5 Bold Predictions for the Los Angeles Dodgers' 2017 Season

The Los Angeles Dodgers are clear favorites to win a fifth straight National League West crown. That doesn't mean their 2017 season will be devoid of surprises.

No team, no matter its budget or cache of talent, escapes the 162-game marathon without a few unexpected twists.

With that in mind, here are five bold predictions for the Dodgers in 2017. In this case, bold is defined as intriguing but plausible, so you won't find anything about Tommy Lasorda taking over as manager or Scott Van Slyke picking up MVP votes.

Not all of these prognostications will come true, but they're all worth chewing on as we bask in the promise and uncertainty of early April.

Yasmani Grandal Will Start the All-Star Game

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In a league that features the San Francisco Giants' Buster Posey and St. Louis Cardinals' Yadier Molina, getting an All-Star start at catcher is no small feat.

Yasmani Grandal could make it happen. 

The 28-year-old hit just .227 last season but heated up as he moved further away from offseason shoulder surgery.

He raised his OPS 120 points in the second half, from .757 to .877, and finished with 27 home runs. He also checked in as the fourth-best pitch framer in the game, per StatCorner.

It'll take a few huge months to unseat Posey and Molina on name recognition and reputation, which often play a key role in All-Star voting.

However, Grandal's got the skills to do that and to firmly establish himself among the NL's catching elite. 

Rich Hill Will Stay Healthy

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This is a bold prediction for two reasons.

First, Rich Hill has never logged 200 innings in 12 big league seasons while battling an array of injuries.

Second, the Dodgers rotation has been positively snakebitten the last two years. They used 15 different starting pitchers in 2016 and 16 in 2015.

Hill threw just 75 pitches in his first start Wednesday against the San Diego Padres. That's part of manager Dave Roberts' plan to limit his workload, per Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register. 

The 37-year-old could still succumb to one malady or another. History suggests he will.

At a certain point, though, Los Angeles is owed some good fortune in the health department. Why not now, and why not Hill?

Adrian Gonzalez Will Decline

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Adrian Gonzalez has jumped out of the gate, going 4-for-12 with a pair of doubles and four walks.

The veteran first baseman hit just .226 in the spring, however, after going 1-for-12 with Mexico in the World Baseball Classic. 

Do a handful of exhibition stats matter for a five-time All-Star? No. 

But Gonzalez saw his numbers dip in 2016, as he posted his lowest OPS (.784) since 2005. He turns 35 in May, so the decline is coming.

That's not to suggest Gonzalez will plummet off a cliff, but his days as a fearsome middle-of-the-order bat are numbered, meaning the Dodgers will need to get increased production from other players.

Yasiel Puig Will Rise

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Speaking of which, this could be the year Yasiel Puig puts it all together again.

You know about Puig's recent on- and -off-field issues, which led to an embarrassing demotion last season and caused yours truly to wonder whether the mercurial Cuban would ever again don a Dodgers uniform.

But Puig is back. More than that, he appears primed to deliver on the promise that made him one of the most exciting players in baseball not so long ago.

The 26-year-old hit three home runs in the Cactus League and has already hit that many in the regular season, including two in the Dodgers' 10-2 victory Wednesday over the San Diego Padres.

"He's being very disciplined with his approach," Roberts said of Puig's power surge, per Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times. "They're pitching him tough, but he's swinging at strikes and taking balls. We're looking for him to sustain it."

It says here he will and vault himself into the firmament of elite MLB outfielders.

Clayton Kershaw Won't Win the NL Cy Young Award

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I'm cribbing from a previous prediction, so I may get to be wrong twice.

Clayton Kershaw didn't win the National League Cy Young Award in 2016, but that's only because he missed two full calendar months with a back injury. Even still, he tied for the WAR lead among pitchers by FanGraphs' measure.

At some point, someone is going to unseat Kershaw. This is the year, and the someone in question is New York Mets right-hander Noah Syndergaard.

The kid they call Thor has the stuff, including a triple-digit heater, and he added 17 pounds of muscle in the offseason to increase his stamina and velocity.

Others, including the San Francisco Giants' Madison Bumgarner and Washington Nationals' Max Scherzer, will also be in the discussion.

Kershaw's the favorite, no question. But these are bold predictions, and betting against Kershaw is the definition of bold.

All statistics current as of Thursday and courtesy of MLB.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted.