I hate bold prediction articles. I hate how embarrassingly wrong all of them are at the end of the season. I hate how they make you a worse fantasy player, because you get it in your head that these things are going to happen, and they aren’t going to happen. I hate how they aren’t really predictions, because if you were really predicting it, it would be reflected in your rankings. Here are my 10 Dynasty Baseball Slanted Bold Predictions:

Click the below links for my previous off-season content:

Halp’s Dynasty Baseball Podcast

2019 Top 1,000 Dynasty Baseball Rankings

2019 Top 472 Dynasty Baseball Prospect Rankings

Updated March Top 100 Prospects Ranking

11 Dynasty Baseball Rules to Live By

2020 Top 90 Dynasty Baseball First Year Player Draft Rankings (1st Edition)

The Dynasty Baseball Rundown (3/10/19)

1) Daz Cameron will have a Ramon Laureano-like August and September, helping many a fantasy team take home the title in those crucial final months. The power is definitely coming. Just watch him crush this grand slam on Sunday. With groundball rates consistently under 40% for the last two seasons, this power breakout was inevitable. Add to that plus speed, plus centerfield defense, and a clear path to playing time, and Cameron is one of my favorite underrated prospects in general.

2) Garrett Stubbs will be the strong side of a starting catcher platoon with Robinson Chirinos/Max Stassi by June, and finish the season as a top 15 catcher. Chirinos was one of the worst pitch framers in baseball last season according to StatCorner, costing his team 14.5 runs. I’m sure those numbers will look better with Houston, but point being he is not some defensive catching wizard Houston will feel compelled to keep in the linuep (conversely, Stassi was one of the best pitch framers, saving Houston 8.4 runs). Stubbs also brings a unique skillset compared to Chirinos/Stassi in hitting left handed, making good contact with a 15.6% K% (Chirinos struck out 32.9% of the time and Stassi 29.6%), and above average speed, going 35 for 38 on stolen base attempts in his 304 game MiLB career (Chirinos and Stassi can both be timed with a sundial as my high school coach used to often yell at me as I ran the bases). With Chirinos signed to only a one year deal, I foresee Stubbs being drafted as a top 10 catcher in redraft leagues in 2020.

3) Hunter Harvey will remain healthy all season, and armed with a new splitter, will re-establish himself as one of the best young starters in baseball. Harvey was sitting 95-97 with a high of 98 MPH this spring. Baltimore has babied him the last couple years (preventing him from throwing the splitter) with the intent on keeping him healthy, but that obviously hasn’t worked, so the training wheels are off now. I expect Harvey to debut this season and will boldly predict a sub 3.80 ERA with over a strikeout per inning in 70 IP, and would keep my eye on him in redraft leagues as the talent and upside are all still there.

4) AJ Puk will be drafted as a top 30 SP in 2020 redraft leagues after being a strikeout machine in the 2nd half of the season, while also picking up the win in game 7 of the WS with 6 shutout innings and 10 K’s. Puk had Tommy John surgery on April 10, 2018. Even with the most conservative of rehab schedules, he is going to be ready to go by the 2nd half, and his strikeout numbers will have fantasy owners drooling over the potential. Oakland also has a terrible starting rotation, and with them managing Puk’s innings early in the season, he will just be hitting his stride by the time the playoffs roll around. If Luzardo gets healthy, and Oakland trades for a starter or two, they have the dominant offense and bullpen to break that Billy Beane playoff curse.

5) Carter Kieboom will be the Nationals starting 2B by August and OPS over .800 in the final two months. Kieboom had an impressive spring, slashing .279/.353/.558 with 3 homers and a 10/6 K/BB in 43 at-bats. Two of those homers came off Justin Verlander. He’s got a good feel to hit with natural loft in his swing. Brian Dozier is on a 1 year deal, so Washington will not hesitate to make the switch if they are in the playoff race and Dozier is hurt or under performing. Washington might not be so patient waiting on Dozier’s patented 2nd half surge which never came last season.

6) Nick Neidert will be drafted as a top 50 starter in redraft leagues next season after he puts up impressive K/BB numbers down the stretch in his MLB debut. I’ve been high on Nick Neidert for years now, because plus changeup guys can’t get love on mainstream lists. Scouts love breaking balls more than Roastmaster General Jeff Ross does. He also has plus control and command. He’s basically a poor man’s Chris Paddack (Paddack has the superior fastball).

7) Austin Meadows will go 20/20 with a .280+ average and be a top 50 overall player in 2019. Meadows has the 83rd fastest sprint speed in baseball, but his run times for 85 ft (which is about the distance needed to steal a base) is 47th fastest. I can spend all day playing around with those Statcast 90 ft splits. He’s displayed a good feel to hit throughout his minor league career with a smooth lefty swing that is geared for both average and power. He’s gonna be a stud.

8) Brad Zimmer will be Cleveland’s starting centerfielder by June and will finish the season with 10+ homers and 20+ steals. Zimmer has been progressing well from major shoulder surgery in July 2018, and with Cleveland’s outfield far from locked down, he should have the opportunity to re-establish himself as Cleveland’s starting CF when healthy. I’ll bring Kyle Zimmer into this one too. His fastball has been in the mid 90’s this spring and is impressing out of the bullpen in Royals camp. I foresee that the Zimmer family is due for some good luck in 2019.

9) Clint Frazier will overtake Brett Gardner for the starting LF job and will hit .265 with 20 homers during the final 4 months of the season. I guess my theme here is talented players being underrated because of recent injury history. If I wrote this last year, David Dahl would have definitely been included. So would Trevor Story, Matt Chapman, and Ozzie Albies judging by the one article I did manage to put out last off-season where I ranked the top inexperienced players and prospects for 2018.

10) I will shatter the bold prediction record and go exactly 7 for 10 on these probably too vague and maybe not bold enough predictions.

By Michael Halpern (@MichaelCHalpern)

Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com

Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@DynastyHalp)