will be in the same conversation as two all-time greats.

No pitcher has struck out 300 batters in a season since 2002, when Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson anchored the Arizona Diamondbacks' rotation.

Kershaw and Sale are primed to change that this year. 

Johnny Cueto to the Houston Astros and Cole Hamels to the Los Angeles Dodgers

Lynne Sladky/Associated Press

After a half-season of trade speculation in Johnny Cueto's case and longer than that for Cole Hamels, the top starting pitchers on the block will finally be traded to contenders.

Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reported earlier on July 13 that the Astros are targeting the Reds right-hander. 

The Astros need help in their rotation behind Dallas Keuchel and Collin McHugh, especially with Lance McCullers expected to be on an innings limit in the second half. Houston was the biggest surprise of the first half, leading the AL West for most of it before dropping eight of 10 going into the All-Star break.

They're contending sooner than expected in what's still supposed to be part of the rebuilding phase, and general manager Jeff Luhnow will make a blockbuster trade in hopes of setting the team up for a playoff run.

Like the Astros, the Dodgers have two reliable starters—Kershaw and Zack Greinke—and three question marks.

Brett Anderson has done well so far this season, posting a 3.17 ERA, but he's only started one playoff game in his seven-year career. Similarly, you can't go into October expecting big-game performances out of Mike Bolsinger and Carlos Frias.

Hamels is a veteran with a World Series ring and 13 playoff starts on his resume, making him the perfect fit for a Dodgers team that won't be satisfied getting bumped in the NLDS or NLCS. 

He's owed a lot of money through the 2019 season, and it would make little sense for a rebuilding team like the Phillies to keep him.

Expect Los Angeles to aggressively pursue the southpaw and add Hamels to a dominating front end of the rotation. 

The Pittsburgh Pirates Will Win the World Series

Keith Srakocic/Associated Press

On May 8, the Pittsburgh Pirates trailed the St. Louis Cardinals by nine games in the NL Central, but they're just 2.5 games out of first place in the division after taking three of four from St. Louis last weekend.

They've actually been one of the best teams in the NL for a few months now, as their .621 winning percentage since May 1 is the best in baseball, according to Rob Rossi of TribLive.com. 

The Pirates are dangerous because they pitch well, play smart baseball and are never out of a game, which they proved with two come-from-behind wins in extra innings in that last series against the Cardinals.

Pittsburgh is second in the majors behind the Cardinals with a 2.86 ERA and led by a starting rotation built for postseason success.

All-Star Gerrit Cole has emerged into a bona fide ace. His 13 wins are the most in baseball, and a 2.30 ERA is good for fifth in the NL.

All-Star teammate A.J. Burnett is second in the league with a 2.11 ERA, while Francisco Liriano has a solid 2.98 ERA.

The only other team with three starters who have ERAs under 3.00 is the Cardinals.

Meanwhile, St. Louis has the second-best bullpen ERA at 2.43, and Pittsburgh is third with a 2.48 ERA out of its relievers.

So why are the Pirates going to win the World Series?

The Dodgers and Washington Nationals will find a way to stumble in October, as is usually the case. As long as the Pirates get by St. Louis, they will reach the Fall Classic.

St. Louis and Pittsburgh are pretty even in terms of pitching, but Andrew McCutchen is going to have an MVP-caliber second half and will carry that into the postseason. Gregory Polanco will give the Pirates a boost by finally blossoming into the player Pittsburgh thought it was getting when it called him up a year ago. 

This is a young, confident team coming off consecutive early playoff exits, and now that it has some experience in the postseason, it's ready to do some actual damage.

For the first time since 1979, the Pittsburgh Pirates are going to win the World Series.

Will Joe Buck say, "Raise the Jolly Roger!" after the final out?