@KeepTheJuice21 MLB 2022 Season Futures

The NL Central should be a cake walk for the Brewers. The Reds sold the farm and are a complete mess, the Cubs are officially rebuilding, and the Pirates aren’t even worth mentioning. The Cardinals are the only real competition and they’ve got their own issues. They’ve lost Jack Flaherty for the beginning of the season and this shoulder injury could be something that will continue to come up and they’re now relying on an aging Adam Wainwright to pick of the slack. Meanwhile the Brewers have got two of the top starters in baseball in Woodruff and Burns, plus one of the best closers in Hader. There isn’t much value in the division pick so take the over wins total for the same reasons.

The NL West is going to be a gauntlet, but the Padres are due more credit than they’ve been given. The Dodgers are the obvious favorite, but don’t be surprised if we get to the end of the season and the Padres are within a few games. They have an excellent starting rotation and a ton of depth in the pitching staff. And a short spring training means starting pitchers across the league will need more time to get to their full pitch count numbers. This makes the bridge pitchers that are in abundance in San Diego even more important, which could get them off to an early division lead.

Bobby Whitt looks like the next young guy to take the league by storm. He’s already drawing comparisons to Mike Trout and looked great in AAA last year with 33 home runs. As with any rookie, there’s a risk he doesn’t adjust to the league, but I think there are better odds that he comes in strong. The inexperience could work to his advantage as pitchers will have a difficult time figuring him out without much to work off.