Each year with the predictions column I start by going back to the previous year’s piece. It pains me to say this but last year’s predictions were just plain horrible. Only two of them turned out right and both of those were “negative” ones. Sure there were three or four that came close to being right but as they say – close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

But you can’t be afraid to be wrong. No one wants to read a bunch of predictions like “Juan Lagares will be good defensively” or “Matt Harvey will strike out a bunch of guys.” So here are a group of predictions that will range from head tilting to eyebrow raising to outright aggressive. But these are all things I believe will happen, not ones made simply to be controversial.

1. Lucas Duda becomes just the seventh Met in history to record back-to-back 30-HR seasons and the first since David Wright in ’07-’08.

2. Jacob deGrom not only avoids the sophomore slump but makes the All-Star team.

3. Cesar Puello rebounds from being placed on waivers to make his MLB debut.

4. Curtis Granderson beat his ZiPS projection (the most aggressive one) for average (.231) by 30 points.

5. After having a 3.06 ERA last year, Carlos Torres has an ERA in the fours.

6. Jeurys Familia gets sent to the minors

7. Jon Niese sets a career high in (Wins-Losses), breaking his previous best of four.

8. Kirk Nieuwenhuis has a lower OPS than Matt den Dekker after holding a 161-point edge in 2014.

9. Lagares doubles his previous best of 13 SB.

10. Wright finishes in the top 3 in the NL in GDPs.

11. Rafael Montero adds a full point to last year’s 1.83 K/BB ratio.

12. The Mets will double last year’s win total against the Nats (4).

13. After having the fifth-best percentage in just the NL East last year, Jerry Blevins will face the highest percentage of lefty batters in the entire NL.

14. The Mets will trade for Troy Tulowitzki.

15. The Mets finish with more wins than the Yankees.

Two years ago, there were seven correct predictions. Hopefully, this year’s group gets back to that level and the goal remains to get more right than wrong.

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